Apprenticeship success rate reaches record high
Taken from bdaily on 23/12/09 by Jonathan Wells
A record number of people have successfully completed apprenticeships during the 2008/09 academic year, according to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
10,000 people in the North East completed an apprenticeship, up from 7,600 in 2007/08, an increase of 31%.
The rise means the government [...]
A fair verdict on Labour years?
A “damning indictment” of Labour’s record was how one newspaper described this week’s official statistical report on UK schools over the past 12 years.
Another summed it up as: ‘Labour’s £30 billion annual spending on schools fails to boost standards’.
But the reality of the report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is that the verdict [...]
36,000 pupils take new Diplomas
Some 36,000 teenagers took up one of the government’s new Diploma courses this autumn, official figures show.
This is nearly 4,000 fewer than expected. Ministers estimated earlier this year that 40,000 youngsters would be on one of the courses this autumn.
Ministers want Diplomas which combine practical and academic learning to replace GCSEs and A-levels in England.
Some [...]
Special needs system requires ‘radical overhaul’
Government report reveals scale of struggle some parents face, and advocates a reform of the statementing system to prioritise the needs of the child over the availability of resource
Polly Curtis, education editor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 December 2009 12.19 GMT
Article history
A special needs child learning to write. Photograph: Don Tonge /Alamy
The government should “radically overhaul” the system [...]
guroo functional skills newsletter dec 15th
Our bi-weekly look at the world of functional skills.
New Delivering Diploma conference announced for March, a sneak look at the Guroo stand for BETT, how much do you know about Foundation Learning and the latest content bulletin from the basement in Guroo Towers.
Delivering Diplomas Conference, March 18 @ Aston [...]
Leading Article: Baker’s dozen
It would be wrong to dismiss Lord Baker’s campaign to introduce decent technical education for 14 to 18-year-olds as the dream of an ageing Conservative peer. His plans for 12 new technical schools on the model of the German Realschule system has much to commend it. In Britain, we have never been able to do [...]
Darling offers more support for young unemployed
• Windfall tax on bonuses to help young unemployed• Younger jobseekers offered work or training after six months
Young jobseekers will be guaranteed work or training after six months, Alistair Darling announced today, as part of a package of anti-unemployment measures, paid for by the windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses.
In his budget in April, the chancellor [...]
Diplomas destined for Tory shake-up
Schools’ obligation to provide 51 ’strands’ would be scrapped, says shadow minister
Schools will be freed from the responsibility to make all Diplomas available to pupils under Tory plans to overhaul the Government’s flagship qualifications.
Under current rules, schools will be forced to work in partnerships to make all 17 Diplomas available at three levels.
But the entitlement [...]
functional skills newsletter from www.guroo.info
Our bi-weekly look at the world of functional skills.
Ofsted criticise school for not teaching in Diploma context, more unintended consequences, a summary of every Functional Skills mention in the Ofsted 08/09 report, another chance to get Guroo resources and a simplified QCDA diagram about 14-19.
Ofsted [...]
Lost youth: UK plummets in education table for teenagers Buzz up! Digg it Rachel Williams guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 December 2009 20.08 GMT
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 December 2009 20.08 GMT
Article history
Young people in the UK are among the least educated in the developed world, tumbling down the tables since the mid-1990s, according to analysis released today.
Among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), only Turkey and Mexico have a smaller proportion of 15- to 19-year-olds [...]
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