Education

Rehan Staton became a viral media sensation on his admission, and film-maker Tyler Perry covered his tuition feesThe man who worked as a trash hauler in Maryland before earning international news headlines by gaining admission into the prestigious Harvard Law School has graduated.Rehan Staton received his juris doctorate from Harvard after walking across the stage in his cap and gown during a commencement ceremony on Thursday afternoon at the school’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Continue reading...

Private colleges have preyed on veterans for years – but they finally have recourse thanks to two legislative efforts in CongressWhen Antonio Luna enrolled in DeVry University, he thought it would launch him into a career in technology. Luna, then just leaving the marines, could use his military benefits to pay for a bachelor’s degree. DeVry touted eye-popping job placement numbers, and because college staff had previously been invited on to his base in North Carolina to speak with students, Luna thought they could be trusted.But after graduating in 2018, Luna couldn’t find employment in his field. Continue reading...

About 140,000 Indians sought educational opportunities in Britain last year, and the number is growing The aspiration to travel abroad for university and work has long been ubiquitous across India.In a country of 1.4 billion people, places at India’s top universities are excruciatingly competitive and graduate job prospects at the other end are gloomy. India’s economy is the fifth largest in the world but unemployment topped 8% last month, with graduate unemployment even higher at about 18%. Continue reading...

Experts say years of government inaction have created ‘catastrophic’ situation as carers struggle to cover costsOne in 10 childcare providers in England is facing closure and more than half are struggling to cover their costs, according to the government’s research into the impact of the cost of living crisis on the sector.The findings will fuel concerns about the capacity of the sector to grow to meet the government’s £4bn expansion to its free childcare offer, which was outlined in the budget this year. Continue reading...

Suella Braverman has announced new limits for international students to bring dependents with them when studying in the UKSuella Braverman has announced new limits for international students to bring family with them to the UK, under proposals released on Tuesday.This new limit was introduced as the government seeks to reduce immigration numbers. The rule makes an exception for students on courses designated as research programmes, such as PhD students or research-led masters courses, who will still be allowed to bring dependants with them to the UK. Continue reading...

Findings prompt concerns about long-term impact of cost-of-living crisis on poorer students’ life chancesPupils whose families turned to food banks during the pandemic fared worse at GCSE than expected, losing half a grade per subject on average, according to a study.Researchers said pupils’ grades were lower, even after taking into account their prior attainment and some aspects of household finances. Continue reading...

Nearly 1,000 students attempt group action against UCL, accusing it of breaking promisesLawyers representing almost 1,000 current and former students whose studies were affected by Covid and strike action told the high court in London their clients felt “cheated” by their educational experience and should be entitled to seek compensation through the courts.They are seeking to bring a claim against University College London (UCL), accusing it of breaking its “promises” after tuition was moved online and access to libraries and laboratories restricted during the pandemic, with no discount to their “eye-watering” tuition fees. Continue reading...

Citations of Chinese research have risen because of sequencing of Covid-19 genomeChina has overtaken the US to become the biggest contributor to nature-science journals, in a sign of the country’s growing influence in the world of academic research.The Nature Index, which tracks data on author affiliations in 82 high quality journals, found that authors affiliated with Chinese institutions are more prolific than their US counterparts in physical sciences, chemistry, Earth and environmental sciences. The only category in which the US is still in the lead is life sciences. Continue reading...

We want to speak to parents whose children are off school more often than before the pandemicIncreased anxiety and lack of mental health support are behind a sharp rise in school absences since the Covid pandemic, according to councils in England.School absence rates across the UK are significantly higher than they were pre-pandemic. We want to hear from parents in the UK with children in primary or secondary school about the reasons for this rise. In your experience, what has changed? How often are you or your child off school? Do you do half day or partial days? What is driving this? Continue reading...

Only students on courses designated as research programmes will be able to bring dependants under home secretary’s policyUK politics live – latest updatesSuella Braverman has rushed out stringent curbs on international students who come to study in the UK amid growing pressure on the home secretary over her conduct in office.Under proposals released in parliament on Tuesday, overseas students will no longer be able to bring family with them except under specific circumstances as the government seeks to reduce immigration numbers. Continue reading...

Prime minister’s spokesperson says he is gathering ‘all the facts’ before making a decision. This live blog is closedAnd here are some of the lines from what Rishi Sunak has been saying at the London defence conference.Sunak said the challenge posed by China should not lead to a “blanket descent into protectionism”. He said that China’s rise represented an “epoch-defining challenge”. He explained:It is a country that has both the means and the intent to reshape the global order.Its behaviour is increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad and in light of that we do need to take the steps to protect ourselves.There are a limited number of very sensitive sectors of o..

