University student number controls confirmed

The Higher Education Funding Council for England has confirmed that 20,000 places will be removed from the historical allocated student numbers of universities for next year, when the new fees regime begins.

Universities will be able to bid to regain these places but only if they are charging net fees of less than £7,500 (the average fee set by English universities is £8,509).

The new market in student places was announced in the White Paper in June but only after most universities had already set their fees for 2012-13, leading many to complain the government was moving the goalposts.

 HEFCE also confirmed that universities will be able to recruit unrestricted numbers of students who attain A-Level grades of A,A, B (or equivalent).

The full announcement can be found here: www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2011/11_30/

Shabana Mahmood MP, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, has accused the government of creating a “race to the bottom” by shifting student places to lower-charging universities and FE colleges.

She added: “To make things worse the government is pressing ahead with these proposals even though it hasn’t yet responded to the consultation to the White Paper which floated these ideas…

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17 Oct 2011

New head of Ofsted - too close to government?

 The new head of Ofsted and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools for England is to be Sir Michael Wilshaw, although he has first to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee.

 Sir Michael Wilshaw has long been the poster-boy of the Schools Secretary, Michael Gove. The latter frequently mentions and quotes the success Sir Michael has had in leading the Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, London. Mind you, Sir Michael - who was knighted in 2000 - was also pretty popular with the last Labour government. 

ARK takeover?

Sir Michael is an enthusiast for academies and is Director of Education at ARK, which runs 9 academies and 2 free schools. Indeed, ARK seems to be taking over the education world: Ofsted's chair, Sally Morgan, has been an advisor to the charity's global board and the Chair of Ofqual, the exams regulator, is the Director of Research and Policy at ARK.

Disciplinarian

I have met Sir Michael a few times and visited his school some time ago. He is renowned  for running a tight ship. He believes in strong discipline and is an enthusiast for strict rules on school uniform. He has had great academic success at Mossbourne, although neighbouring schools have…

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14 Oct 2011 1 comments - read and reply.

Winners of O2 Learn video competition are...

The winners of the O2 Learn teachers' video competition have been announced this afternoon. They are:

1st Prize of £150,000 goes to .... Rocket Science (Sharmila Hanson, Bishopwand Church of England School, Sunbury on Thames)

2nd Prize of £60,000 goes to ...  Sociology (Claire Corrigan and Salim Ramen, Oldham Sixth Form College, Oldham)

3rdPrize of £30,000 goes to ...  Matters of Life and Death (Mr A and Mr C, Sprowston Community High School, Norwich)

The final outcome was determined, as in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, by the joint verdict of the voting public and the judges. As one of those judges (and I think I'm more Len Goodman than Bruno Tonioni or Craig Revel Horwood) I can happily report that all three were fantastic efforts showing tremedous ingenuity, innovation and a real sense of fun. It was no easy task choosing the top three and even harder ranking them in order.

You can view the winning videos here: www.o2learn.co.uk/

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14 Oct 2011 1 comments - read and reply.

Gove suggests limit on A* grades

The Schools Secretary, Michael Gove, has floated the idea of introducing a limit to the proportion of A-Level candidates who can receive an A* grade.

 Speaking at a London conference run by the qualifications watchdog, Ofqual, Mr Gove suggested there might be a case for returning to the old system of exam awarding in which only a set proportion of candidates can receive a specific grade.

This system - known as 'norm referencing' - was used for O and A Levels from the 1960s until the late 1980s. Then fewer than 10% of candidates could gain the top A grade at A Level each year as limits were set on the proportion of candidates at each level. Norm referencing was replaced by 'criterion referencing', in which an unlimited number of students could achieve a grade provided they had demonstrated they had reached the standard. (As an example, a driving test is a criterion referenced exam, with no limit on the number who can pass).

Mr Gove said he was not suggesting going back to norm referencing for all exams but added:' I ask if there's a case for the A* to be set for only a fixed percentage of candidates'.

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13 Oct 2011 1 comments - read and reply.

Where are the parent-led new Free Schools?

