Last updated 30/11/2007
EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
Colleges must meet challenge to change
DIUS Press Release
22/11/2007
Colleges must change to meet the world of work or lose funding, John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills warned today.
Government scraps more education quangos
The Guardian
22/11/2007
The government is getting rid of the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA), barely a year after it began operations, and the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL). The flagship Train to Gain programme will also be reformed barely a year after its launch.
Hain to force unskilled benefits claimants into training
The Guardian
26/11/2007
Unskilled jobless benefits claimants will be forced to enter training when they have been out of work for six months, under a pilot scheme.
Investment in employee skills training is boost for business - Expansion of trailblazing Train to Gain service offers training for all
LSC Press Release
26/11/2007
The doubling of funding in the Train to Gain Service is part of a massive investment programme announced by John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, it will see more than £11 billion a year invested in education, employment and training.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
Brown softens stand in extremism debate
The Times Higher Education Supplement
23/11/2007
A speech by the Prime Minister to the House of Commons last week seemed to signal a softening of the approach of the previous Government, which was heavily criticised for compromising academic freedom and free debate on campus when it suggested that academics should monitor student activity, including internet use, and report suspicions to the authorities.
Fee-paying schools strengthen hold on top universities - Social divisions widen in higher education - Call for working-class quotas in state schools
The Times
27/11/2007
Private school pupils have tightened their grip on Britain's top universities, despite huge efforts by the Government and admissions tutors to end the social class bias in higher education.
Mutual attraction
The Guardian
27/11/2007
After going though a rocky patch, Britain and the US can't get enough of each other's students.
Psst - just keep quiet on the Scottish funding issue
The Birmingham Post
26/11/2007
English MPs have been pressured to keep silent over the potentially explosive issue of funding for Scotland, it has been claimed. Officials told MPs to take their names off a Commons motion attacking the "unfair" funding system which pumps money into Scotland.
Scottish universities' budget hopes dashed
The Times Higher Education Supplement
23/11/2007
A university funding shortfall in Scotland could leave the UK with a two-tier system, it was claimed this week. Universities Scotland asked for a funding package that would have seen the sector's budget rise by £168 million over three years, but the Scottish National Party Government announced last week that the figure would rise by only £30 million.
Union criticises 'blight' of fixed-term academic posts
The Guardian
22/11/2007
The University and College Union attacked employers today for "blighting" UK higher education by putting the majority of new staff on temporary contracts, five years after new regulations were agreed, designed to make more jobs permanent.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
5000 businesses already committed to diplomas- new employer champions network launched
DCSF Press Release
21/11/2007
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, has welcomed the establishment of the new Diploma Employer Champions Network, led by Sir Alan Jones of Toyota UK. The network, which includes 18 high level employers, will help disseminate information about Diplomas and how employers can help shape the creation of more to other businesses.
A-level questions to become more difficult
The Guardian
24/11/2007
The exam regulator is to intervene in the setting of A-level papers to help ensure questions are more difficult. It is the first time that the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has proposed to take a more active role in the drafting of individual papers.
Diploma schools 'sought-after'
BBC Education News
21/11/2007
Schools and colleges which teach the new Diplomas will become the most desirable, according to Jim Knight.
Grammars 'ghettos' for advantaged
BBC Education News
21/11/2007
England's grammar schools are "ghettos for the advantaged", doing little to alleviate poverty, according to research by Professor David Jesson from York University.
Teachers: help us cope with migrants
The Observer
25/11/2007
The debate over immigrant children in Britain's schools was reignited this weekend after the country's leading headteachers told The Observer that rising numbers of foreign pupils are putting some schools near breaking point because they do not have the resources to cope.
Tories plan to scrutinise all teachers
The Times Educational Supplement
23/11/2007
Every teacher in every subject would face a visit from Ofsted under a Conservative government, with "lightning inspections" to ensure they had no prior warning.
