Unconditional love: the university offers pupils can’t refuse

August 14, 2017, 11:00 pm

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More A-level students than ever have received unconditional offers, many at the last minute. But is it always a good thing?
• University clearing guide 2017

With A-level results looming on Thursday, 18-year-old Ashley Ford is feeling more confident about the future than many of her friends. In February two universities, Plymouth and Hull, offered her unconditional place, regardless of what she scored in her A-levels. She jumped at a guaranteed chance to go to Plymouth, a city she already loved.

“I didn’t consider Hull as I didn’t want to go there,” she says. “But when I got the offer from Plymouth I felt so special. I felt they had really chosen me and I accepted them as my firm choice straight away.”

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Play on: how video games are changing the way we coach youth football

July 24, 2018, 11:30 pm

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The pioneer of ‘the video game approach to coaching’ explains why kids are being taught to transfer skills from Fifa to the pitch

The youth of yesterday will vividly remember playing football in the street: concrete-grazed knees, picking up the ball to get out of the way of oncoming traffic, sprinting home at half-time for dinner. But football and the environment it is played in are different for today’s kids.

The majority of the next generation of professional footballers hone their talents at grassroots clubs against a backdrop of chatter about Pokemon GO, Fifa Ultimate Team and Fortnite dance celebrations. For young people, video games aren’t just a hobby but a part of life. With that in mind, perhaps encouraging children to engage in sport using terminology and processes they’re already familiar with may be a good way to improve both participation levels and sporting excellence.

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Rise in unconditional offers prompts call for university admissions overhaul

July 25, 2018, 4:01 pm

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Ucas says 23% of this year’s school leavers have had at least one unconditional offer

The number of students receiving unconditional offers for university places has leapt again this year, prompting calls for an overhaul of the UK’s convoluted and unreliable university admissions process.

Ucas figures show that nearly one in four 18-year-olds applying from England, Wales and Northern Ireland have received an unconditional offer – meaning they can accept an undergraduate place without meeting the A-level or BTech grades predicted by their teachers.

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The free speech panic: how the right concocted a crisis

July 25, 2018, 10:00 pm

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Snowflake students have become the target of a new rightwing crusade. But exaggerated claims of censorship reveal a deeper anxiety at the core of modern conservatism. By William Davies

Everyone knows free speech is under attack in the UK. Revelling in their own victimhood, “snowflake” students not only refuse to debate ideas they disagree with, but actively seek to silence them. News outlets that challenge liberal opinion, such as the Daily Mail, become targets for online campaigns and boycotts. An entire generation of “millennials” is leaving university and entering the workforce without the emotional resilience to cope with disagreement. The danger posed by the “student Stasi” isn’t just tyranny on campus: core enlightenment values of individual liberty and reason are under threat.

This alarming narrative can now be found in news stories, political speeches and op-ed columns in Britain on a daily basis. A rising sense of panic has accelerated during the past three or four years, thanks to a succession of student “no-platforming” protests, targeting Germaine Greer, Boris Johnson, Peter Tatchell and Jacob Rees-Mogg, among others. The 2015 campaign to remove a statue of the imperialist Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College Oxford was quickly framed as evidence that student campaigns were seeking to rewrite history. The same year, the libertarian website Spiked launched a Free Speech University Ranking, which led to a Telegraph headline declaring “the suppression of free speech in university campuses is reaching epidemic levels”.

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How to appeal if you fail at university

January 8, 2013, 2:18 am

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Many students are preparing for January exams right now. But what will they do if their results aren't what they'd hoped for?

What do you do if you fail a university exam, or worse still, get thrown off your course completely? Usually you accept the verdict and admit that the work you produced wasn't up to scratch. But what if you are convinced you have a really good reason why you shouldn't have failed?

Here are my top tips, gleaned from first-hand experience as a barrister, for students who want to appeal without getting professional assistance.

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T-levels will not be quickly forgotten | Letter from Anne Milton MP, apprenticeships and skills minister

June 15, 2018, 8:49 am

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Apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton responds to Fiona Millar’s piece on the new qualifications

In Fiona Millar’s opinion piece on the new T-levels, I find myself in agreement with her. The divide between academic and technical education does need bridging. For far too long technical education has been sidelined; initiatives taken by successive governments, as she sets out, had their heart in the right place but ultimately failed to create technical routes that are the equal of A-levels and provision in our world-class universities.

