Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Breaking the Link: Social Mobility and Education in Britain

Yesterday the Sutton Trust presented some of their work on social mobility at the Master’s seminar of the Company of Educators. They highlighted the importance of education for social mobility, stressing that the penalties for lower levels of…

Schools set free, reality bites for students, and Boris gets a ticking off

As the dust began to settle following the Queen’s Speech (the first the current Monarch has delivered on behalf of a coalition Government), it became clear that education reform would be the issue to dominate the press over the coming…

Crucial nuances to the university admissions debate

Yesterday’s report by Sir Martin Harris at the Office for Fair Access (Offa) on widening university access made for interesting reading. While it was disappointing to see that the wealthiest pupils are seven times likelier than the poorest to attend…

New man, new department and some walk-outs across the water

Given how widely-expected the appointment of Michael Gove as schools secretary was, relatively little was made of it in the press (certainly in comparison to some of the other, more unlikely Cabinet posts allocated). What captured the imagination of the…

Food for the Soul: Music, Art and Drama in the Independent Sector

The best schools foster the development of the whole child: academic achievement has its place, but in the busy and sometimes unforgiving 21st Century world we inhabit, there is also an important place for the social, spiritual (in its broadest…

After the election

The British electorate has spoken. But what have we said? If you believe many commentators it is that we want a hung parliament with a coalition or minority government. Whatever the merits of that argument the fact is that no…

Educational mobility

A new report on education mobility in England recently published by the Sutton Trust found that educational mobility in England has increased significantly since 1958. However, England lags behind Australia, Germany and the US in the international comparison.

The…

Volcanoes, Sats boycotts and the transformation of the schools system

Not long after the news broke of volcanic ash and grounded flights, colourful articles followed in the press of the means schools were employing to teach pupils who were stranded abroad. One of the most seized-upon stories was that…

Fears of ‘bogus’ students in pre-election season

Following Labour’s promise to reduce the number of student visas granted this year by 40,000, critics of the UK Border Agency’s Points Based System (PBS) are pointing to recent immigration figures as evidence that ‘bogus’ students can ‘manipulate’ the system…

Manifestos, tuition fee revolts and selection

The education news this week was, hardly surprisingly, dominated by the election campaign. What set this week apart was that we were finally able to see the parties’ pledges in black and white in their manifestos. Labour was first, and…