Government agrees to reverse policy of cutting subsidy, with remaining amount being paid by schoolsMinisters are to double funding for the government’s flagship tutoring programme.The national tutoring programme (NTP) was launched in November 2020 to help children in England make up for learning lost during the coronavirus pandemic, when schools were closed to most pupils for months at a time. Continue reading...

They’re losing their grip on Oxbridge, and Labour threatens to strip elite schools of their charitable status. It just won’t doSpare a thought for the upper middle classes. Buying a private-school education in the UK used to be enough to get into Oxbridge or at the very least become prime minister, but the tide may be (slightly) turning. New research shows private-school pupils are up to a third more likely to get into Cambridge if they move to a state sixth form. Students who stayed at private schools for A-levels had an acceptance rate of 19% last year. But those who moved from a fee-paying school to a grammar school or sixth-form college had a success rate of about 25%. (Similar data ..

Move comes after inquiry found children had faced ‘limitless’ cruelty with complicity of institutionsThe government is to launch a compensation scheme for survivors of child sexual abuse in England, the home secretary has said.The scheme is in response to the findings of a seven-year inquiry that revealed failings by schools, local authorities and other institutions to protect and safeguard the children in their care. Continue reading...

Death of headteacher Ruth Perry prompts calls for employers to have to report when workers take own livesWork-related suicides should be reported by employers and investigated by the safety watchdog amid concern that workplace stress is at “epidemic levels”, trade unions have said.They fear the death of the primary school headteacher Ruth Perry, who killed herself while awaiting the outcome of an Ofsted report, shows that potentially fatal work-related stress is not confined to teaching.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the cris..

We’re interested to hear from young people in Britain who have opted to not attend university, or are considering to give it a missWe’re keen to hear from young people in the UK who have decided against going to university recently, or are currently thinking about whether to skip higher education.Whatever your reasons were or are, we’d like to hear about why you feel university may not be for you. If you have decided against university a while ago, we’re also interested in how you’ve been faring with your decision so far. Continue reading...

Asset managers told they have key role to play on climate crisis in open letter before Shell’s annual meetingA coalition of university investment funds has called on institutional investors to rebel against the boards of fossil fuel companies and their backers.As Shell prepares for its annual shareholder meeting this week, representatives from the Universities of Newcastle, Sussex, Bristol and from Trinity College, Cambridge and from Jesus College, Cambridge, have written an open letter to the asset management industry urging “bold action” to stop new fossil fuel projects. Continue reading...

Ignoring ChatGPT and its cousins won’t get us anywhere. In fact, these systems reveal issues we too often missIn my spring lecture course of 120 students, my teaching assistants caught four examples of students using artificial-intelligence-driven language programs like ChatGPT to complete short essays. In each case, the students confessed to using such systems and agreed to rewrite the assignments themselves.With all the panic about how students might use these systems to get around the burden of actually learning, we often forget that as of 2023, the systems don’t work well at all. It was easy to spot these fraudulent essays. They contained spectacular errors. They used text that did n..

One headteacher said 12-page reading test that reduced children to tears was ‘scary and quite middle class’A primary school Sats paper that reduced some pupils to tears included texts on a giant bat colony, which was adapted from a New York Times article, a camping trip featuring sheep rustlers and a boy on a remote Scottish island who hears a wolf.The 12-page reading test, featuring three substantial texts followed by 38 questions to be answered in an hour, was published on Thursday, once the assessment window had closed.She ran quickly inside.She jumped through the flap.She had to squeeze in.She crept in quietly. Continue reading...

Ministers want to identify those at risk of missing out on education, especially if they are of compulsory school ageMore children than ever are being home-schooled in England, according to new figures, prompting ministers to launch an investigation into how many are missing out on education.The Department for Education said it wanted local authorities and schools to identify children who may be at risk of missing out on education, especially those of compulsory school age who were not registered at a school and may not be receiving a suitable education. Continue reading...

Higher education regulator asks 23 institutions for contingency plans in case of sudden interruption of incomeEngland’s higher education regulator has warned universities against over-reliance on tuition fees of students from China, as Rishi Sunak backtracked on his earlier pledge to close UK branches of the Beijing-sponsored Confucius Institute.The Office for Students (OfS) wrote to 23 universities with high numbers of Chinese students on Thursday, asking to see their contingency planning in case of a sudden interruption to overseas recruitment. Continue reading...

