Education News
Headteachers jobs in danger
Published: 12 March 2007
Headteachers are "only one poor inspection away from their P45", the leader of the country's secondary school heads said yesterday.
Languages are the hardest GCSEs, research finds
Published: 12 March 2007
GCSEs in languages are much harder than any other subject, research has confirmed. As a result, heads are less likely to enter pupils for French, German or Spanish for fear of doing badly in exam league tables, it was claimed.
Manchester students ban Coke in human rights protest
Published: 10 March 2007
Students at Manchester University have banned Coca-Cola in protest at the American company's alleged abuses of human rights and the environment.
Johnson: Exam reforms could go 'horribly wrong'
Published: 10 March 2007
The Government's flagship exam reforms could go "horribly wrong", the Education Secretary Alan Johnson admitted yesterday.
The colourful way to teach children with dyslexia how to read
Published: 09 March 2007
Ruth Kelly provoked fury when she decided to send her nine-year-old son to a private school because she lacked confidence in local state schools to deal with his dyslexia.
The Academic: Oxford professor defends his anti-immigrant views
Published: 09 March 2007
It started as a petition to stop Professor David Coleman using his academic position at Oxford University to promote controversial views on the need for curbs on migration.
Students accused of copying university application forms
Published: 08 March 2007
Prospective university students are cutting and pasting material off the internet to pep up their application forms, admissions officers have discovered.
Schools storing up cash surpluses to face fines
Published: 08 March 2007
Schools which save money by storing it away in their balances will face "fines" under a new blueprint devised by ministers.
Nursery children 'lack communication skills'
Published: 06 March 2007
Children are arriving for full-time primary school lessons weak in language, literacy and communication because teachers are spending too little time on the three Rs in the early years of their education, according to a report by inspectors published today.
Parents likely to oppose new faith-based schools
Published: 06 March 2007
Parents are more likely to campaign against new faith schools than for them, according to research.
Teachers fail to understand black pupils, charity warns
Published: 04 March 2007
A legal charity has called for teachers to receive better cultural training to work with black pupils, following the publication of an official report identifying the existence of "institutional racism" in some schools.
Second council adopts school place lottery scheme
Published: 03 March 2007
A second council is using a controversial lottery system to determine allocations to its most popular schools, it has emerged.
Plan to levy fines on parents of truants 'are in disarray'
Published: 03 March 2007
A government plan to levy fixed-term penalty fines on parents of truants is in disarray, according to research.
Angry parents plan court action over lottery for school places
Published: 02 March 2007
Parents are planning a High Court bid to stop a council introducing a lottery scheme for allocating secondary school places.
Education class war
Published: 01 March 2007
Thousands of schools set to follow Brighton
Published: 01 March 2007
Growing numbers of state schools are expected to back the introduction of a lottery to determine who wins places at the top-performing secondaries.
Parents divided by lottery in Brighton's 'golden halo'
Published: 01 March 2007
Sue Benge admits she made a tactical decision to buy a house only minutes from a high-achieving school so that her daughters would be guaranteed admission to one of the most over-subscribed comprehensives in Brighton.
Education Diary
Published: 01 March 2007
When the controversial top-up fee law passed through parliament in 2003, the Government assured waverers that, over the course of a working lifetime, graduates would earn an average of £400,000 more than non-graduates. Now the official figure is £150,000.
The Big Question: Should schools use lotteries to decide the allocation of places?
Published: 01 March 2007
Why are we asking the question now?
Parents face lottery for school places
Published: 28 February 2007
A Labour-run council has become the first in England to choose to run a lottery for places at popular schools to stop middle-class parents dominating the best secondaries.
Grammar schools thrive despite Labour pledge
Published: 28 February 2007
The number of pupils taught in grammar schools has soared dramatically since Labour came to power - provoking uproar both within the party and among parents' groups.
Faith schools accused of 'back-door selection'
Published: 26 February 2007
Church schools are creaming off the brightest pupils through their admissions procedures, according to new research.
Universities risk fines for taking in too many students
Published: 24 February 2007
Many of England's most popular universities may risk incurring government "fines" this autumn by recruiting more students than they are allowed.
Big rise in home education
Published: 24 February 2007
Soaring numbers of parents are teaching their children at home because they are not happy with the quality of state education, according to government research.
Academies criticised over maths and English results
Published: 23 February 2007
Tony Blair's flagship academies are criticised today for their poor performance in maths and English exams.
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