EDUCATION
Exam watchdog sets out plan to save new diploma
Guardian
17/12/2009
Ofqual's annual report includes proposals to simplify the government's flagship diploma qualification to make it viable in the future. The report also raises concerns that children in primary and secondary schools are being put under too much pressure from exams.
EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
College in fake places scandal reopens with new licence and new head
Times
22/12/2009
King's College of Management in Manchester which was exposed for providing fake places to more than 1,000 foreign nationals has been awarded a new government licence to operate with a new director.
LSC Gives Conditional Approval to 16-19 Capital Projects
LSC
21/12/2009
The LSC has given conditional approval to six capital projects - Altrincham College of Art, Blessed Thomas Holford College, Heathcote School in Chingford, Phoenix High School in Shepherd’s Bush, Lowestoft Sixth Form College, and Sheffield College.
Sixth forms to 'double' as legal status fuels expansion plans
Times Educational Supplement
18/12/2009
Sixth form colleges are aiming to use their new statutory designation as a springboard to double student numbers and reverse the trend of mergers and closures.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
Academic spin-offs forced to seek foreign funding
Daily Telegraph
22/12/2009
New research reveals that the number of British technology companies being created from universities has collapsed in the last year and many have had to turn to foreign investors.
Architects doubt benefits of 'greenwash ecotecture'
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
Several architects have accused universities of pulling down good buildings to erect new ones in a bid to appear green. They suggest that adapting existing buildings should be best practice.
Capital Investment Framework: Consultation on the assessment process
Hefce
17/12/2009
Consultation on proposals for the development of the Capital Investment Framework and the assessment process, includes the requirements for supporting evidence and metrics on reducing carbon emissions and improving space usage.
Jobs to go as university closes horticultural research site
Birmingham Post
17/12/2009
More than 30 academics are facing redundancy at the University of Warwick following a decision to close its horticulture research centre at Wellesbourne and transfer all its work and teaching in plant and environmental sciences to the main campus in Coventry.
Let the right ones in: UK academy's Nigerian invite
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
Nigeria's National Universities Commission (NUC) has announced a pilot scheme that will allow a limited number of foreign universities to build branch campuses, twin with Nigerian institutions and offer distance-learning degrees, for the first time.
London Met governors forced out
Guardian
17/12/2009
The chair and all governors in place at London Metropolitan University at the time of the financial mismanagement have been forced to resign after pressure from Hefce. A joint statement published by Hefce and the university chair reveals the full details of the gradual removals from the board.
No ladder at Cumbria, not even for laureates
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
The University of Cumbria has been accused of denying its staff promotions to senior academic posts by enforcing a recruitment policy of making professorship and readership appointments to external academics, allowing internal promotions only in "exceptional" circumstances.
Offing the cap
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
Opinion article on higher education funding and tuition fees.
Plymouth rocked by fiscal irregularities
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
Questions have been raised about employment practices and payments at the University of Plymouth after leaked documents show that senior staff broke the university's financial rules and also employed relatives.
Student support may be targeted in £600m cutback, sources warn
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
Senior sources predict that student grants and subsidised loans may bear the brunt of the £600 million cuts announced in the pre-Budget report for the higher education sector.
Submissions focus on the weighting of impact in REF
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
Hefce have received over 300 responses to its consultation on the research excellence framework. The Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and Million+ which represents new universities, both recommend a 15 per cent weighting for impact in the new REF.
Support for historic buildings removed
Times Higher Education
21/12/2009
Following a period of consultation, Hefce has withdrawn its £40m old and historic building fund that helps universities preserve their historic buildings. The decision will have the biggest impact on Oxford and Cambridge universities.
UCL loses £6m as it scraps building plan
Times Higher Education
17/12/2009
Accounts for University College London reveal a loss of £5.95 million on its Institute for Cultural Heritage project, which has been abandoned due to the economic climate.
UK science faces funding cutbacks
BBC
16/12/2009
The Science and Technology Facilities Council will cut 25% of its research studentships and fellowships.
University launches wind turbine plan
Lancashire Evening Post
17/12/2009
Lancaster University has unveiled £5m plans to create 100m-high turbines, which would supply a third of the energy needed to power its student village. The university is also planning to install a biomass boiler to heat parts of the university.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
Charity puts its faith in Muslim boarding school to rival size of Eton
Times Educational Supplement
18/12/2009
Birmingham-based charity the Mohiuddin Trust is planning to open a school on the former site of Burnley College which they recently purchased for £2 million.
Heads paid £150k will have salaries published
Times Educational Supplement
18/12/2009
School governors will in future have to write an open letter to the Schools Secretary justifying their decision to remunerate employees more than £150,000.
Job perks fall flat as independents strive to pass public benefit test
Times Educational Supplement
18/12/2009
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers has warned that teachers at independent schools are losing out on benefits such as subsidised accommodation as schools strive to meet the demands of the Charity Commission's public benefit test.
Lamb backs parents in damning report
Times Educational Supplement
18/12/2009
A formal inquiry into SEN provision concludes that radical changes are required in the way schools and local authorities deal with parents of children with special educational needs.
London set for Swedish schools
BBC
18/12/2009
Kunskapsskolan, which runs 32 schools in Sweden, has been accepted by Richmond Council as sponsor of two schools which will become Academies. It would be the first time the company has been formally approved to operate schools in England.
New year – new potential
Project Datafile
17/12/2009
Partnerships for Schools chief executive Tim Byles looks ahead to 2010 and reflects on the ongoing investment into transforming schools across the UK.
Ofsted chief hits back at critics
Times Higher Education
18/12/2009
Christine Gilbert the Chief schools inspector, has defended Ofsted's controversial new inspection regime, claiming it has been misrepresented by a "catalogue of myths".
Single equality scheme consultation – Stage two
Ofsted
18/12/2009
Ofsted is preparing its first single equality scheme to replace its existing three separate schemes (disability equality, race equality, gender equality). This second stage of the consultation concerns equality priorities and key activities for achieving priorities.
Working Together to Safeguard Children
DCSF
18/12/2009
Proposed revision of the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance. This document addresses 17 recommendations made by Lord Laming in The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report and updates the guidance to reflect changes to the policy and legislative landscape since Working Together was last published in 2006.
