Education News Online

Degree courses 'cut by a quarter'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:32 GMT

The number of full-time undergraduate degree courses offered at UK universities has fallen by 27% over the past six years, data shows.

Globe celebrates first two PhDs

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:54 GMT

How Globe audiences risk putting off the players

Why I said yes to Professor Self | Will Self

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:10 GMT

The prospect of working at a university with people who pursue knowledge for its intrinsic value is truly liberating

Here are two contrasting experiences. I read a short story I have written to a group of people, and when I've finished I invite questions, stressing that these can be as broad or specific as they wish. The first questioner wants to know how I see meta-fictional conceits in relation to the traditional philosophic novel, and when we've discussed this for a while she asks for further reading recommendations. A second questioner asks me how I view my work in relation to naturalistic fiction. A third makes a comparison between my story and a novel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (a doyen of Latin American science fiction writing), and it's my turn to note down this suggestion for further reading.

The following day I speak to someone on the phone who's read the film script I've adapted from the same short story. She asks me this question: "Why did you mention the brand name of a lemon squeezer in your script?" This is not a single bathetic instance – she follows it by asking me questions for a further 20 minutes, none of which suggest any familiarity with my work beyond this script and an article I wrote for the Guardian travel section about Trafalgar Square.

The first group was, of course, comprised of university students, whereas the individual phone caller was a journalist on a national newspaper. Surely this disparity alone – on the one hand focused, engaged and intellectually adventurous young people, and on the other a single incurious and prejudiced one – eloquently makes the case for why I would wish to work in a university environment. Of course, I've had plenty of experience of truculent and blinkered students, while I know many engaged and deeply committed journalists. Nonetheless, this juxtaposition did seem to me emblematic of how academic environments are very often ones in which knowledge is pursued for its intrinsic value, while in the wider world the only value seen as accruing to almost anything is frequently financial.

That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and – it often seems – social consensus that equates all education with training for increased productivity, only makes academe a still more promising environment for a contrarian. While emotionally sympathetic to the protesters against increased tuition fees – and their siblings in the Occupy movement – what's struck me most in the last couple of years is the absence of theoretical rigour in their critique. That, and the sense that with education, as with the NHS and other parts of the public sector, the opposition to cuts/privatisation is essentially a proxy battle, while the real question – how can we move from a divisive, inegalitarian and stultifying neoliberalism towards a more equitable and nurturing society? – seems unasked, let alone answered.

It's the opportunity to engage with these issues and many others that excites me about taking up thismy new position of professor of contemporary thought at Brunel. I have been a vocal critic of the burgeoning of creative writing programmes in British universities, and while teaching some aspects of literary composition under the aegis of the school of arts, I will be formulating and presenting course modules for the school of social sciences. I'm interested in such things as reading and memory in the digital age, the practice of pedestrianism as a form of urban study and political activism, the cultural supremacy of the so called psy professions, and, of course, that perennial sawhorse: whither the novel?

I realise that the above may make it sound as if I'm more concerned with what I will get out of teaching these students, rather than what they may get out of me – but actually I believe the two are pretty much the same thing. The encounter I described at the outset took place at the University of Kent, and the multifarious debate engaged – or so the tutors told me later – their students proportionately. There is something mysteriously powerful that can happen when young, inchoate minds come into contact with older and more worldly ones in a spirit of intellectual and creative endeavour – if I believed in progress I suppose that's what I'd call it.

Lastly: I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology "value for money" in my literary and journalistic work – and nor will I in my academic role. However, if I don't believe I'm helping my students towards a fuller and more empowering relationship with the world, then I'll resign.

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Will Self

Universities cut number of degree courses by 27%

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:10 GMT

Research shows there are almost 20,000 fewer full-time undergraduate courses available than in 2006

The number of degree courses on offer at British universities has been slashed by more than a quarter in the past six years, new research suggests.

It reveals that there are almost 20,000 fewer full-time undergraduate courses available now than there were in 2006.

The study, by the University and College Union (UCU) found cuts across a range of subjects, from the sciences, to arts and humanities.

England, where tuition fees will rise to a maximum of £9,000 a year this autumn, has been the hardest hit, with almost a third fewer courses on offer, it claims. UCU said that the findings showed that funding cuts were affecting course availability, which could be damaging to students.

The report's authors analysed official course data, and a sample of single-subject degree courses to investigate whether there had been any noticeable change in what was on offer. It found a sharp reduction in the total number of full-time undergraduate degree courses in Britain: a fall of 27% between 2006 and 2012.

In total, there are 51,116 degree courses available this year, compared with 70,052 in 2006. Within the UK, England has seen a 31% fall in courses, while Northern Ireland has seen a drop of 24%, Wales 11% and Scotland 3%.

In England, six out of nine regions have seen a cut of a quarter or more. Among those with the largest reductions are the south-west, with a drop of 47%; the east, which was down 41%; and the north-west, which had a cut of 40%. At the other end of the scale, oOnly 1% of courses have been cut in the East Midlands.

