Tories warn of ‘education apartheid’
England is facing an “education apartheid” as private school pupils increasingly study for different exams than those in the state sector, David Willetts has warned. The shadow education secretary argued a lack of confidence in GCSEs and A-levels means many independent schools were turning to exams such as the IGCSE, the pre-U or the international […]
Peers reject faith school quota plans
Peers last night voted down another attempt to force faith schools to take a quota of pupils from non-faith backgrounds. Lord Baker’s amendment to allow local authorities to force new faith schools to take up to 25 per cent non-faith pupils was rejected by 119 votes to 37. It was the third time the former […]
MPs criticise Brown’s school funding pledge
Gordon Brown has been taken to task by MPs over his pledge to raise the level of funding per state school pupil to that of students in private schools. The education and skills select committee today says the chancellor’s Budget announcement appears to be an aspiration rather than a definable goal and warns that “future […]
Ministers announce faith school quotas
New faith schools will be forced to admit a quarter of their pupils from different backgrounds and religions, the government announced last night. Schools minister Lord Adonis said he would be tabling an amendment to the education and inspections bill next week to give local authorities the power to demand new faith schools admit at […]
50 trust school hopefuls announced
The government has today named the 50 schools hoping to become self-governing trusts when the controversial education bill comes into force. Seventeen schools have begun preparing to link up with local businesses, charities or universities to create a trust on their own, and a further 31 have applied to do so in partnership with another […]
Basics do well at GCSE but language entries fall
The number of students getting a good pass in their maths and English GCSEs has increased slightly this year, despite business concerns about a decline in basic skills. Ministers and union leaders welcomed the rise in students getting a C grade or above in English, from 60.9 per cent to 61.6 per cent, and in […]
City academies get mixed results
City academies are producing better results than similar schools and are proving so popular that there are three applications for every place, new research finds. Education secretary Alan Johnson welcomed the new application figures and the latest evaluation report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) as proof that the semi-independent state schools were working. But the financial firm’s […]
University admissions shake-up unveiled
Students will be able to apply for university after receiving their A-level results, in a radical shake-up of the system announced by the government today. Ministers hope to introduce a post-qualification application system (PQA) by 2012, to ensure students have the best chance of going to the university of their choice. Currently, young people must […]