Parent-led groups appear to be in the minority of the latest batch of new Free Schools announced by the government today.

Of the 63 Free Schools already approved or in the pipeline to open in 2012 and 2013, 23 are being set up by existing schools, 2 are existing independent schools and 12 are being set up by faith groups.

Several more of the new Free Schools are being opened by charities that already run large 'chains' of academies. These include: ARK, E-E-ACT, and the Harris Federation

The rest are being opened by a variety of groups, some of them led by parents, but others led by teachers, charities and community groups.

A spokesman for the Department for Education says it is unable to give the exact number of parent-led proposals, as opposed to those that have some parents involved, at this stage. He added that the department hopes this 'will become clearer as each project develops'. He added: 'However, nearly all the community proposals have some parental involvement, even if they're not the main driving force'.

In 2007, when the Conservatives first seriously promoted their idea of free schools, they stressed that parents would be in the lead.  Their…

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11 Oct 2011 2 comments - read and reply.

How to make your classroom sparkle!

What is the essence of lively and effective teaching? What makes a 'sparkling classroom'? That is the question that former head teacher and HMI, Roy Blatchford, attempts to answer in the latest pamphlet in the Counterblasts series of pamphlets from the education charity and 'do-tank', the National Education Trust.

 Roy's pamphlet is not a polemic on how to improve teaching but an attempt to define what makes a classroom a vibrant learning environment. It's not a vast, impersonal how-to-teach manual but a 16-page collection of reflections, quotations, questions and suggestions. To order copies: www.amseducational.co.uk/index.php

Meanwhile the National Education Trust (of which I must declare an interest as a volunteer trustee) is running a new series of one-day courses in which Roy, who is also on the government's Teachers' Standards Review,  will help teachers to create their own 'sparkling classrooms'. The courses will be running in: Bristol (22nd November), Cleveland (24th November), Wallasey (6th December), and London (8th December).  More information at: www.nationaleducationtrust.net/SchoolEYICourses_Schools_SparklingClassrooms.php

The courses are initially for primary schools but are also available for secondary schools on request to the NET offices (see website for contact details: www.nationaleducationtrust.net/ContactUs_000.php).

The NET is a non-profit educational charity that provides advice,…

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05 Oct 2011 8 comments - read and reply.

Free-to-attend academies event

Still wanting to know more about what academy status entails before making that leap?  Well there's a free event in Bristol on November 10th that could help you make up your mind whether or not to make the transition.

Held at the Watershed on Bristol's historic dockside, the event is run by the Academy Network and is called: 'Autonomy in Education: the potential of academy status'.

I'll be chairing the day which includes workshops on staff development, legal matters, and leadership motivation. 

Judging by the previous event in this series, it's likely to be as valuable for those who've recently made the transition to academy status as for those still considering making the move.

You can register here: event.pingg.com/academy-network

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19 Sep 2011

Vote now for best teachers' videos

You have just over a week left to vote for the best teachers' video in the O2 Learn competition. There's big money at stake: the winning teacher gets £50,000 and their school will receive £100,000 to spend on improving learning.

The judges - myself, Phil Beadle, Sir Mark Grundy, Gav Thompson, and Camila Batmanghelidjh - have picked 8 finalists from the winners of the monthly competitions that have been running all year. You can view the finalists - and cast your vote - here:www.o2learn.co.uk/index.php 

It all works a bit like the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing (not that I like to admit having watched it...but my wife makes it compulsory viewing in our house) with the final verdict being decided by a combination of the public's vote and the judges' verdict.

I cannot reveal my views on the finalists at this stage other than to say there are some tremendous, and very professional, videos here. The idea was for teachers to make a short film (up to 10 minutes long) that would work as an online revision aide for their pupils.

Innovative and funny

The entries included some brilliantly innovative, entertaining, funny and  - above all - educational videos. 

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19 Sep 2011

Marc's Thai Half Marathon Run

My National Education Trust colleague, Marc Rowland, has achieved a wonderful double feat: finishing 5th in the Thai Half Marathon and raising around £1,000 for two cancer charities.

