OFFICIAL: SOME A-LEVEL SUBJECTS ARE HARDER THAN OTHERS

7/1/2008 7:20:00 AM

The Independent 1 July

Ministers are trying to persuade more youngsters to take up "Stem" subjects ? science, technology, engineering and maths.A-levels in maths and science are far harder than in subjects like media studies, large-scale research commissioned by the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society has found. The findings put a question mark both over the value of A-level grades and the Ucas points system, which determines university places for thousands of students every year. Ucas gives the same point score for every subject.An analysis of 250,000 A-level results from 2006 by researchers from Durham University reveals that a pupil would be likely to get a pass two grades higher in "soft" subjects – such as general studies, business studies or even English – than in maths and science.The researchers conclude that "from a moral perspective, it is clear this is unfair". They warn that scores of students may miss out on university because they have chosen a harder subject.The study follows years in which experts have disagreed over the relative difficulties of subjects. Ministers are trying to persuade more youngsters to take up "Stem" subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – at university level to provide the skills the UK needs.

Independent

STUDY REVEALS A-LEVEL DISPARITY

FT 1 JulySome A-levels are up to three grades harder than others, according to research that will heighten fears among parents that children are penalised for studying tough subjects.The research from Durham University’s well-regarded Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre, provoked warnings from educationalists that schoolchildren were being put off subjects such as physics, because it was harder to obtain good grades. The numbers taking physics at A-level have been falling. Robert Coe, one of the report’s authors, told the Financial Times the most extreme example was the three-grade gap between A-Levels in further maths and film studies – the difference between an A and a D. Mr Coe said: “I can’t see how anyone could claim that all A-levels are equally difficult. If universities and employers treat all grades as equivalent they will select the wrong applicants.”Most universities choose students partly by looking at total Ucas points – the common currency for measuring the worth of qualifications. Ucas, the charity that processes most undergraduate applications, awards the same marks for an A grade regardless of subject. Michael Reiss, director of education at the Royal Society, Britain’s leading independent science organisation, said: “The worry is that some good students are put off taking maths and science A-levels because it’s harder to get a good grade in them. Anything that discourages students from taking these subjects, which are so important for the future prosperity of the UK, is bad news.”The research was funded by the Royal Society and Institute of Physics, another independent organisation that lobbies for the science.FT

Lead Story | Curriculum / Quality Assurance

RURAL DIPLOMAS TO GET EXTRA HELP

7/1/2008 7:22:00 AM

BBC 30 June

Pupils on Diploma courses in rural areas of England may have to board at alternative learning centres far from home, a government report has warned. The nature of the courses, to be rolled out from September 2008, mean children will have to move between schools, colleges and the workplace. The report found rural schools faced extra barriers as distances between them were much greater than in towns. The government has announced a £23m package to help with their extra costs. The report, Delivering 14-19 reforms in rural areas, highlights "particular challenges" for schools offering the new Diplomas in non-urban areas. BBC

Curriculum / Quality Assurance

EDUCATION POLICY 'LEAVING CHILDREN INTELLECTUALLY IMPOVERISHED'

7/1/2008 8:45:00 AM

Daily Telegraph 1 July

Education policy in England is leading to the "cultural and intellectual impoverishment" of a generation of school children, a leading headmistress has warned. The introduction of new-style courses - teaching children how to use English and mathematics in the work place - has been at the expense of academic rigour, said Bernice McCabe, head of the independent North London Collegiate School. She said children's enjoyment of subjects at school had taken a back seat in recent years as ministers use education as a vehicle to boost their basic skills. Mrs McCabe, whose school gained the best A-level results in the country in last year's Daily Telegraph league table, condemned the "woolliness" of the present system in which subjects were "relegated to the bottom of the pile".DT

Curriculum / Quality Assurance

PHYSICS TEACHING UNDER THREAT IN ENGLAND'S SCHOOLS

7/1/2008 8:46:00 AM

Daily Telegraph 1 July

The future of physics lessons in England's schools is under threat because of a growing lack of people training to teach the subject, a report has warned. New research has found that almost one in four secondary schools in England no longer has any specialist physics teachers. Applications to physics teacher training courses have slumped by 27 per cent in the last year. And half of physics teachers have only a GCSE or A-level in the subject despite being expected to prepare pupils for university, the report claims. DT