The report found that among the single-subject courses examined in the UK, there has been a fall of 14.6% in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem subjects), while social science courses have dropped by 12.8%, and arts and humanities are down by 14%.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said: "While successive governments have been dreaming up new ways to increase the cost of going to university, the range of subjects available to students has fallen massively. The UK's global academic reputation is built on the broad range of subjects available and on the freedom of academics to push at the boundaries and create new areas of study.

"This report shows that, while government rhetoric is all about students as consumers, the curriculum has actually narrowed significantly."

She added: "Although students in England are expected to pay up to £9,000 a year to study, there is much less choice for them.

"hifting the burden of funding from the state to the student means nervous universities will look to axe even more courses that they worry won't make a profit. However, we simply cannot have areas of the country where local students do not have access to the courses they want to study."

According to official figures published by the university admissions services Ucas, the numbers of applications to university had been rising up until this year. As of January, 462,507 UK students had applied for courses beginning in the autumn, compared with 506,388 at this point last year – a drop of 8.7%.

Will Self to become a professor of contemporary thought

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:01 GMT

Maverick writer will be teaching students at Brunel university's school of the arts and its school of the social sciences

Since graduating from Oxford in the early 1980s, Will Self's career has been nothing if not diverse. He has swept streets, drawn cartoons and made cold calls; he has written as a maverick political journalist, a psycho-geographer, satirist and self-declared flâneur.

Now he is going back to university – this time in a role that marks his most respectable stage to date – as professor of contemporary thought at a London university, with licence to dream up new courses and research projects that reflect his eclectic interests.

Self takes up the new chair at Brunel University, in Uxbridge, west London, next week. He will be teaching undergraduate and post-graduate students at the university's school of the arts and its school of the social sciences.

He may contribute to courses on urban planning and human geography; he has written about the pleasures and hazards of exploring cities on foot. He may also teach a module on "psychoanalysis and contemporary society", echoing a theme of his fiction in which a psychiatrist is a recurring character. Self describes psychiatrists as occupying a "priestly role" between sanity and madness.

The university also expects him to contribute to the teaching of journalism and creative writing.

The author will have a role in increasing the university's engagement with the wider community, which will begin with a lecture on "urban psychosis" at the end of next month.

Self said his teaching would reflect preoccupations such as the relationship between people and geography. "I do think there are interesting things to be said about the relationship between different modes of transport, including pedestrianisation, and perceptions of the way the city has grown up, the way we experience it, and the impact of new technologies on that … I just think that architects should be made to walk."

He added that Brunel attracted him for "psycho-geographical reasons".

"It's very near to Heathrow, and there's a big British Asian community that has grown up around Southall. Take the last few weeks and all of this Dickens brouhaha, the bourgeoisie got themselves into an awful pother – 'why was he so great and we're so crap – where is the contemporary Dickens?' Maybe the contemporary Dickens is going to be a British Asian."

Self said he hoped his own writing would be influenced by his activities at Brunel.

Dany Nobus, Brunel's pro-vice chancellor, said the university is keen for Self to develop new ideas for research activities and teaching programmes that cross disciplinary boundaries.

He said: "We were incredibly impressed, not just by his intellectual background and range of interests but also by his commitment to university life.

"What we want to do is about crossing boundaries and also about taking the university beyond its own boundaries, opening things up towards the wider community."

Self said that he was joining Brunel at a parlous time for universities. He regards higher education as a sector under assault from a reductive view of universities as training for a future workforce.

"Just because the dominant metric seems to be that everything has to be costed in terms of how it contributes to the economic producers of the future doesn't mean that I can't critique that, and make that part of my teaching practice," the author said.

Self, 50, who is married to a Guardian journalist, Deborah Orr, is the author of eight novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and five collections of non-fiction. He studied politics, philosophy and economics at Exeter College, Oxford, graduating with a third.

In 1997, while covering the then prime minister John Major's campaign for re-election, he was fired by the Observer for allegedly taking heroin on the official aeroplane.

Brunel, founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer, has another novelist on its staff: Fay Weldon was appointed chair of creative writing there in 2006.

Will Self on …

The Olympics

I think the Olympics suck dogshit through a straw. People believe they encourage da yoof to take up running, jumping and fainting in coils – but this is nonsense. They're a boondoggle for politicians and financiers … The stadia themselves are a folly. The new Westfield is a temple to moribund consumerism – in 10 years' time they'll all be cracked and spalled; a Hitlerian mass of post-pomo nonsense.

Drugs

I admire them from afar. I think the heavier hallucinogens are amazing. The problem with our society is there aren't enough positive drug rituals. I said this to the Archbishop of Canterbury the other night – the Church of England should introduce some sort of ecstasy communion.

The internet

The web – like any other emergent medium – is still inchoate. The claims of Mumsnet, Twitter etc to be intrinsically 'democratic' forces for good that have helped to bring down evil empires in Tehran, across the Middle East and now in Wapping are wholly specious.

The honours system

Defenders of the honours lunacy always point out that it isn't only crony capitalists and political placemen and women who are cloaked in ermine and topped-off with balls. But the odd ennobled social worker is no match for those furious oxymorons: the Labour lords – surely paradoxes on a par with fascist humanitarians or vegan hammerhead sharks.