Proposals unveiled by Andy Burnham could transform vocational learning for the betterWell over half of young people do not go on to university after leaving school, and our education system is letting many of them down. Further education colleges and sixth forms offering technical pathways into work have been grievously underfunded for years. New vocational qualifications, designed as an alternative to more academic GCSEs and A-levels, have been poorly understood and insufficiently valued by employers. The value and importance of apprenticeships is routinely acknowledged in Westminster; but the education select committee last month reported a steep and long-term decline in the number of unde..

Letter claims student union trying to force debating society to disinvite former university professor over transgender viewsA group of Oxford academics claim “coercion and financial threats” are being used to force the Oxford Union debating club to cancel an appearance by Kathleen Stock.Stock, a former university professor who argues that transgender people cannot expect all the rights afforded by biological sex, is due to speak at the Oxford Union later this month. Her appearance is opposed by several LGBTQ+ groups and student organisations in the city. Continue reading...

Pregnant at 15, and soon to be homeless, O’Sullivan never expected to succeed – but became a leading academic. The author of Poor talks about everything that conspired to keep her down – and her ‘miraculous and rare’ ascentIn a lecture room at Ireland’s most elite university, a woman in a hoodie and jeans, her hair in a messy bun, was sorting out some chairs. A student came in and told her that she couldn’t clean in there because a class was about to start. “I know,” the woman told her. “I’m teaching it.” It is one of my favourite moments in Dr Katriona O’Sullivan’s new memoir, not just for the delicious awkwardness, but because, despite O’Sullivan’s path from..

In today’s newsletter: Sats tests have left students in tears, and teachers and parents calling for an overhaul. Here’s how they are supposed to work – and what critics say needs to changeSign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Almost everything about adulthood stinks, but it has one important benefit: nobody can ever make you take another exam. Who among us looks back fondly on turning over a sheaf of paper to find out which particular gaps in your knowledge are about to be ruthlessly exposed? And who doesn’t feel a shiver of sympathy for the children going through the same thing today – and gratitude that at least this time, it isn’t you?Year 6 pupils ..

University follows other institutions in removing titles of family who make OxyContin painkillerThe University of Oxford will cut its ties with the Sackler family, whose wealth came from addictive opioid drugs, removing the family’s name from buildings, galleries and positions funded through their donations.The university’s governing council approved the measure to strip the Sackler name from two galleries in the Ashmolean Museum and a university library as well as several staff positions, following an investigation earlier this year by Oxford’s new vice-chancellor, Prof Irene Tracey. Continue reading...

Report finds economic benefit to UK rose by a third in three years, making overseas students a significant contributor to economyThe economic benefit international students bring to the UK has jumped by a third in three years, boosting the economy by an estimated £42bn in 2021/2, according to new analysis.The report, by analysts London Economics, said the economic benefit to the country rose from £31.3bn in 2018/9 to £41.9bn three years later as growing numbers of international students choose to study in the UK. Continue reading...

Degree apprenticeships and subsidised housing can save the young from narrowed existencesFifty years ago, the average 24-year-old would have been married, living with their partner, and probably already a parent. Census data out last week shows that today they’re probably still living with their parents.Welcome to the modern phenomenon dubbed “stretched adolescence”. It’s a term that hints at baby boomers unable to quite get their twentysomethings to leave the parental home. But this is to confer a ludicrous degree of agency on the zoomer generation. They are not choosing a Peter Pan lifestyle: the straitjacket is imposed on them by harsh economic realities. Who really wants to live ..

Executives holds talks with both sides after screening of gender critical documentary was cancelledEdinburgh University hopes to defuse a crisis involving gender critical and pro-trans academics after clashes over the screening of the film Adult Human Female.University executives are holding talks with both sides after pro-trans activists prevented the gender critical documentary from being screened on campus for the second time late last month, by blockading a theatre where it was due to be shown. Continue reading...

Parents and teachers have complained about a year 6 reading exam, which they say damaged students’ mental healthA headteachers’ union has expressed concern over this week’s Sats exams for 10- and 11-year-olds amid claims that an English paper left some pupils “in tears” and damaged their “mental health and wellbeing”.Hundreds of parents and teachers have complained online about Wednesday’s year 6 reading exam, with one saying on Mumsnet that her daughter had found the paper “awful”. Continue reading...