EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
AoC campaign wins new £20 million fund for college energy efficiency
AoC Press Release
03/01/2008
Energy Efficiency Grants will be available to colleges for projects costing up to £150,000 that produce energy savings over a period of up to five years.
Esol funding to focus on long-term immigrants
The Guardian
04/01/2008
Public funding for English language lessons is to be channelled towards immigrants who aim to settle in Britain, rather than those here for shorter-term economic reasons.
Jobless will have to sign a skills training contract or lose benefit
The Times
26/12/2007
Failure to undertake training or take up a job opportunity will result in a cut in benefits, whilst completion of training or returning to work will lead to a top up payment.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
2012 Olympics provides opportunities for the higher education sector
HEFCE Press Release
21/12/2007
HEFCE has outlined the ways in which it will maximise the higher education sector's involvement in the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games in a report to the Secretary of State this month.
Consulting on the future of copyright in the digital age
DIUS Press Release
08/01/2008
Ensuring the UK's copyright laws are fit for the digital age is the focus of a consultation launched today by Lord Triesman, Minister for Intellectual Property. Proposals include changes to enable schools and universities to make the most of digital technologies and facilitate distance learning.
DIUS gears funding for knowledge transfer
The Times Higher Education Supplement
21/12/2007
A welcome redistribution of wealth from rich to poorer universities, or a hindrance to excellence - new funding arrangements for so-called third stream activities have split opinion.
Dolly the sheep's creator to be knighted
The Guardian
29/12/2007
Details of people from higher education who have been honoured in the New Year's Honours List.
Higher education predictions for 2008
the Guardian
31/12/2007
DIUS is planning to issue universities with new guidance on dealing with extremism in January. Their consultation on what to do with the further education sector ends on 25th January. At its annual conference in April the NUS will put forward its plans for revamping the entire organisation and the way it is governed.
Legitimate concerns
The Guardian
07/01/2008
It's not the deportation of international students that's the problem, it's ensuring they study at legitimate institutions.
Ministers encourage more teens to apply for university
The Guardian
03/01/2008
The government launched a campaign today to encourage more young people with no family experience of university to consider going on to higher education, called "The First-To Go Campaign".
New year, new union
The Guardian
08/01/2008
Assuming the plans get the go ahead at the NUS's annual meeting in April they will transform the national executive committee into a board that will run the organisation, informed by a new senate made up of student representatives, which will help direct policy.
Non-dom tax rules to affect foreign students
Financial Times
08/01/2008
Planned tax increases for foreign residents will affect many more people than intended, according to a campaign group that predicts migrant workers and students will face needless paperwork and potentially bigger tax bills.
Plea to make IT exempt from second degree funding cuts
The Guardian
18/01/2008
The British Computer Society (BCS) has urged the government to add IT to the list of subjects that will be exempt from cuts to funding for people studying for second degrees, or face losing crucial expertise.
Role of universities key to city's future success
The Birmingham Post
26/12/2007
Birmingham's role as one of the country's leading university cities is crucial to its future prosperity and status as a manufacturing centre, the West Midlands Minister has warned.
Scots cash squeeze puts staff and courses at risk
The Times Higher Education Supplement
04/01/2008
Redundancies and course cuts resulting from the financial squeeze imposed by the recent Scottish university budget settlement cannot be ruled out, Mike Pittilo, Vice-C
Chancellor of Robert Gordon University has told The Times Higher.
Student overstayers will not face deportation
The Guardian
07/01/2008
Foreign students who overstay their visas will not be deported as a matter of routine, the Border and Immigration Agency has admitted.
Tories to debate degree funding cuts
The Guardian
08/01/2008
The Conservatives will today join in the growing swell of opposition to the government's decision to cut £100m in funding for second degrees.
Universities warn of higher fees
BBC Education News
30/12/2007
Thousands of students will face increased tuition fees of more than £7,000 a year as a result of funding cuts, universities have warned.
University Review 2007
The Guardian
22/12/2007
Anthea Lipsett rounds up the year's university news, which included visa victory for international students and a proposed boycott of Israeli academics' work.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
Carbon neutral new schools plan
BBC Education News
18/12/2007
Energy-saving and eco-friendly school building projects have been announced as part of the government's drive for new schools to be carbon neutral. England's Schools Secretary Ed Balls has announced 200 projects, costing £110m over three years.
Clegg to focus party on education
BBC Education News
22/12/2007
New liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has described education as his "biggest enthusiasm" in politics.
MPs to voice concerns over faith schools
The Guardian
02/01/2008
The Commons Children, Schools and Families select committee will grill the schools secretary, Ed Balls, at a meeting on January 9th about the government's plans to allow local authorities to open as many faith schools as they want.
New diploma tariffs may outsrip A-levels
The Guardian
19/12/2007
A high-scoring diploma will count for more than three As at A-level under the new university admissions points system, in a move aimed at increasing the status and acceptance of the new qualifications.
NUT targets 'unaccountable' academy sponsors
The Guardian
27/12/2007
In a move to limit the impact of academies, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) today proposed the creation of elected boards responsible for groups of schools. The unions said school boards would promote the involvement of local communities and counteract the power of the unaccountable sponsors who back academies and trust schools.
Rich pull away from poor in the classroom
The Times
31/12/2007
The colonisation by the middle classes of the best state schools has led to a dramatic widening of the gap in educational performance between rich and poor children in the past year, new figures indicate.
Sack stubborn teachers who block progress, says report
The Guardian
27/12/2007
Stubborn and weak teachers who hinder classroom progress should be sacked and badly behaved children must be disciplined immediately if failing schools are to be turned around, according to a report published by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and written by Rupert Hill. The study is based on government research into the benefits of weak comprehensives being taken over by top schools to improve standards.
Sats marking flawed again, says watchdog
The Guardian
28/12/2007
The exams watchdog has expressed serious concerns over potential flaws in the marking of this year's Sats, which it says was based on faulty data for the second year in a row.
Schools to get £340 for languages
BBC Education News
19/12/2007
Primary schools in England will receive about £340 extra each next year to support compulsory language teaching. From 2010 all those over seven must learn a foreign language.
Teachers 'put pupil data at risk'
BBC Education News
05/01/2008
Sensitive information on school pupils is being put at risk by staff who take it home with them, and IT firms says.
Tories claim record numbers leaving teaching
The Guardian
27/12/2007
Nearly 100,000 teachers left the profession between 2000 and 2005, leading to a total of a quarter of a million teachers no longer working in schools.
Turnaround school head to be knighted
The Guardian
29/12/2007
Details of those honoured who work in schools in the New Year's Honours List.
Variations in school cash queried
BBC Education News
24/12/2007
England's school funding system needs an overhaul and should be investigated by the National Audit Office, the Liberal Democrats have said.
