Category Archives: Education

English schools told to close buildings made with crumble-risk concrete

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A week before start of term, DfE says buildings should be taken out of use regardless of assessed risk

More than 100 schools are facing the immediate closure of buildings constructed from potentially dangerous aerated concrete panels, plunging the beginning of term into chaos for thousands of pupils.

The government has found that 156 schools in England have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) materials but only 52 have put mitigations in place against risks including collapse, it admitted on Thursday. Engineers have warned the material is at risk of cracking and spalling and of “shear failure”.

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Thousands of pupils may have to start term online as over 100 schools affected by crumble-risk concrete

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DfE guidance sent days before start of term means students and teachers at dozens of schools in England will need to be moved off site

Thousands of pupils in England may have to begin the autumn term taking lessons remotely after the government ordered more than 100 schools to immediately shut buildings made with aerated concrete until safety work is undertaken.

The guidance from the Department for Education was sent to 156 schools and colleges just days before the start of the new school year.

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UK universities offer three-day-week to let students find part-time work

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Compact teaching timetables will allow cash-strapped undergraduates to dovetail jobs with studies

Universities are reducing the number of days students are required to be on campus to enable them to work part-time as they struggle to survive the cost of living crisis.

Compact teaching timetables, where lectures and seminars are scheduled over two or three days rather than dotted throughout the week, are being introduced by a number of institutions. The move makes it easier for the growing number of undergraduates who have to take on part-time jobs to make ends meet. More than half of students now work alongside their studies, up from 45% in 2022 and 34% in 2021.

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Record north-south gap in top GCSE grades blamed on ‘London-centric policies’

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North-east school leaders call for government to recognise challenges for pupils in different parts of England

The largest gap on record between top GCSE grades awarded to pupils in London and those in north-east England has prompted warnings of a “continuing widening” in the north-south education divide.

School leaders in the north-east accused the government of “London-centric” policies, while Labour said it showed that “levelling up is dead and buried” through the failure to help disadvantaged communities.

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Starmer challenges Sunak to force Nadine Dorries out of Commons as Tory website explains how it could happen – as it happened

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Article says Commons could bypass the parliamentary standards machinery after Labour leader says MP should be forced out. This live blog is closed

Starmer says there is a massive mismatch between what the government is saying about how things are going well with the economy, and the lived experience of people.

O’Brien suggests the two teenagers Starmer met today would have been happier if Starmer was still committed to getting rid of tuition fees.

I do think the current scheme is unfair and ineffective and that is why we will change it, so the current scheme will be changed by the incoming Labour government and we will set out our plans.

I am not going to pretend that there isn’t huge damage to the economy and that has meant that some of the things that an incoming Labour government would want to do we are not going to be able to do in the way we would want in the way that we would want.

We are working up our proposals on that and I will fully come back and talk them through when we got them.

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Children referred to social care twice as likely to fail GCSE maths and English

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Research found 53% of teenagers in England who had been referred to services did not achieve a pass in both subjects

Children in England who are referred to social services at any point in their childhood are twice as likely to fail GCSE maths and English, according to new research published ahead of results day on Thursday.

Analysts looked at 1.6m pupils’ exam results over a three-year period and found that 53% of teenagers who had been referred to social care – as detailed in the Children in Need census – did not achieve a grade 4 pass in both English and maths GCSE.

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‘Something that actually matters’: four retirees on why they’re becoming teachers

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The over-55s account for biggest rise in trainee teachers in England, with a 75% increase in applications

The work and pensions secretary, Mel Stride, recently suggested that unemployed people over 50 should consider delivering takeaways.

But the army of missing workers Stride was seeking are looking to do something more productive with their time: this year, the over-55s accounted for the biggest rise in new trainee teachers in England, with a 75% increase in applications.

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‘My goals in life vanished’: Afghan students rocked by US visa denials

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Students trying to attend university in the US tell of their frustration after being rejected over the ‘immigrant intent’ test

Yalda Azamee blinked back tears as she stared down at the American consular officer.

“He did not even give me a chance to explain myself; he rejected me right away. He didn’t even look at my documents,” she said, rushing out of the US embassy building on to the streets of Islamabad to cry.

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Death masks help recreate face of Bonnie Prince Charlie

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De-aged image offers likelife image of how prince may have looked during unsuccessful Jacobite rising of 1745

The face of Bonnie Prince Charlie has been recreated using death masks that depict him as he would have looked during the Jacobite rising of 1745.

The prince, who was renowned for his good looks, has captivated a new generation of interest through the TV show Outlander.

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A-level results 2023: students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland receive grades – live

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School leavers in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man will also receive their results today

The number of students accepted on to UK degree courses has fallen this year, Ucas figures show.

Press Association reports:

Firstly, I want to say a huge congratulations to the hundreds of thousands of students up and down the country who are celebrating their results and next steps today.

I am delighted to see more than 200,000 UK 18-year-olds have secured their first choice, which is testament to their hard work and commitment to progress to higher education in a year that has seen many complex factors at play, such as geopolitics, the economy and job market, and cost of living.

Labour recognises the enormous effort that all of our young people have put into their studies over the past year.