Jeevan Vasagar

Chalk Talk: So Dickens is too challenging for today’s children? Not for these ones

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:00 GMT

There was one voice missing in the debate earlier this month over when children should start reading Dickens – that of the children themselves.

'You could have a job like mine': How successful alumni can inspire pupils

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:00 GMT

In the sports hall of a north London comprehensive, Deji Davies, sharp-looking in his banker's suit, is standing in front of an audience of 11- and 12-year-olds explaining what he does for a living. "I work as a trader. In trading you buy and sell things, and what I buy and sell is company debt." But he is also standing in the forefront of a potential revolution in how state schools can tap into their alumni – and grow stronger and prouder as a result.

Graduates do have a better chance of getting jobs

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:00 GMT

At last, some good news for jobless graduates. They may be in debt and feel frustrated, but research shows that having a degree means that if they can hold on for three more years, they are more likely to be in work by the time they are 24 than their less qualified peers.

The tuition paradox: You pay more money, you get less choice

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:00 GMT

More students paying more money to study fewer subjects – that is the picture of higher education in Britain painted by research published today, which shows a dramatic reduction in the number of degree courses.

Give us the good grammar school education you had, Les Ebdon, and we'll be happy

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:34 GMT

Kids from poor backgrounds don't want the university access tsar's help with 'fair admissions', says Allison Pearson.

What exactly is the 'John Lewis model'?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:00 GMT

After councils and care units, now schools are being encouraged to imitate the department store's stakeholder structure

Once upon a time, we knew three things about John Lewis. One: it's a very nice, very middle-class department store. Two: it owns Waitrose, that very nice, very middle-class supermarket. Three: it is, or claims to be, never knowingly undersold.

These days, we can add a fourth: never knowingly under-referenced within plans to reform the welfare state. In 2010, London's Lambeth council announced an intention to remould itself according to the "John Lewis model". Last June, David Cameron unveiled plans to turn parts of the public sector into "John Lewis-style" mutuals. This week, a rightwing thinktank suggested turning state schools into John Lewis-like companies. A planned free school in Suffolk will be a John Lewis-style partnership, while an NHS hospital in Cambridgeshire and a care unit in Swindon already claim to operate along those lines. Even Nick Clegg has talked about making other firms in the private sector operate a bit more like John Lewis.

The John Lewis business model gives each employee part-ownership of the company, a share of its annual profits, and a say in how it is run. In theory, it makes employees more invested – literally – in their work, and so heightens both productivity and profits. At least, that's how it works at John Lewis itself. Critics argue that the right's proposals either only pay lip service to the scheme on which they are based – or are simply a way of making privatisation seem fluffier. This week's plans could encourage stakeholders (teachers, pupils) to work harder. On the flipside, they could also lead to the outsourcing of a school's management structures, and thereby make teachers less accountable. Suffolk's Breckland Free School has already outsourced its management to a private firm, and won't be overseen directly by the parents who set it up.

Lambeth's John Lewis council promised much – community involvement in exchange for council tax rebates – but has been criticised for playing an active role in privatisation. Only last week the council sold off a community-run arts centre to developers. And what of the Swindon care unit? In the words of cabinet office minister Francis Maude: "It's a mutual where there's no financial incentive. They will own it, but with no profit share or anything, no financial upside. They will have to take out 30% of their cost over the next four years and they are really excited about it." In other words, it's a John Lewis partnership, but without most of the rewards. Unless you count swingeing cuts as a good thing.

Nick Clegg's ideas seem the most appropriate interpretation of the John Lewis model: they're about making capitalist structures fairer. But proposals to turn public services into John Lewis-style firms seems slightly disingenuous. After all, the NHS – which gives citizens both a say in its organisation (at the ballot box) and a piece of its resources (in the surgery) – might already be the biggest John Lewis model going.

Patrick Kingsley

Man accused of murdering vicar

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:22 GMT

A 47-year-old man has been charged with the murders of vicar John Suddards and retired teacher Betty Yates, police said.

Outcry as Michael Gove issues education reform warning

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:10 GMT

Education Secretary Michael Gove provoked an outcry from teachers today after warning his reforms would lead to fewer pupils passing exams and more headteachers being sacked.

Visa rules 'may deter students'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00 GMT

Visa changes could see the UK's top universities and schools lose their appeal to international students, says a report.

A good day at George Washington's olde English family home

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:41 GMT

Sunderland is best-known in business circles for its Japanese links via Nissan, but it's also renewing its own version of the special relationship

Northern England's links with the United States, which include the gift to the world of Wrigley's chewing gum, have been mightily emphasised today in Sunderland.

The city on the Wear has its own special Friendship Agreement with Washington DC, the only non-capital city in the world to do so. An uneven match? Not at all. Without Sunderland and area, there might never have been George Washington.

Hence the ceremonies at his family's old home, Washington Old Hall, which is very much worth a visit. While the British Embassy in Washington hosted a reception to mark the renewal of of the agreement, local people got together at the Wearside end to do their bit as well.

Encouragingly, for those who expect such things to be the preserve of people my age, the programme was much enlivened by young people. David Crone, chair of Sunderland youth parliament, read the American declaration of independence (the model for northern England's forthcoming breakaway), Lauren Waine of Monkwearmouth school sang the American national anthem and Martyn Foster from Broadway junior school read Martin Luther's eloquent speech, I have a dream.

