EDUCATION
Contactpoint to start national rollout
DCSF
06/11/2009
ContactPoint, the Government’s online directory of children’s services, will be rolled out nationally to local authorities and frontline practitioners including social workers, health professionals and head teachers, following a successful trial.
Ministers pledge end to meddling as they scramble to get bill passed
Times Educational Supplement
06/11/2009
A series of changes to the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill that should limit the scope for ministerial "meddling" in the qualifications system are expected to be passed by the House of Lords.
EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
'College success rates distorted'
Times Educational Supplement
06/11/2009
An LSC report accuses colleges of falsely increasing success rates in some courses by up to 40%.
Gaining from Training – Train to Gain brings benefits but room for improvement remains
Ofsted
06/11/2009
Ofsted has published a review of the impact of Train to Gain. The report finds that the scheme continues to give employees the opportunity to secure nationally recognised qualifications and improves their motivation in the workplace.
'LSIS must give better value'
Times Educational Supplement
06/11/2009
The Learning and Skills Improvement Service has set itself the aim of giving 80% of its £97 million budget next year direct to colleges and training providers, in an effort to stave off calls for its closure.
'Reform Stalinist FE and save £2bn a year'
Times Educational Supplement
06/11/2009
Alison Wolf, a professor of public sector management and the author of a new book entitled "An adult approach to further education", proposes radical changes to save the FE sector.
Training places face spending axe
BBC
10/11/2009
A leaked government document suggests a proposal to axe at least 133,000 training places under plans to claw back £340m from England's further education and skills budget. Adult apprenticeship budgets and further education college places are also being ear-marked for savings.
Wide-ranging white paper promises new script for FE
Times Educational Supplement
06/11/2009
A forthcoming skills white paper is likely to propose less regulation for colleges, students as consumers, more level 3 apprenticeships, and the prioritisation of learners aged 18 to 25 years.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
Business firmly woven into the fabric of new framework
Times Higher Education
05/11/2009
Analysis of the framework for higher education, Higher Ambitions: The Future of Universities in a Knowledge Economy.
Former BP head to run tuition fees review
Guardian
09/11/2009
Lord Mandelson has launched the independent review of higher education funding with cross-party support. It will report after Summer 2010 and will be led by Lord Browne. The panel includes David Eastwood, University of Birmingham vice-chancellor, and former head of Hefce, and Julia King, Aston University vice-chancellor.
Sector's income outshines ads and pharmaceuticals
Times Higher Education
05/11/2009
A report by Universities UK concludes that higher education contributes more financially to the UK economy than the pharmaceutical and advertising industries. The report, based on figures for 2007-8, claims universities generate £59bn and provide 650,000 full-time jobs.
Students still in wait for loans
BBC
10/11/2009
Statistics from the Student Loans Company (SLC) indicate that as many as 70,000 students could still be waiting for financial support weeks after the start of term.
Update on the teaching funding method and plans for review
Hefce
04/11/2009
A Hefce Circular Letter outlines the organisation's plans to review funding for learning and teaching, with a view to implementing possible changes to the funding policy and method from 2012-13 at the earliest. It also reports the decision to make no changes for 2010-11 to the subject price group weightings nor to the fee assumption in the teaching funding method.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
All schoolchildren may be vaccinated against swine flu
Guardian
05/11/2009
The Government is considering extending the Swine Flu vaccination programme to include all healthy schoolchildren.
Appeals rise over schools tests
BBC
05/11/2009
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency's figures reveal that more schools have appealed this year against the results of the national tests taken by 11-year-olds in England. However fewer appeals resulted in changed grades.
Government bars state schools from offering International GCSE
Guardian
04/11/2009
The government today barred state schools from offering the Cambridge University exam board's new elite International GCSE in core subjects claiming that children would miss vital parts of the curriculum, such as Shakespeare.
More help for teachers to organise school trips
DCSF
06/11/2009
A consultation has been launched on simple guidance to cut red tape for teachers to take young people out of the classroom. The Health and safety of learners outside the classroom (HASLOC) guidance will replace Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits: a good practice guide 1998 (known as HASPEV).
Pupil abuse allegations: anonymity plea snubbed
Times Educational Supplement
06/11/2009
The Government has rejected a call from the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee to give teachers anonymity when facing an allegation of abuse from a pupil.
School governors are becoming powerless 'pawns'
Guardian
10/11/2009
A study by the University of Warwick suggests the position of the governing body is in danger of changing profoundly through a variety of pressures. The review's final report, which may be published before Christmas, will also propose compulsory training for all new chairs of governors but not go forward with plans to pay governors for their work.
Scientists win place for evolution in primary schools
Guardian
08/11/2009
The schools minister, Diana Johnson, has confirmed that evolution will be included on the primary curriculum for the first time after years of lobbying by senior scientists. The plans will be included in a blueprint for a new curriculum to be published in the next few weeks.
Tories set out schools objectives
BBC
06/11/2009
Michael Gove, the Conservative education spokesperson, has pledged to make exams and the curriculum more robust and rigorous, raise teaching standards and refuse to fund teacher training for students without at least a 2:2 degree, and narrow the achievement gap between rich and poor.