 Marc was raising money on behalf of two friends who have both been diagnosed with cancer. I was one of them and my chosen charity was a small , volunteer-run, integrated cancer care charity in Norfolk, called Starthrowers. 

You can read more about Marc's achievement here: www.mikebakereducation.co.uk/beatingcancer/34/marcs-fantastic-cancer-run-result

There's still time to donate, if you'd like to support a wonderful charity that is filling a big gap left by the NHS. Read about Starthrowers here: www.starthrowers.org.uk/

If you do donate please either let me know or mention that you were prompted by Marc's Thai half-marathon. 

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18 Sep 2011

Learning for pleasure - speech at Oxford Brookes University

 I was very honoured and flattered to made an Honorary Doctor of Education by Oxford Brookes University last weekend.

I was invited to give an address at the degree ceremony for the university's newest education graduates. It was a great pleasure to join them and their families for this event and I enjoyed talking to many of them afterwards.

A number of people kindly asked if they could get a copy of my speech, so - with some trepidation - I have pasted it below.

I say trepidation because the speech was far more personal than I had originally intended. It was certainly more personal than my usual journalistic writing. That's because my current experience of dealing with cancer had prompted me into a rewrite to accommodate a newly heartfelt belief in the value of learning for its own sake and for the sheer pleasure of learning. 

Address at the Graduation Ceremony, Oxford Brookes University September 10th 2011

"Pro-Vice Chancellor, distinguished ladies and gentlemen and most importantly, graduates….

It’s a pleasure to be here with you…

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12 Sep 2011 8 comments - read and reply.

Social mobility tsar demands university admissions reform

 The former Labour Cabinet minister, Alan Milburn - who was appointed last year as social mobility tsar to the coalition government - has told universities they must do more to improve the fairness of student admissions. 

Addressing the Universities UK annual conference, he said access to university 'remains inequitable' with 'social class still determining who gets into universities generally and the top universities in particular'.

He urged university leaders to 'summon up the courage to get out and make a positive argument for change'. But, referring to the controversy surrounding so-called 'social engineering', he added this had to be done openly, not surreptitiously.

He said that, despite some progress in recent years,  young people from lower income groups were still under-represented, with those from a deprived background only half as likely to go on to university as their peers from professional backgrounds.

Criticises government policy

 Mr Milburn also criticised coalition government policies, in particular the abolition of the AimHigher agency, as 'a setback to the widening participation cause because it removes a national focus for activity'.

He also said there were 'risks' that the coalition government's decision to introduce 'a market in AAB students will switch the…

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07 Sep 2011 2 comments - read and reply.

For-profit university on the march

 BPP University College - which is owned by the US based for-profit Apollo Group  - has parked its tanks firmly on the lawns of its public sector competition by setting undergraduate fees at £5,000 for next year.

The fees - which will be lower than those set by most English universities  - will apply to BPP's undergraduate programmes in law, business, accountancy and finance, across all 6 of its city centre locations: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, London, Swindon and Manchester. 

BPP became the first for-profit provider to be granted university college status last year and recent changes mean that its undergraduates will, from 2012, be eligible for government loans of up to £6,000 a year.  

As a private sector body, BPP is not limited by government constraints on student numbers and is free to expand its share of the HE market. It is also free to set fees above the £9,000 ceiling imposed on pubic universities. However, this competitive decision over fees shows it is looking to compete aggressively with mainstream universities.  BPP says it doubled its undergraduate intake this year.

A 3 year degree at BPP will cost £15,000 compared to closer to £27,000 at most Russell Group…

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06 Sep 2011 2 comments - read and reply.

Mixed messages as new school year begins

 So - after a summer of riots and the usual hand-wringing over exam results - the new school year in England has begun with politicians once again focusing on a minority issue: the 24 new free schools that are opening this term.

Keen to show the difference between the coalition partners, the Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy PM, Nick Clegg, is saying that he will not tolerate free schools being run for profit. It is his line in the sand on education policy. For his sake, he'd better hope it proves a more permanent line than the one he drew on university tuition fees.