Pupils from George Washington primary school joined in as well, before the Mayor of Sunderland – let's hope it becomes a Lord Mayoralty soon, now that the place is a city – Coun Norma Wright concluded proceedings.

There is a practical point to all the fun and games (and useful history). Contemporary Sunderland is famous for its links with Japan, through the Nissan plant, but are many American business connections as well.

United States firms account for one of the biggest shares of local inward investment, such as the Lear Corporation which is launching a new production plant at Rainton Bridge, creating 300 jobs. The TRW Automotive company already employs the same number at its steering systems plant, which was opened in 1989.

Looking the other way, the Sunderland firm SaleCycle, which recovers abandoned shopping trolleys online, has a sales office on the edge of Washington DC. At the small business level, Phil Vickery, one of Wearside's glass artists who cluster round the National Glass Centre, has found the Friendship Agreement more than just a twinning symbol.

He told the Old Hall get-together:

We need to keep doing this to form long-term relationships with US buyers. I have made strong contacts and captured opportunities that have led to friendships and being able to sell directly to the US market. Without this help it would be just about impossible for people like me to break into the US market.

Dominic Edmunds, founder and managing director of SaleCycle said:

We have recruited US staff, opened our office and generated sales directly into the US market. The good relationship which Sunderland has established with Washington DC was instrumental in all of this. Without the city council's connections it would have been much more difficult and taken far longer to achieve.

And Paul Willson, plant controller at TRW was happy too, that:

The Friendship Agreement builds the relationship, confidence and the possibility of investments between our two cities.

There's a way to go in the north east so far as jobs are concerned, as no one needs telling. But today has helped.

Martin Wainwright

VIDEO: Teachers pay back Kevin Bridges

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:12 GMT

Kevin Bridges has re-visited the people and places that have influenced his stand up material in his latest project, a six-part television series What's The Story.

Graduate unemployment levels on a par with school leavers

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:38 GMT

Latest data shows 25% of 21-year-olds who left university with a degree in 2011 were unemployed compared with 26% of 16-year-olds with GCSEs

Graduates leaving university found it harder to get jobs in 2011 than students finishing A-level courses, as youth unemployment hit its highest level since the 1980s, official data shows.

In 2011, 20% of 18-year-olds who left school with A-levels were unemployed compared with 25% of 21-year-olds who left university with a degree, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Graduate unemployment rates were almost on a par with those for people leaving school with just GCSEs, with 26% of 16-year-olds with these qualifications out of work.

But the ONS figures show it was easier for older graduates to find work: at age 24 only 5% of degree holders were unemployed compared with 7% of those who finished their education after A-levels and 13% of those with only GCSEs.

Charlie Ball, deputy director of research at the Higher Education Careers Services Unit, said the figures were "absolutely correct, but give a misleading impression", as the cohort of people leaving with A-levels was smaller than the number graduating.

He said the graduate jobs market had "hardly returned to its state pre-recession", but most of those leaving university were likely to get jobs within six months.

"Although the number of young people out of work is historically high, the graduate unemployment rate in this recession has not reached the levels it did in the 1980s or 1990s," he said.

Research by investment firm Skandia suggests graduates still earn a high premium over the course of their career once they do find work. It says a graduate leaving university today should earn an average of £1.6m over a working career of 45 years compared to £1m for an 18-year-old entering the workforce and retiring 48 years later. A 16-year-old working 49.5 years will typically earn £783,964 over their career.

Although the prospects for graduates may not be as gloomy as they first appear, the ONS figures make grim reading for young job seekers.

The ONS said unemployment for those aged 16 to 24 stood at just over 1m in the last quarter of 2011, the highest number since 1986/87. This represented one in seven (or 14.2%) of this age group and is the highest rate of youth unemployment since 1984/85. Of these, 307,000 were full-time students actively looking for work alongside their studies.

London was the region with the highest youth unemployment rate, with 24% of economically active 16- to 24-year-olds unemployed from July 2010 to June 2011. However, the ONS said this was a result of the number of students in the capital, some of who were looking to work. When students are discounted, the highest proportion of youth unemployment was in the north-east at 15%.

The TUC's general secretary, Brendan Barber, said the figures showed the importance of higher qualifications in helping young people into work. But he added: "With ministers putting up fresh barriers to higher education by hiking tuition fees and scrapping the EMA, the scar of mass joblessness that is hitting today's youngsters could follow some of them into their late 20s or even 30s.

"The government's cut-price work experience scheme is woefully ill-equipped to deal with the scale of our jobs crisis. Young people need tailored support and experience of proper paid jobs to give them the best possible chance of moving into work."

Recently, some large firms have stepped up their recruitment of school leavers to attract bright students put off by the cost of going to university.

All of the UK's "big four" accountancy firms, which between them recruit several thousand graduates each year, have established degree-equivalent school-leaver training programmes, including Ernst & Young which launches its programme in the autumn.

Stephen Isherwood, head of graduate recruitment at Ernst & Young, said the company had already recruited 30 of the 60 school leavers it planned to take on from hundreds of applications.

