The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan) has approved the opening of a so-called ‘annexe’ to the Weald of Kent grammar school. The subterfuge of calling the new school for 450 pupils an annexe despite being 10 miles away in Sevenoaks fools no one. Even the Telegraph puts annex in scare quotes: The school […]
Posts under ‘Education’
Lucy Powell needs to explain if Labour aims to end selection or just to limit it
Oct 20th, 2015 by David Pavett.Grammar schools do nothing to promote social mobility
Oct 19th, 2015 by John Bolt.Last week it was announced that the first new grammar school in a long time is to be opened in Kent. It’s using a loophole in the law by claiming that it’s really an expansion of an existing school – even though they’re nine miles apart. Apparently, in order to prove it’s one school, kids will […]
Academies and Free Schools – A failed experiment in education
Oct 8th, 2015 by Naomi Fearon.As of June 2015 there are over four thousand academies in England. Originally introduced by New Labour back in 2000 in order to support failing schools in socially deprived areas, academies have long since remained a controversial topic. Touted by governments as the miraculous magic answer to improving standards and loathed quite rightly by teaching […]
Corbyn’s National Education Service will not be won without a fight
Oct 6th, 2015 by James Elliott.The issue of tuition fees has been thrown into the spotlight since party conference, after comments made by the new Higher Education, Further Education and Skills shadow minister and MP for Blackpool South, Gordon Marsden, that “nothing is ruled in, nothing is ruled out” on university funding. I attended the fringe meeting, and while it […]
Cameron-Osborne’s vendetta against the young could prove their downfall
Aug 16th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.Osborne really has got it in for young people – unless of course they are poised to inherit their grandparents’ £1 million home or will benefit from a higher inheritance tax threshold. It will be young people who cop it from changes to universal credit that will deduct benefits faster as they earn more. That […]
We should all share Jeremy Corbyn’s vision for education
Aug 10th, 2015 by Naomi Fearon.Recently we have seen Jeremy Corbyn announce his proposal for a National Education Service. This proposal is based around what Jeremy sees as the fundamental and underlying principle of education which is, “A collective good that empowers society and the economy”. It is worth noting that our education system has undergone some changes these last few […]
Leading student campaigners reject Burnham and Cooper’s ‘graduate tax’
Aug 10th, 2015 by Newsdesk.Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper’s attempts to impress upon students and win them away from the surging Jeremy Corbyn have been dismissed immediately by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC). The NCAFC, which was founded in 2010 and has been the organiser of every major demonstration for the abolition of tuition fees since […]
What will become of Further Education? FE in crisis
Jul 24th, 2015 by Naomi Fearon.There have been further concerns this week regards the financial sustainability and future over our FE provision, with a recent report by the NAO (National Audit Office) showing that just over a half of colleges are in deficit. The head of NAO Amyas Morse stated that, “The further education college sector is experiencing rapidly declining financial […]
Jeremy Corbyn’s free education pledge is popular, affordable and the right thing to do
Jul 21st, 2015 by James McAsh.Corbyn’s first policy announcement was to scrap tuition fees and restore the maintenance grants that many students rely on for their rent and food. It was costed at £10bn and two separate strategies were put forward for how to pay for it: slowing down the deficit reduction or raising the revenue through corporation tax and […]
Labour’s timid education manifesto – and what it must include next time
Jul 13th, 2015 by Naomi Fearon.Our education eystem has undergone a severe and vicious ideological assault since 2010 with teacher morale at all-time lows, a rise in child mental health issues due to over testing and a teacher recruitment crisis to name but a few. Never was there such an education Secretary that provoked such vitriol and contempt than Michael […]