Curriculum / Quality Assurance

REVIEW FOR EARLY LEARNING GOALS

7/1/2008 7:23:00 AM

BBC ;30 June

A review of two key goals on literacy levels among young children in England has been announced - two months before they were due to come into effect. Ministers wanted all five-year-olds to be able to write simple words and make attempts at more complex ones. They also wanted them to be able to write their own names and begin to use simple sentences, sometimes with punctuation, by September 2008. But evidence suggests only 46% can do the first, and some 30% the second. Government education adviser Sir Jim Rose has been asked to consider, as part of his primary review, how appropriate these aims are for children at around the age of five. It will also look at evidence showing when it is realistic for children to achieve them and how best to ensure children progress well between reception class and the first full year of primary. BBC

Curriculum / Quality Assurance | Foundation

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE

7/1/2008 8:47:00 AM

The Guardian 1 July

The latest quango has been instructed to help simplify further education. Where on earth will it start? Peter Kingston reports .Question: why are the government's skills initiatives like those celebrated Dalmation puppies of the big screen?Answer: there are 101 of them and they can be very tricky to tell apart. At least, that is the recurrent complaint from the business world.So hard have employers bent the government's ear about the complexity of the skills landscape and the problems they have navigating it, that the command has come from the highest level that something must be done urgently to put it right.The prime minister and the chancellor have both made it clear to the recently formed UK Commission on Employability and Skills (Ukces) that this has to be its priority. By Christmas, the quango must have delivered to Downing Street an initial report on how it intends to tackle the matter.Ukces was set up to provide industry with a more effective voice and to get a better idea of employers' training needs. And now, says its chief executive, Chris Humphries, industry has come back loud and clear."It's been identified by the employers we have on the commission, by the Business Council of Britain and by the CBI [Confederation of British Industry] and British Chambers of Commerce [BCC] as their biggest single concern about the employment and skills system, namely that it's complex and it's hard," he says."Employers right across the board ask us: Have you tried to understand this system? Have you experienced how many requests or how many different organisations cross our desks seeking to involve us in education, and yet have you experienced what it's like as an employer to try to get engaged in something and to pick up the phone?"Guardian

FE/HE/ Skills

QUALITY: EASY TO SAY, HARDER TO PUT INTO PRACTICE

7/1/2008 8:48:00 AM

Peter Williams; The Guardian 1 July

It has been interesting to watch in recent days how the question of higher education quality and standards has been seized upon with glee by those wishing to badmouth the work of our universities and colleges. The Quality Assurance Agency's publication of three of its routine analytical reports on aspects of quality assurance observed during our institutional audit visits from 2006 to 2008 has given rise to a crescendo of accusations.Some may say that QAA itself has been responsible for this, but that would be to misread the messages we have sent to the HE sector. In case there's any doubt, the QAA believes that standards in UK higher education are robust, and that our procedures (and those of the institutions themselves) regularly and repeatedly demonstrate the strength of academic quality and standards throughout a very diverse system. That is not the same as saying that everything is perfect and there is room for complacency. In such a complex world as higher education, the old is replaced by the new in ever-decreasing timeframes. New challenges need new solutions, and HE institutions are facing up to this with an impressive willingness.But new challenges are exactly that: they offer difficult choices and require difficult decisions. It is easy to make the wrong one, and hard sometimes to put it right afterwards. Universities and colleges need to look carefully at the consequences of their policy decisions. Most do this very well, but some may occasionally be less assiduous. And of course, if any worrying signs do emerge in individual cases, it is important that these are flagged up at the first opportunity.Guardian

FE/HE/ Skills

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OFFICIAL: SOME A-LEVEL SUBJECTS ARE HARDER THAN OTHERS

RURAL DIPLOMAS TO GET EXTRA HELP

EDUCATION POLICY 'LEAVING CHILDREN INTELLECTUALLY IMPOVERISHED'

PHYSICS TEACHING UNDER THREAT IN ENGLAND'S SCHOOLS

REVIEW FOR EARLY LEARNING GOALS

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE

QUALITY: EASY TO SAY, HARDER TO PUT INTO PRACTICE

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