"There is a sense that the mantra of the last few years that everything is about university is not necessarily right, and that A-level students should really be thinking about what they want to do and whether that means going to university, and making sure they get the best deal for themselves."

Hilary Osborne

'Anxious' teacher 'set self alight'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:55 GMT

A teacher who felt under pressure to get good exam results set himself on fire in the school car park, an inquest heard.

Melissa Harris-Perry and MSNBC's nerd pride | Michael P Jeffries

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:16 GMT

Beyond the superficial novelty of a show hosted by an African-American professor, MSNBC is serious about intellectual debate

In Wesley Morris's recent piece about the changing fashion preferences of NBA athletes, he writes:

"In the same way that there are people who never thought they'd see a black American president, there are also people who never thought they'd see a black basketball star dressed like a nerd."

Sports icons like Kevin Durant and LeBron James call attention to widespread changes among a generation of black Americans who embrace a nerdier personal style. But style is not the same as substance, and Dr Melissa Harris-Perry's new politics show on MSNBC now unabashedly brings the content of nerddom to a massive viewing audience.

When Harris-Perry, a political scientist, used the word "nerdland" (now a Twitter hashtag for the show) to describe the show, she was not implying a racially segregated nerdland reserved for black people. In fact, two of Harris-Perry's first three guests were white men, including Edward Cox, chairman of the New York Republican state committee. But because contemporary black nerddom is wrongly understood by many as a recent historical development, black intellectuals like Harris-Perry engaging in and moderating intellectual exchange may seem new and peculiar to many viewers.

Though she speaks to multiple audiences and cultivates broad conversations that do not start and end with race, Harris-Perry is acutely aware of the ways in which racism and sexism mark her as exceptional in the contemporary landscape of political punditry. In her debut last Saturday, she displayed this awareness in a self-effacing manner, beginning the show "with what I was hoping would feel like a counterintuitive thesis for the start of MSNBC's sort of 'liberal African-American girl show,' which is, I actually want a strong Republican party." Harris-Perry's most recent book focuses on public perceptions and stereotypes of black American women, as well as women's responses to the way they are represented. She knows she is not a novelty act, and she joins small but distinguished cohort of professional black female television hosts, which includes Soledad O'Brien and Gwen Ifill. But as Brian Stelter points out, Harris-Perry is the only tenured professor in the United States to host such a show. The program's uniqueness is its mission to bring the academy to the public, and "stuffy professor" is not among the bevy of race-, class- and gender-dependent stereotypes black women routinely deal with.

It is precisely on this front, at the splaying boundary between the academy and the public sphere, that the Melissa Harris-Perry Show matters most, as it speaks to pressing controversies in the debate over ethnic studies and access to higher education more broadly. Activist and author Tim Wise explains the folly and shame of the state of Arizona's recent ban on ethnic studies, a judicial decision that disfigures American history, exacerbates racism, and suffocates intellectual freedom. Like Harris-Perry, scholars in ethnic studies and African-American studies regularly hold appointments in multiple departments, as researchers ask and answer questions that require cross-disciplinary connections and yield bountiful intellectual rewards. Nowhere is this truth more clear than in the career of professor of African-American literature Ruth J Simmons, who served as president of both Smith College and Brown University. Ethnic studies do not just teach about race and ethnicity; they teach how to think and exchange ideas, skills that serve all students quite well, no matter their specific interests.

In addition to the ethnic studies controversy, MSNBC's foray into nerdland comes at a time of heated debate about the purpose and promise of higher education in the United States. Panic hovers over American colleges and universities, as skyrocketing costs of tuition, state budget crunches, and flippant anxieties about the value of the humanities writ large clutter the public sphere. Distorted discussions about educational utility and elitism pollute the most basic questions of access, as Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum recently accused president Obama of "hubris" and "snobbery" after Obama expressed his hope that every American child attend college.

On the other hand, new advances in online learning and programs like iTunes U and Ted talks are making both the credentials and content of higher education more accessible than they have ever been. The Harris-Perry show will not solve the deeply-rooted inequities that restrict access to higher education for so many Americans. But it does represent MSNBC's recognition that the public thirsts for earnest intellectual discussion, driven by data and evidence and facilitated by trained professionals. All members of the academy, regardless of discipline or political preference, should recognize the value of the Harris-Perry show, as its host explicitly acknowledges the different skill sets and demands of academic research and public intellectualism.

It is doubtful that shouting matches between passionate and opinionated pundits will disappear from politics news shows, and perhaps those spectacles have their place. Harris-Perry herself was recently drawn into in a well-publicized row with fellow professor Cornel West – a conflict that stemmed from the researchers' differing evaluations of President Obama and, as Dr Mark Sawyer carefully explains, regrettably deteriorated into personal attacks. If the first Melissa Harris-Perry show is any indication, its host will not silence or insult those with whom she disagrees, including fellow nerds. The conflict and crescendo of intellectual exchange are intrinsic to academic work, and the hope is that this new space will provide civility and empiricism where discourtesy and conjecture usually reside. If this comes to pass, the Harris-Perry show will succeed in demonstrating that academics are more than elitists who produce indecipherable research only for each other.

