Compound this with the reorganisation of higher education – where universities are run more like businesses – along with the politics of austerity, and it may be little surprise that the sector is said to be in crisis. More...27 juillet 2017
Poorer children are being left behind when it comes to learning languages
The British have a reputation (rightly or wrongly) for struggling to learn foreign languages. A recent survey showed, for example, that 62% of the population can’t speak any other language apart from English. More...
Most graduates will never pay off their student loans
New finding show that more than 70% of students who left university last year are never expected to finish repaying their loans. The report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that many of these graduates – the first cohort to pay the higher £9,000 fees – will be making repayments for 30 years. More...
Understanding why some female teachers sexually abuse pupils
More than 100 women were convicted of sexual offences in 2015. The figures, obtained via a freedom of information request, show the number of convictions almost trebled in a decade. Among those convicted were a number of school staff, including teachers, a head teacher and a teaching assistant. More...
How European academics are feeling about life in Britain a year after Brexit vote
Attracting and retaining academics from other EU countries is one of the major issues facing the university sector after Brexit – fears have been raised of a potential “brain drain”. The latest indications point to a rise in EU academics leaving British universities. More...
Growing use of smart drugs by students could be a recipe for disaster
It’s that time of year again. The blossom is on the trees, and university libraries and reading rooms are heaving with students poring over laptops, textbooks and stacks of notes – exam season is here. More...
Coding the curriculum: new computer science GCSE fails to make the grade
Despite computing education in UK schools going through a massive revolution over the past few years to try and make it more relevant to our increasingly technology driven lives, the new GCSE in computer science has failed to attract much interest from students. More...
Elite public schools that rely on entry exams fail the diversity test
The jewels in many an urban school district’s crown are their exam schools, competitive public schools that base enrollment on test scores. With a school like New York’s Stuyvesant, Boston Latin or Walter Payton (in Chicago) on their transcript, students are grouped with other, high-achieving peers, receive rigorous instruction and complete several Advanced Placement courses – all helping to clear a straight path to college and career success. More...
Why just speaking English isn’t going to cut it anymore
Britain is facing an uncertain future and an uneasy relationship with Europe after Brexit and the latest general election. Among other things, a key determiner of the success of Brexit will be the UK’s ability to conduct negotiations without language barriers. But the country’s woeful inability to learn languages, and the decline in foreign language learning among school and university students across Britain, does not bode well. More...
Academics fear the value of knowledge for its own sake is diminishing
Compound this with the reorganisation of higher education – where universities are run more like businesses – along with the politics of austerity, and it may be little surprise that the sector is said to be in crisis. More...TEF: everything you need to know about the new university rankings
The results of the new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) have now been announced. Universities across the UK have been ranked gold, silver or bronze based on the quality of their teaching, learning and student experience. More...
