Four in five failed trial tests
Fewer than one secondary pupil in five passed the first pilot of tests that might have replaced England’s Sats for 14-year-olds - now scrapped altogether.
An evaluation for the Department for Children, Schools and Families gave the pass rate in the “single level tests” as 19% overall, 12% in maths.
However in primary schools, 65% passed the [...]
Ucas-style system for sixth forms could be fiasco, warn colleges
An online admissions system proposed for 16-year-olds seeking places in colleges and sixth forms could turn into another Sats-style fiasco, ministers have been warned by college heads.
College and local authority leaders were called to the the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) yesterday to hear details of the plan to create a national admissions [...]
Wellington College to poll parents on plan to drop GCSEs in favour of Baccalaureate
The master of Wellington College is to ask parents to vote on whether it should abandon GCSE exams in favour of the International Baccalaureate.
Last Updated: 2:12AM GMT 16 Dec 2008
Anthony Seldon said GCSEs had become “too formulaic” and boring and that he was losing faith in the system to promote stimulating lessons.
He wants the college [...]
Maths piloted as ‘twinned’ GCSEs
Secondary schools in England are to pilot a “twinned” maths GCSE - in which maths could be taken as a double subject, worth two GCSEs.
This will allow pupils to study the subject in greater breadth and depth, in both pure and applied maths.
The schools testing the idea would begin doing so in September 2010 - [...]
Teenage fanclub
Sixth-form colleges and schools are engaged in a battle for students - and the secret of success could hinge on what they call themselves. Peter Kingston reports
Peter Kingston
The Guardian, Tuesday December 9 2008
Article history
For years, the nation’s sixth-form colleges have claimed to be the best in their field - and now comes official confirmation. Of [...]
Credit crunch bears down on FE sector
Colleges have run up record levels of debt, casting doubts on the future of the rebuilding programme
Andrew Mourant
The Guardian, Tuesday December 9 2008
Article history
Woolworths, MFI, London Scottish Bank - the list of high street casualties of the recession is growing. Could a further education college be next to go under?
Colleges collectively have run up record [...]
More than 100,000 students still without grant after system collapse
The true scale of the collapse of the college grant system is today revealed in figures which show that more than 100,000 students are still awaiting support payments nearly three months after they were due.
Thousands of the students - among them the poorest in England - will not get their money before Christmas, college principals [...]
Queen’s speech bills: education
The children, skills and learning bill will transfer funding for 16- to 18-year-olds who are taught in colleges rather than schools to local authorities.
The move, designed to ensure that all children up until 19 are the responsibility of their local authority, has been met with caution from college heads, who fear that authorities already [...]
One student waits for education maintenance allowance
Despite having sent not one but two applications, Hannah Smith, 17, still has no idea whether she is going to get an education maintenance allowance this year.
“It’s a real pain because last year it went through so well and so efficiently,” she says.
Smith qualified for the full £30 a week in her first year studying [...]
14-19 Reforms
The secretary of state for education has announced plans today for a package of measures to take forward the 14-19 reform agenda, including a new scheme to ensure the views of young people are properly taken into account.
The latest developments include:
• launching the Government’s implementation plan “Delivering 14-19 Reform: Next Steps” which includes making sure all [...]
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