Nerdland is home to rugged terrain and occasionally stormy weather, but its air is sweet, its sky is vast, and its borders are open to all.

Michael P Jeffries

Ian King obituary

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:06 GMT

My good friend Ian King, who has died of cancer aged 57, made significant contributions to the national student union movement. Over the past 35 years there has rarely been a strategic move that has not benefited from his wise counsel and assistance. He was one of those responsible for creating one of the first effective central purchasing organisations for unions, which eventually became NUS Services Ltd (NUSSL). He was among the first managers to promote those unions offering activities that would supplement students' work on their degrees – known as student development activities. He was a prime mover in the increased professionalism of union staff.

Ian started his involvement in unions while he was an undergraduate at Stirling University. He went on to serve as general manager of the unions of York St John University, the Polytechnic of Wales (now the University of Glamorgan) and Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University). In 1987 he was appointed general manager at Birmingham University Guild of Students, where he enjoyed 10 happy, satisfying and innovative years.

He was often consulted on important NUS issues by union officers who respected his opinion and could be sure of his integrity, confidentiality and availability. In 1997 he was appointed chief executive at NUSSL, responsible for a £60m annual purchasing budget. As with all his other posts, he introduced rapid change, increasing NUSSL's effectiveness and making it more accessible to its members.

Eleven years ago, Ian was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He faced this with courage, fortitude and humour. He was determined that his activities would not be restricted and carried on working until 2010, despite ill-health. He continued with his many interests, mainly travel, sport and the arts. He was a keen cricket fan and a supporter of the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Ian gained most joy in the development of people, whether students and staff.

He is survived by his wife, Becky, whom he married in 1975, and his daughter, Amy.

Brian Shefton obituary

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:04 GMT

My friend and colleague Brian Shefton, who has died aged 92, was a distinguished scholar of Greek and Etruscan archaeology. One of his most significant achievements was a collection of Greek and Etruscan artefacts which he established in 1956 when he was given a grant of £25 to purchase three Greek pots. The collection expanded to include nearly 1,000 objects, many of which can now be seen at the Great North Museum: Hancock, in Newcastle upon Tyne. Brian also built up an important collection of books on Greek and Etruscan archaeology, which make up the Shefton collection in the library at Newcastle University.

Brian was born in Cologne, the son of Isidor Scheftelowitz, professor of Sanskrit at Cologne University, and his wife, Frieda. In 1933 the family moved to Britain to escape Nazi oppression. Brian thrived in Britain and, after military service during which he changed his name to Shefton, he graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1947. He then spent three years travelling in Greece before taking up a lectureship at Exeter University.

In 1955 he arrived at King's College in Durham (now Newcastle University) as a lecturer in Greek archaeology and ancient history. He remained there for the rest of his career, becoming professor of Greek art and archaeology in 1979. To Brian, the archaeology collection and library holdings at Newcastle were his greatest achievements.

His scholarship was truly international. He was an enthusiastic traveller with an extensive network of colleagues and friends. He attended international conferences frequently, and also received prestigious fellowships and honours, including an honorary doctorate from Cologne University and the British Academy's Kenyon medal.

His enthusiasm for his discipline stayed with him until the end. He spoke at a conference in Basle, Switzerland, on Etruscan archaeology in October 2011 and continued to work on research projects. He was an incredibly generous scholar who always had time for others. His irrepressible energy and curiosity were an inspiration to all those who knew him.

Brian is survived by his wife, Jutta, whom he married in 1960, and his daughter, Penny.

'John Lewis' model for schools

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:03 GMT

Private companies should be encouraged to take over and run state schools as profit-making enterprises under a "John Lewis-style" business model, a think tank suggests.

MPs unite to give a powerful new voice for Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:51 GMT

A new all-party Parliamentary group for the region has been formed. Andrew Percy, its co-chair and Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole, explains why and sets out its priorities

With the emergence of City Regions, Local Enterprise Partnerships, and the clear commitment by all major political parties to "localism", is now the right time to establish a new, regionally-based, cross-party group of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire MPs?

The clear consensus is "Yes".

The question of whether to join political forces in the greater interests of Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire has been something that we and a number of our fellow MPs have been asking ourselves of late.

The answer has come, loud and clear, that now – perhaps more than ever – is the time to put party politics aside and work together as MPs to help unlock the growth that our local constituents need, however they may choose to vote.

The fact is that the region of Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire does not get the attention or credit it deserves, in terms of the critical role it plays for the UK economy – e.g. it provides almost 20% of the UK's electricity needs and almost 30% of the country's petrochemical products, so vital to industry. It also has unparalleled potential for future, sustainable growth.

The year ahead promises to be fundamental to the future economic success of the region, with an array of key investment and economic policy decisions anticipated. These relate to a wide range of organisations - from global industry giants to Whitehall departments - covering sectors from potash mining and offshore wind, to the location of the Green Investment Bank.

So now feels exactly the right time to establish a new, cross-Party commitment for the region as a whole, to fight for the greater good of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, in what is undoubtedly an extremely challenging economic climate.