In fact, there is already a rather fine distinction between a for-profit company running a free school directly and a for-profit company being engaged to manage a free school by its promoters. The former is currently not allowed, the latter is.

Discussing the riots

 Meanwhile, in schools the dilemma for heads and teachers is whether or not to tackle the issue of the summer riots head-on. Should it be the topic for assemblies and  citizenship/PHSE lessons? Is it as relevant in areas unaffected by the riots as in those close to the places hit by looting? I…

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05 Sep 2011 3 comments - read and reply.

Education & the riots

I liked this post on 'what happens after the riots?' from the education expert and Senior Associate at the Innovation Unit, David Price OBE. Lots of good points, which I thought worth sharing as a thought-provoking, non knee-jerk response to the way ahead once the immediate policing issues are resolved. His answer: involving young people in decisions about their education and communities.

In particular, he writes:

'David Cameron's vision of a 'Big Society' went up in smoke this week, alongside scores of buildings and homes, so we'll need another big 'post riot' idea. I would like to nominate one: a national education debate on what we want our young people to learn in school. Because the disengagement for many of these young people begins in school, when their interest in learning is sacrificed in pursuit of high-stakes testing and the attendant 'drilling-and-killing', worksheets instead of work experience, doing learning to them, not with them; when the very notion of a 'values-driven curriculum' is seen as dangerous left-wing nonsense, and the dominance of academic knowledge has driven out any respect for schools whose kids wanted to learn real-life, practical skills.'

Here's the link to the full post: davidpriceblog.posterous.com/what-happens-after-the-riots

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09 Aug 2011 12 comments - read and reply.

Carol Vorderman's Maths Report

 There's some good stuff in Carol Vorderman's report and I particularly like the idea of copying the English Language/English Literature idea in order to separate arithmetic and numeracy from more advanced mathematical concepts.

 It will be interesting to see whether the criticism of Key Stage 2 SATS will sound the death knell for these increasingly beleaguered and unloved tests. 

However we have been here before. Sir Mike Tomlinson warned years ago that GCSE maths and English failed to provide functional numeracy and literacy. The subsequent reforms for Diplomas, and the associated requirement that all pupils  needed to pass at Functional Skills to gain the Diploma, would have sorted out this problem. But the current government has allowed the Diplomas to wither on the vine.

Additionally the last Labour government abandoned its earlier pledge to require all students to achieve functional skills in maths and English to achieve a grade C at GCSE.  This was a missed opportunity.

The full Vorderman report is available here: www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2011/08/~/media/Files/Downloadable%20Files/Vorderman%20maths%20report.ashx

In his foreword, Education Secretary, Michale Gove, welcomes the report but does not comment specifically on the recommendation that maths SATs should be abolished.

Key recommendations

These include:

• It…

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08 Aug 2011 6 comments - read and reply.

Open University sets full-time fees at £5,000

The Open University will charge new full-time students from England £5,000 from September 2012.  This will make it very competitive with most other universities which are charging considerably more, but will also mark an increase in costs for many OU students.

Average fees at other English universities are going to be around £8,400 from 2012.

Full time students are those taking the equivalent of 120 units. Others will pay according to the units they are taking. So, a typical student studying 60 credits in a year, will pay £2,500 per year.

Current fees for a full-time equivalent final year degree at the OU vary but would be about £1,900 a year according to some estimates (e.g. taking DD303 and DD307 for a BSc in psychology, according to the OU website) . 

The OU, which traditionally served mature, part-time students, has seen growing interest from full-time, school-leavers, and their competitive fees, and the chance to study from home, are likely to prove increasingly attractive after the new fee arrangements come into place elsewhere from 2012.   

 The Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, Martin Bean,…

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20 Jul 2011 3 comments - read and reply.

Existing BSF projects not to be funded

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, chose the day of Rupert Murdoch's appearance in the Commons to announce that the government is 'minded not to fund the BSF projects which were subject to judicial review earlier this year'.

