2) ITMA

The Sutton Trust has been at it again, with 2 interesting reports and accompanying press coverage.

The first report http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/28/education-adivce found that at least half the education and careers advice young people receive is in some way inadequate. I’m sure colleagues at The Brightside Trust would agree with this finding, and with the recommendation that sound advice about subject choices is central to raising the aspirations of disadvantaged pupils. The full report entitled Increasing higher education participation amongst disadvantaged young people and schools in poor communities can be found at http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/NCEE_interim_report.pdf I was particularly interested in the finding that disadvantaged pupils who gain A levels are just as likely to go onto higher education as their peers. This would suggest to me that the important educational battleground for the immediate future should be that of increasing the numbers of students from a disadvantaged background studying for qualifications which would then qualify them for higher education. The new diplomas should be central to this, as students could begin studying for a diploma as an end in itself, but then develop an awareness of how it could be a passport into higher education as they engaged in the program. All the more disappointing then that the implementation of the diploma program has been so pedestrian and uninspired http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7668045.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/14/1419education-furthereducation1

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/new-diplomas-are-a-complete-flop-960328.html For a group of people who say they are driven by ‘what works’ they seem to be peculiarly unable to learn from the history of vocational education in the UK.

Another report from the Sutton Trust

As you can see, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7663568.stm the emphasis of the press coverage was that Grammar schools take relatively fewer bright, poor pupils than schools that do not select by ability. The report is available at http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/GrammarsReviewSummary.pdf I know the Sutton Trust has a long-term interest in grammar schools but for me it was another discovery, that the vast majority of England's most socially selective state secondary schools are non-grammars, which trumped the findings about the grammars. This should pose some hard questions for the schools adjudicator, as it is congruent with government’s own survey, published in April, which showed a disproportionate number of faith schools broke admissions rules. The poll examined 106 voluntary-aided schools. Some 96 were found in breach of the new admissions code. Of these, 87 were faith schools. Overall, half of all school authorities in England have been said to be in breach of the new admissions code http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/09/schooladmissions.faithschools