This is why we have set up our new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), to focus attention on the ways that industry and Government at all levels must work together to unlock the huge growth potential that exists across the region. For a number of years MPs may have met together regionally, within their party structures - but this is the first time that MPs will come together, across party lines, to focus on areas of common ground, which need coordinated action.

To be known as the APPG for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, the Group has now met for the first time, to agree its membership and identify its early priorities.

To emphasise our cross-Party commitment, the APPG is jointly chaired – by myself and Barry Sheerman, Labour MP for Huddersfield. We've also drawn the Group's vice-chairs from all three major Political Parties.

At our first meeting we identified three key themes, where we will focus out attention during 2012 - all linked to the overarching priority of driving greater economic growth.

Firstly renewable energy – how can we unlocking its enormous growth potential and harness the benefits for the entire region (and beyond), in terms of its supply chain, jobs growth that could number in the tens of thousands, skills improvements and wider community benefits?
Secondly, transport infrastructure – in particular to examine the extension of High Speed Rail to the region and the establishment of the "Northern Hub" for rail services, as well as the wider infrastructure needed to unlock growth in the short term.
Finally, tourism, culture and the regional brand – what more needs to be done to build on increasing visitor numbers and ensure the region is at the forefront in the minds of potential visitors and investors?

It's worth noting that the APPG has also been strongly welcomed by our partners in local government, with the secretariat support for the APPG being provided through Local Government Yorkshire and Humber (LGYH), the cross-party alliance of all local authorities in the region.

A formal launch event is now being planned for 14 March, where we are looking to secure the involvement of a number of high profile figures from across the region. The launch will set the scene for all three focus areas; but also, critically, act as a showcase for all the things that are great about Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, showing off the unmatched offer and potential that it has.

More news on this from the Guardian Northerner as we go along.

InterContinental Hotels to create 3,000 jobs in Britain

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:37 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's biggest hotelier, Intercontinental, said it would create 3,000 jobs at its 275 hotels in Britain over the next three years, providing a boost for youth employment, as it launched a new training academy in London. The company, which operates the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza chains as well as InterContinental, said the academy had been launched in partnership with Newham College, close to the Olympic stadium, and would provide local people with hospitality training and practical work experience. ...

Charities 'cheaper route to jobs'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:56 GMT

A charity says its work-placement networks, including job fairs in churches and mosques, are more effective than private contractors paid by taxpayers.

Malaysia bans British sex education book

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:55 GMT

Predominantly Muslim Malaysia on Wednesday banned the sale of a children's sex education book written by a British author, saying its contents "could threaten moral values".

McGuinness pressed over bomb death

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:42 GMT

The parents of a schoolboy killed when he triggered an IRA bomb in Londonderry in 1973 believe Martin McGuinness knows who was involved.

Head teacher cleared over claims of violently restraining pupils

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:30 GMT

A former head teacher has described how his career was left in tatters after he was forced out of his job over false claims that he assaulted pupils.

You never forget a teacher - especially one like 'Mr Rip'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:30 GMT

The memory of coach crash victim Peter Rippington will long remain with his pupils. Iain Hollingshead reports.

India's education malaise has all the hallmarks of a development disaster

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:00 GMT

Blighted by abysmal teaching standards and glaring inequalities, India's schools are failing to prepare the way for future prosperity

If you want a glimpse of the challenges facing India's education system, there is no better vantage point than Rajpur primary school. Located in the tribal belt of the Shahabad hills of Rajasthan, the school serves some of India's most disadvantaged children. Poverty and illiteracy are endemic. Most of the kids crammed into the school's two classrooms are first generation learners; the majority have yet to master basic literacy and numeracy.

To understand why, you just have to witness a grade 1 lesson. Three groups of children sit in neat rows. The teacher reads to the youngest in monotone English, apparently oblivious to the uncomprehending faces before him. Another group is reciting multiplication tables. The older children are silently copying sums from a blackboard.

Welcome to the rote learning raj that governs India's primary schools. Teachers in Rajpur see their pupils not as active learners, but as empty vessels to be filled with facts. No provision is made to ensure the children gain basic literacy skills in the early grades. Only one of the five teachers is trained – and none speaks the home language of tribal children.

Teacher absenteeism is another problem. The headteacher complains he seldom has more than two of his five teachers present, while parents complain the head himself is an infrequent visitor.

The school is a microcosm of the education challenges facing India. On the one hand, the country is posting encouraging growth rates and is home to some of the world's finest technology institutes. On the other, it has a lower league school system delivering an abysmal quality of education, failing the country's poorest children, reinforcing social inequalities, and undermining the skill-base needed to create jobs, sustain high growth and eradicate poverty.

If education was measured solely by enrolment, India would be the success story of the past decade. In the space of a single primary school generation, out-of-school numbers have fallen from 25 million to 8 million. The primary school enrolment rate now stands at 95%, a level unthinkable 10 years ago. Even though many girls drop out after the age of 11, gender gaps have narrowed. So encouraging are the gains, an ambitious plan to achieve universal secondary education has been adopted.

Surging enrolment bears testimony to the impact of some impressive policies. There has been a massive expansion of school construction in disadvantaged rural areas, school fees have been removed, midday meal schemes have given parents added incentive to send children to school, and highly marginalised districts have been targeted for special support. The right to education act, adopted in 2010, made the provision of free education a basic human right enshrined in law.

