Posts tagged MPs
The Guardian: Tory MPs back ditching GCSE exams in English school system overhaul
The Guardian: Tory MPs back ditching GCSE exams in English school system overhaul

Covid-19 crisis has allowed for a radical rethink of education system, says One Nation group.

The disruption caused by the coronavirus allows for a “radical” rethink of England’s school system, according to a group of Conservative MPs who advocate scrapping GCSEs, delaying the start of formal education and introducing longer school days.

A paper from the One Nation caucus of centrist Conservative MPs is the latest assault on GCSEs, arguing that England is unusual in making teenagers sit two sets of high-stakes exams within the space of three years, and that this is partly responsible for high levels of stress and unhappiness among pupils.

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Education, Exam Results, Family, Health, Lockdown, Media Article, Mental Health, PandemicSarah NorrisLando EducationLando Education, Lando, Tory MPs, MPs, Tories, Conservatives, GCSE, exams, school system, school, overhaul, Covid19, pandemic, scrapping GCSEs, radical, disruption, formal education, Flick Drummond, teenagers, MP for Meon Valley, the Children’s Society, baccalaureate, A-levels, vocational qualifications, coalition of state and independent school leaders, independent school leaders, state school leaders, One Nation group, One Nation, children, opportunities, Cherilyn Mackrory, MP for Truro and Falmouth, schoolingComment
The Times: School funding ‘unfair to poor white pupils’
The Times: School funding ‘unfair to poor white pupils’

Poor white children do significantly worse at school in part because education funding is targeted at larger cities with more ethnically diverse populations, academics have argued.

They accused the Department for Education of making it difficult for experts to analyse underachievement by white pupils because this “did not align” with the government’s focus.

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Charity, Education, Exam Results, Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationThe Times, media article, Lando, Lando Education, school, school funding, London, London boroughs, Department for Education, Poor white children, University of Plymouth, academics, MPsComment
the Times: China tries to gag UK universities
the Times: China tries to gag UK universities

The Chinese government has attempted to curb criticism on British campuses of its regime by pressuring universities into limiting academic freedom, MPs have said.

“Alarming” evidence of Chinese interference has been found by the Commons foreign affairs committee, which says that it appears to be coming from the embassy in London.

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Education, Higher Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando Educationuniversity, China, Chinese Government, academic freedom, academic, MPs, GovernmentComment
The Times: The other Brexit effect: more pupils see a future in politics
The Times: The other Brexit effect: more pupils see a future in politics

It can sometimes feel as though Brexit has triggered only frustration and fury in a country that barely used to think about the mechanics of the EU.

But analysis of the subjects chosen by children for their GCSEs, A-levels and degrees shows that the 2016 referendum result has had one unexpected effect — a huge increase in the number of young people studying politics.

The number of teenagers sitting the subject at A-level has jumped from 14,195 in 2016 to 18,240 this year.

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Higher Education, Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationThe Times, MPs, training, teenagers, a'levels, Brexit, EUComment