This will be a great disappointment to those schools that had been expecting to be rebuilt until the Building Schools for the Future scheme  was scrapped by the incoming coalition government (see this article for the views of parents in Newark on the scrapping of BSF: www.mikebakereducation.co.uk/articles/87/scrapping-bsf-left-children-in-decrepit-schools.)

Six local authorities are likely to be eligible for indemnification of their outstanding contractual liabilities. The authorities, which in February won their judicial review against Mr Gove's decision to withdraw funding from their BSF projects, were:

• Luton Borough Council
• Nottingham City Council
• The London Borough of Waltham Forest
• The London Borough of Newham
• Kent County Council
• Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

A High Court judge ruled that the Education Secretary, “unlawfully and without justification”, failed to consult with the authorities as to the effect on their individual projects of his possible decision options.

New private finance scheme unveiled

Meanwhile, Mr Gove also announced yesterday that there will be a new privately-financed school building…

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20 Jul 2011 1 comments - read and reply.

Burnham unveils Labour's Schools Policy Review

I chaired an event for the think-tank DEMOS this afternoon at which the Shadow Education Secretary, Andy Burnham MP, unveiled the first details of the Labour Party's schools policy review. It was very much an interim report - the broad principles will now go for approval at the Labour Party's annual conference - so hard policy detail is still lacking.

Nevertheless, it was the first indication of where the next General Election's education policy battles might lie and they reveal the thinking behind the new direction of policy.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the speech was what Mr Burnham did not say. There were no promises to overturn the coalition government's new Free Schools or Academies. This will disappoint some on the left and is significant since, by 2015,  the majority of schools in England could have already converted to academy status.

It seems Mr Burnham is keen to follow the pattern of Tony Blair's first term education mantra: 'standards not structures' (although that was always more of a slogan than a reality, since Blair did bring in City Academies to replace failing schools). 

So what are Labour's themes? I picked out 10, which struck me as the…

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12 Jul 2011 9 comments - read and reply.

HE White Paper - key points and reaction

 The Higher Education White paper is now published. The following is a very quick summary of the main points. Further analysis to follow.

The document signals its intention through its title: 'Students at the heart of the system'. But Les Ebdon, chairman of Million+, and vice-chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire disagrees, saying the plans are 'in the interests of the Treasury not in the interests of students'. He adds that they will jeopardise social mobility.

Key Points

Amongst the key points in the White Paper are plans to: 

• Free up student number controls by making around 85,000 places contestable among universities in 2012/13. This will be achieved through unrestrained recruitment of the 65,000 high-achieving students who typically get AAB grades, and by creating a flexible margin of 20,000 places to reward quality providers charging an average of £7,500 or less for tuition.
• Ensure that the Office for Fair Access is properly resourced so that it can go further and faster to drive fair access for students from lower income families and widen participation
• Enable a wider range of providers to join the sector to offer more choice for students
• Promise less regulation and bureaucracy for universities.
• Ensure better…

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28 Jun 2011 4 comments - read and reply.

Higher Education White Paper published

The coalition government publishes its long-awaited strategic plans for universities today in a White Paper.

 Pre-publication briefings confirm many of the long-expected, and widely trailed, measures. These are aimed at bringing down fee levels, encouraging a consumer-market, and allowing popular universities (and new providers, including the private sector) to expand at the expense of other universities.

 The measures include:

• Better consumer-style information for prospective students via the so-called Key Information Sets (KIS). From 2012, all universities will have to publish statistics showing information such as their graduates’ subsequent earnings and employability, and university contact hours, satisfaction levels and tuition fees.
• A new ‘core and margin’ approach to funding, whereby an extra allocation of student places (perhaps 10%) can be bid for by universities on the basis of strength of demand and value for money.
• Universities or FE colleges that charge lower fees (probably below the Treasury’s calculation of average fee levels at £7,500) to be able to bid for extra places.
• Removal of limits on the number of top-scoring A level students (2 As and a B) any university can admit.
• Allowing easier and fuller access…

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27 Jun 2011 2 comments - read and reply.