How do you show those who failed in education the first time round that the door is still open? How do you get out-of-work youngsters to decide that it’s worth their while to get qualifications? Reaching out to the educationally excluded isn’t some kind of philanthropic exercise. It’s a very practical and often intractable economic problem for many developed countries and Denmark has a pioneering answer. Read more
Cuts to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have been condemned by teachers’ leaders amid concerns over rising levels of stress and anxiety among pupils. Pressure to succeed at school is increasing pupil stress levels, teachers claim. A survey of 1,250 school staff found that 12 per cent said stress levels are so great that pupils have attempted suicide, 44 per cent said anxiety was contributing to increased incidents of self-harm and a third thought eating disorders to be on the rise as a result of stress. Read more
If this is your first term as a primary teacher, there are various things that you will have discovered by now. Some will even have become crystal clear. Here are just 15 of them … Read more
Faith schools systematically cheat the admissions system, a new report claims The report, An Unholy Mess, produced on behalf of the Fair Admissions Campaign (FAC), lists a series of violations of the admission arrangements at religiously selective state schools, including a lack of clarity over the frequency and duration of religious worship required. The report is based on an investigation of just 70 secondary schools. Read more
One in five graduates who left university during the 2008 recession found work in ‘non-professional’ roles, according to research. A study by the Government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) found that, three and a half years after leaving university, more than 20 per cent were in jobs that do not require a degree such as administration, sales and customer service. Read more
The UK has 34 universities in the Times Higher Education ranking of the world’s top 200 institutions. Oxford climbs to second place, while Cambridge and Imperial College London also make the top 10. Europe has a record number of universities in the world top 200, with 105 compared to 87 last year. The tables rank universities worldwide on measures like teaching, research and international outlook – for example numbers of overseas students and staff. Read more
High academic attainment among poorer pupils in London’s schools is set to improve further, researchers suggest. The study by the London School of Economics and the Institute for Fiscal Studies says the success should boost social mobility in the capital, offering valuable lessons for improving standards in other areas. It is, however, more due to gradual improvements rather than any single policy. Read more
It sounds like a particularly poor excuse for failing to do homework: ‘Watching Hunger Games is good for my literacy skills, honest.’ But, in fact, spending the evening at the cinema can boost school grades, research has suggested. Franzi Florack of Bradford University introduced regular film-literacy classes to 19 primary schools in Bradford. These were supplemented with visits by professional film makers to the classroom. Read more