OXBRIDGE ‘OVER-RECRUITS’ FROM TOP EIGHT SCHOOLS

The BBC has today (7th December 2018) reported on findings by the Sutton Trust that Oxford and Cambridge are being accused of “being so socially exclusive that they recruit more students from eight top schools than almost 3,000 other English state schools put together.” The Sutton Trust study blames a lack of advice and guidance…
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GOVERNMENT’S TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS TO COUNT FOR UCAS POINTS IN BID TO END “SNOBBERY”

 In a report in  The Independent  today (6/12/18)  – Students who take the government’s new flagship technical qualification will receive Ucas points in a bid to end “snobbery” towards vocational education, the education secretary will say. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/t-levels-technical-qualifications-vocational-education-damian-hinds-ucas-apprenticeships-a8669326.html Learners who complete a T-level programme will be allocated the same amount of Ucas points as students who do three A-levels to help progression…
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PROGRESS SLOWS IN CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN THE MOST AND LEAST ADVANTAGED STUDENTS STARTING DEGREES

fe News has reported the  second release of UCAS’ 2018 End of Cycle Report shows a record 19.7 per cent of young people classified as living in the most disadvantaged areas of the UK (POLAR4 quintile 1) were accepted through UCAS to start a course in September 2018. This is up 0.4 percentage points, and…
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SHADOW SPOKESPERSON ASKS SKILLS MINISTER ABOUT THE NATIONAL CAREERS SERVICE

Gregory CampbellShadow DUP Spokesperson (International Development), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Cabinet Office) To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) geographical area and (b) age range the National Careers Service covers. Tweet Share Hansard source(Citation: HC Deb, 3 December 2018, cW)   Anne Milton Minister of State (Education) “Careers is a devolved matter and the National Careers Service covers England only. The service provides…
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IMPROVING CAREERS SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN ENGLAND

Sir John Holman writes in TES with reference made to the “successful pilot in the North East”. NOTE: Gatsby pilot schools and colleges were given £9k direct funding and access to an innovation fund of £250,000 from the Gatsby Foundation. John is absolutely right to  highlight the success of these projects.  I am puzzled as…
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OUR CAREERS SUPPORT FAILS TO PROVIDE SOCIAL JUSTICE, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY OR VALUE FOR MONEY – IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE

Robert Halfon has today delivered a key speech highlighting the fragmentation and incoherence of the Careers Support landscape across England. TO READ HIS FULL SPEECH – 031218 Robert Halfon Careers Speech Key comments include: “Careers support is still far too fragmented We have a confused mish-mash of offerings of support with different government agencies providing bits…
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APPRENTICESHIP ECONOMICS: A NEW PUBLIC-PRIVATE EDUCATION INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP

An article written by Richard Marsh, Apprenticeship Partnership Director at Kaplan Financial and published by feNews. https://www.fenews.co.uk/featured-article/22459-there-s-a-hole-in-my-bucket-continuing-apprenticeship-reforms-2 The latest DfE Apprenticeship stats show that over 15,000 employers have now activated their Apprenticeship levy; that’s c75% of levy payers. Understandably it those with the largest levies that have been quickest to take action, of those with a ‘substantial’(£100k+) levy 90% have…
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EDGE FOUNDATION REPORT : SCHOOLS SHOULD OFFER CREATIVE AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS TO WARRANT TOP OFSTED RATING

‘Outstanding’ ratings by education watchdog Ofsted should only be given to schools that can demonstrate excellence in creative and technical teaching as well as in academic subjects, says a new report by the Edge Foundation published today (29 November 2018). http://www.edge.co.uk/news/edge-news/schools-should-offer-creative-and-technical-subjects-to-warrant-top-ofsted-rating This time the Edge sFoundation feature latest data from two of the richest sources in…
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PRIMARY CAREER EDUCATION SHOULD BROADEN CHILDREN’S HORIZONS

The focus for primary schools shouldn’t be on ‘careers advice’ but on ‘career-related learning’, argues Nick Chambers CEO Education and Employers in an article written for TES. https://www.tes.com/news/primary-career-education-should-broaden-childrens-horizons The last few months have seen a sudden enthusiasm for careers education in primary schools. Of course, it is a simple and seductive idea. But many teachers…
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LEARNING ABOUT CAREERS: OPEN DATA AND LABOUR MARKET INTELLIGENCE

  Graham Attwell and Deirdre Hughes have co-authored a new article on career learning and labour market intelligence/information (LMI). This features in ‘Revista Iboeroamericana de Educación a Distancia (The Iberoamerican Review of Digital Education). Pontydysgu, Wales; DMH Associates, Exeter, England https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326740611_Learning_about_Careers_Open_data_and_Labour_Market_Intelligence/download   Decisions about learning and work have to be placed in a particular spatial,…
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