But Ms Millar’s pessimism around T-levels will prove misplaced (‘T-levels are the latest in a series of quickly forgotten vocational qualifications that come and go’, 12 June). To improve technical education for every child, we need to truly shake up the system. In designing the new system we have looked carefully at previous reforms, along with Lord Sainsbury’s review of what works well in the best international systems, so we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. T-levels are the biggest reform of technical education for over 70 years. So what makes them different? We have put employers and business in the driving seat; they are at the heart of the design of T-levels – working with us to develop course content, provide industry placements and ultimately employ the skilled workforce that T-levels will produce.

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Top ten nursery rhymes

October 6, 2009, 3:35 am

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Booktrust asked 2,500 poeple to name their favourite nursery rhyme. All together now ... here are the top 10 Continue reading...

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Teachers must ditch 'neuromyth' of learning styles, say scientists

March 12, 2017, 5:01 pm

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Eminent academics from worlds of neuroscience, education and psychology voice concerns over popularity of method

Teaching children according to their individual “learning style” does not achieve better results and should be ditched by schools in favour of evidence-based practice, according to leading scientists.

Thirty eminent academics from the worlds of neuroscience, education and psychology have signed a letter to the Guardian voicing their concern about the popularity of the learning style approach among some teachers.

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Pupils face emotional return as school next to Grenfell Tower reopens

July 26, 2018, 2:58 am

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Despite opposition, Kensington Aldridge says building is safe and students will be supported

Pupils who were displaced from their school by the Grenfell Tower fire more than a year ago are to move back to the site at the start of the next academic year, despite opposition from some families who feel it’s too soon to return.

Kensington Aldridge academy’s (KAA) £26m state-of-the-art building has stood empty for more than a year following the fire in June 2017. The school decamped to a temporary site just over a mile away, leaving forensic investigators to work on what remains of the tower block, which looms over the school playground.

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Let's stop pretending students are a threat to free speech

July 26, 2018, 3:16 am

≫ Next: Universities are bribing students with unconditional offers | Robert Allison

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When students tried to start a conversation about race by painting over a mural featuring Kipling’s poem If, they were wilfully misconstrued

The free speech panic: how the right concocted a crisis

When students at Manchester University recently painted over a mural featuring Rudyard Kipling’s poem If, backlash was swift. Commentators branded the students “snowflakes”, their actions akin to “vandalism” and their motives “asinine”, part of a broader movement to “erase controversial figures from campuses”. Others balked at the notion that Kipling’s poem, a perennial British favourite, could be considered “offensive to minorities” – Serena Williams likes it, so it can’t be racist!

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Universities are bribing students with unconditional offers | Robert Allison

July 26, 2018, 3:56 am

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In their desperation to secure ‘bums on seats’, some universities are killing academic endeavour and damaging career prospects

Universities are counting down the days to the publication of this year’s A-level results. Nearly one in four of the students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland who applied to university will have a guaranteed place through an unconditional offer. This isn’t something to be celebrated.

New Ucas statistics for the 2018 cycle show the number of unconditional offers made to 18-year-olds in England, Northern Ireland and Wales has risen by nearly a third and accounts for 7.1% of all offers. More than 42,000 of those offers were selected by students as their firm choice and a further 9,185 as insurance choices.

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UK university accused of giving platform to Nord Stream 2 lobbyist

July 26, 2018, 5:18 am

≫ Next: Yes, school exclusions are up. But zero-tolerance policies are not to blame | Tom Bennett

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King’s College London ‘lending appearance of neutrality’ to businessman with energy links

One of the UK’s most prestigious universities is facing allegations that it is providing a platform for lobbying on behalf of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline project between Germany and Russia.

The German watchdog LobbyControl has accused King’s College London of lending an appearance of neutrality to a former German MP whose company has commercial contracts with Nord Stream 2 and an energy firm which stands to profit from the infrastructure project across the Baltic Sea.

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Yes, school exclusions are up. But zero-tolerance policies are not to blame | Tom Bennett

July 26, 2018, 10:08 am

≫ Next: Are we heading towards universities' #MeToo moment? | Athene Donald

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Asking schools to keep on disruptive pupils is wrong-headed. Progress lies in more positive, respectful environments

The education select committee this week claimed that rising rates of school exclusions amount to a “scandal”. MPs pointed the finger at several culprits for the growing number of children being temporarily or permanently excluded from school, most notably the rise of so-called “zero tolerance” behaviour policies.

