1 Stunning: well, it should be

Last year, only 176, of the nearly 30,000 pupils who got three grade As at A-level were eligible for free school meals: that’s ½ of 1% ! http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2259334,00.html Now, based on my personal experience and anecdotal evidence, I suspect that at least some of those golden 176 were children of recent asylum seekers and refugees; also, I suspect that a few will have been at private schools on scholarship programs for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Consequently, I’m left wondering if any of the 176 who gained 3 As came through the mainstream school system. I might try and get a friendly Tory MP to ask the question. Perhaps that’s why Blair used to say education, education, education – there were three of them.

2 Crisis, what crisis?

The public accounts committee (PAC) recently reviewed university dropout rates and their report was generally critical of the efforts being made by the universities http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3423483.ece . The headline of their investigation was that nearly 25% of students fail to complete their degree courses and that course drop-out was more prevalent amongst students from disadvantaged backgrounds; that despite many millions of pounds being spent by universities to supposedly address the failure rate, which had not improved over time http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/leading-article-dropout-waste-784623.html . Problem, what problem, seemed to be the view from HEFCE http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/news/story/0,,2259840,00.html

3 Mistake

Under the new legislation, the government are going to allow some young people to leave education and training before the age of 18 if they can show they are in difficult personal circumstances http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7258913.stm. In my opinion, the government seem to have learnt nothing from the experience of incapacity benefit. Building in these exceptions is a bad idea; it will mean the very types of people who are now teenage NEETs will remain so, as they will leave the education system of the back of one of these exceptions. Yes, it will be hard to keep all young people in education and/or training until 18 but that was bound to be the case. We didn’t need a legislative change to keep those in education who would remain in it anyway. Government should stiffen its resolve, and remember what happened when education leaving dates were raised in the past – within a couple of years they became generally accepted.

4 Strength through work

I thought this was a good example of the arguments about single parents in employment http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/feb/23/workandcareers.familyfinance. Note the calculation at the end, which shows how essential the in-work benefits are to make work pay, even at this marginal level. This cost is important when calculating the cost of single parents working to the rest of society. I often find that liberal advocates of tax credits are shy about the costs of these schemes. I calculate that this person’s untaxed income without benefits would be £88.32 gross, way below the level of benefits income; it has to be toped-up with negative income tax and housing benefit, to make the worker marginally better off. I’m not against the project; I just don’t think we can hide this truth as it has major consequences for the welfare budget as a whole.

5 Advice

The need for better advice, earlier, seems to be the recurring finding of analyses of educational opportunities and stories of stymied choice. Indeed, is this the real secret of private schooling? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/conor-ryan-pupils-need-better-advice-on-their-options-784622.html

6 It was good enough for the Foreign Secretary and Nance

A study claims to show that middle class kids do educationally OK even when they attend less fashionable comprehensive schools. I know it is asking a lot of parents or guardians to make such a choice and possibly sad that their children’s good performance seems to be because they stick with their own, but it would make schooling in the UK so much easier if everyone did it. http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2258392,00.html

7 Your call is valuable to us

While there has been much debate recently about top grade A levels and elite universities, in my opinion, the equally important arena for improving skills and educational qualifications in the UK, that of the workplace has tended to be neglected. This article considers the practical advantages and costs that someone working in a call centre faces when considering investing in a work based qualification http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/feb/18/2