Young people have achieved these results despite the challenges they’ve faced: with a Labour government behind them, offering them pathways to good prospects, there will be no limit on what they can achieve.

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UK universities face more strikes unless employers resume talks, union warns

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University and College Union is preparing a new ballot that could lead to marking boycott continuing and strikes lasting into 2024

Universities across the UK will face another round of strikes next month unless employers agree to return to the negotiating table, the University and College Union has warned.

A marking boycott that has left tens of thousands of students without their degree result this summer will continue, the union said, while preparations will get under way for a new strike ballot to renew the union’s mandate.

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UK should embrace foreign students or lose them to rival countries, warns Ucas chief

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Many institutions have become increasingly reliant on higher fees from international students to help cover costs

Britain should warmly welcome international students joining universities across the country or risk losing out to the US, Canada and Australia, the higher education admissions chief has said.

The intervention came amid concerns that domestic students hoping to begin undergraduate courses this autumn could lose out to international applicants. Some courses in clearing in the run-up to A-level results day this week are available only to overseas students.

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Disadvantaged students to bear brunt of grade deflation, say experts

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Social Mobility Foundation says it expects GCSE and A-level attainment gap based on income to grow this year

Disadvantaged students are likely to bear the brunt of grade deflation when this year’s A-level and GCSE grades are published, according to experts, who said the government’s decision to impose pre-pandemic grading in England was premature.

This week hundreds of thousands of sixth-formers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive the results of their A-level, BTec and other exams. But a survey of students by the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) found that those from disadvantaged or low-income backgrounds in England were less likely to have received the help they needed to restore learning lost during the pandemic.

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‘Twinverclyde’: 17 sets of twins to start school in one Scottish authority

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Inverclyde welcomes second largest number of twins on record to start primary education

Seventeen sets of twins will start primary school in one Scottish local authority next week, the second largest number on record.

Schools in Inverclyde will welcome the twins for the first time on Friday 18 August, in an area that has colloquially become known as “Twinverclyde”.

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‘Affirmative action for the privileged’: why Democrats are fighting legacy admissions

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Critics argue that university’s preference toward legacy applicants exacerbates existing inequalities in higher education

In the aftermath of the supreme court’s decision to strike down race-conscious admissions at universities in June, progressive Democrats have turned their outrage into motivation. They are now using their fury to power an impassioned campaign against a different admissions practice that they consider unjust and outdated: legacy admissions.

The century-old practice gives an advantage to the family members of universities’ alumni, a group that tends to be whiter and wealthier than the general pool of college applicants. Critics argue that legacy applicants already enjoy an unfair leg up in the admissions process and that university’s preference toward those students exacerbates existing inequalities in higher education.

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UK philanthropist gives almost £29m to heritage skills training

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Hamish Ogston’s donation will fund up to 2,700 apprenticeships in crafts to preserve historic buildings

A British philanthropist has given almost £29m to heritage skills training, breathing new life into dying crafts and addressing the chronic shortage of specialists who can prevent historic buildings from deteriorating beyond repair.

Hamish Ogston’s donation, which has been made through his charitable foundation, will be announced on Thursday.

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Students face fierce competition as fewer university courses become available

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Ucas tells applicants to act quickly to avoid disappointment, with A-level results due in England, Wales and Northern Ireland next week

Students who miss out on their expected exam grades face fierce competition for university places this summer, with fewer vacancies on courses than in previous years.

A week before A-level results are published in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, several popular universities are reported to be full. This means applicants who fail to meet their grade offers will need to act quickly to secure a place elsewhere, the head of the Ucas admissions service said.

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One in three of England’s university starters ‘may live at home’ this year

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Study shows cost of living influencing students’ choice, with fears of limiting effect on career options

One in three students starting university this year may opt to live at home, according to new research that found rising costs and family needs are affecting the “Covid generation” of school-leavers.

Before the pandemic about 20% of first year undergraduates in England lived at home while studying, including older mature students. But a new survey of current sixth formers by University College London found that as many as 34% of 18-year-old school-leavers could stay at home if accepted by their first-choice university when exam results are published next week.

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Universities must treat students better, says father whose son killed himself

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Mark Winfield said that his son Jos was ‘left to rot’ after struggling with his mental health while at Brunel University London

A father whose undergraduate son killed himself after he fell behind with his studies has urged universities to take better care of students who are struggling with mental health issues.

Jos Winfield, an undergraduate at Brunel University London, would have celebrated his 22nd birthday this Saturday, but on Fathers’ day this year his parents found him dead in his bedroom at the family home in Somerset.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Nearly 100,000 fewer top A-levels this year in grading plan, research suggests

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Tens of thousands of students face likely drop in As and A*s as ministers aim to return results in England to pre-pandemic levels

Tens of thousands of A-level students face disappointment on results day next week, amid warnings that nearly 100,000 fewer As and A*s could be awarded as the government seeks to return grades to pre-pandemic levels.

Up to 50,000 candidates this summer are likely to miss out on the top grades they might have expected last year, according to one estimate, throwing applications for the most competitive universities into doubt.

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