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Are we heading towards universities' #MeToo moment? | Athene Donald

July 26, 2018, 11:30 pm

≫ Next: Universities want ‘bums on seats’ because you created a market, minister | Smita Jamdar

≪ Previous: Yes, school exclusions are up. But zero-tolerance policies are not to blame | Tom Bennett

The next step in eradicating sexism from science is for colleagues to start calling out harassment when they see it

It’s a sad truth in the science world that hierarchical structures have permitted harassment to thrive. Inherent power imbalances between supervisor and PhD student or between professor and postdoc make an informal challenge to inappropriate behaviour terrifying. And it can feel career-threatening to the victim, since one’s research outputs and letters of reference are likely to be damaged.

When this is combined with universities’ reluctance to tackle the problem head-on – particularly when the professor in question has an international reputation and a huge grant income – the situation can become dire. The victim(s) can be left unsupported while the alleged perpetrator gets off scot-free.

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Universities want ‘bums on seats’ because you created a market, minister | Smita Jamdar

July 27, 2018, 3:00 am

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The rise in unconditional offers has upset the universities minister. Perhaps he should speak to his colleagues about it

On Thursday Sam Gyimah, the universities minister, bemoaned the rise of unconditional offers as a “bums on seats” approach to higher education that “undermines the credibility of the university system”. He was referring to new Ucas figures that show that almost one in four 18-year-olds applying to university in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have received at least one unconditional offer – meaning they are accepted on to a course regardless of what grades they end up getting – up from just 1% back in 2013.

The other worry often expressed is that A-level students with an unconditional offer may ease up in their efforts to get the best-possible grades in the last few months of their schooling.

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Fewer children walk or cycle to school despite air pollution fears

July 27, 2018, 6:13 am

≫ Next: UK student satisfaction continues to fall amid debt and strikes

≪ Previous: Universities want ‘bums on seats’ because you created a market, minister | Smita Jamdar

The government’s latest National Travel Survey reveals that more parents are using cars for school run amid mounting evidence of health harms

The proportion of parents who drive their children to school rather than walk or cycle is on the rise despite growing concerns about the impact of air pollution on young people’s health.

New figures from the government’s National Travel Survey show that the percentage of primary school children who walk or cycle in England fell from 53% to 51% in 2017.

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UK student satisfaction continues to fall amid debt and strikes

July 27, 2018, 9:06 am

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National survey shows students in London are particularly unhappy about their courses

Concerns over graduate debt and strikes on many campuses may have dented students’ satisfaction with their courses, according to the results of a national survey, with students at some of London’s most prestigious institutions among the most unhappy.

The national student survey (NSS), which recorded the views of 340,000 people studying at 400 universities and colleges across the UK, found 83% were satisfied with their course, below the 84% recorded in 2017 and 86% in 2016.

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Taking a gap year? Here’s what you need to know about money

July 27, 2018, 11:00 pm

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It’s crucial to read the small print on everything from insurance and cards to your mobile

School’s out and the world is your oyster. Each year thousands of school leavers and graduates pack their backpacks and head off to sunnier climes. But it pays to study your finances before you jet off.

Gap-year travellers need to read the small print on everything from debit card charges to travel insurance to make sure their trip abroad doesn’t turn into an expensive mistake.

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Bale, Warburton and now Geraint Thomas: the state school on a fast track to sporting glory

July 28, 2018, 11:00 am

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The Team Sky cyclist is part of an amazing array of talent to hail from a comprehensive in Cardiff

The hall of fame in Wales’s largest comprehensive school is about 15 metres long. Almost every centimetre is covered with carefully framed photographs of current and former students – including Real Madrid footballer Gareth Bale and former Welsh rugby international Sam Warburton– excelling in everything from bowls and shooting to swimming and athletics.

But Whitchurch high school in north Cardiff will have to make space for one more picture if, as expected, another former pupil, Geraint Thomas, crosses the finish line on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Sunday evening to become the first Welshman and only the third British rider to win cycling’s most prestigious road race since it began in 1903.

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