But while impressive enrolment figures tell one story, only two in three children of primary school age attend regularly, and one in five drops out. Moreover, millions are receiving a poor-quality education. Just how poor was made evident by January's annual status of education report, which covers a representative sample of rural schools. The report found that fewer than half of grade 5 children could read a text designed for grade 2 pupils. Basic arithmetic results were equally poor: only 60% of grade 5 pupils could do a grade 2 addition sum.

To an extent, the problems go beyond the education sector. Despite two decades of high growth, India has registered limited success in combating child malnutrition. Around four in 10 children experience chronic malnutrition before reaching school age, with devastating – and largely irreversible – consequences for brain development and future learning outcome.

Yet the education system is equally problematic. Infrastructure improvements over the past decade have brought previously excluded populations into the country's schools, but poor teaching is commonplace. Many teachers are themselves badly educated. Multi-grade teaching in overcrowded classrooms creates a difficult learning environment, while teacher absenteeism – around one quarter of the workforce misses school daily – is another blight. Consequently, pupils receive fewer hours of instruction than they need, and what they do receive is often unfit for purpose.

Symptomatic of the malaise is the relentless rise of private schools, which are now attended by more than a quarter of children in rural areas. Most provide mediocre teaching at considerable cost to the poor, but at least the teachers turn up. It is difficult to think of a starker example of state failure.

Inequalities in education are at the heart of a wider malaise – a failure to translate high growth into human development. Poverty is falling slowly, inequality is rising, and India's dismal performance in areas such as nutrition, child survival and health continues. These are symptoms of a glaring divide in opportunities for education.

Looking ahead, the shortcomings in India's education system threaten to convert a potential demographic dividend into a disaster. The country has one of the world's youngest population profiles, and is getting younger: by 2020, the median age will be 28. India needs to create around 12m new jobs a year for young people entering the labour market. Harnessed to the skills provided through education, India's youthfulness is a potential asset that could fuel growth, employment creation and shared prosperity. Without education, the asset will become a social and political liability.

Having turned the corner on school enrolment, India now faces the hard part of education reform: recruiting, training and supporting a workforce equipped to deliver decent quality education and strengthening the accountability of schools, teachers and state governments.

Raising learning achievement levels while overcoming the country's deep-rooted inequalities will not be easy. But is it really beyond the capacity of India, a fully signed-up member of the space race, to provide kids with a proper education?

Kevin Watkins

Students told cross-dressing is as offensive as blacking up

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:28 GMT

Students at a leading university have been told not to dress in drag in case it offends transgender people.

How cross-dressing is an essential part of student rag week

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:26 GMT

Students at Exeter University have been told cross-dressing is offensive to transgender people - but history shows drag has been a part of student revelry for more than a century.

Religious education lessons 'dying out' in schools

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT

Religious education is being undermined by a "crippling ambivalence" towards the subject in state schools, according to research published today.

Profit-making companies 'should run state schools'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT

Profit-making firms are making hundreds of millions of pounds from the state education system, according to new research.

Victory for Kate Middleton as men-only university club splinters

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00 GMT

Ten years after the Duchess of Cambridge helped found St Andrews University's first women-only club in protest of an elitist men-only society, her alma mater has endorsed a breakaway group that will promote inclusion for all, regardless of gender.

Michael Gove: Get set for new age of exam failures

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:00 GMT

More teenagers will fail their GCSEs and A-levels after a radical toughening of the examinations system, the Education Secretary declared yesterday.

Let teachers run John Lewis-style schools for profit, says thinktank

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:07 GMT

Private companies should be allowed to set up and run schools under a social enterprise model, say the conservative Policy Exchange thinktank

Teachers should be encouraged to take a stake in John Lewis-style partnerships to run state schools as profit-making enterprises, according to proposals outlined by the conservative Policy Exchange thinktank.

Private companies would be allowed to set up and run schools under a social enterprise model that would give employees a share of ownership and re-invest a portion of any profit back into the school.

The Policy Exchange report enters politically risky terrain. The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, ruled out profit-making in state schools in a speech last year. However, the education secretary, Michael Gove, a former chairman of Policy Exchange, has approved a free school in Suffolk that will out-source management to a commercial company.

The report urges ministers to pilot social enterprise schools in some of the most deprived parts of the country. Schools would be allowed to distribute 50% of any surplus as a dividend to shareholders. The remaining 50% would have to be reinvested in the school.

Teachers and other school employees should be given the option of holding shares in the parent company or in the school itself, the report says.

The thinktank argues that allowing "for-profit" provision would provide extra capital to create more school places at a time when there is a severe shortage in parts of the country. Successful private providers able to keep a share of their surplus might also have a stronger incentive than charitable trusts to set up new schools. At present, local authorities are required to take back surpluses, but academies are permitted to carry over 12% of their budgets annually.

Policy Exchange suggests the proposed schools would operate under a "social mobility test" requiring at least 20% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

They would also be prevented from selling off government-procured buildings or facilities, and payment of dividends would be tied to the school's performance. For-profit firms are allowed to run publicly funded schools in Sweden and the US.

James Groves, the head of education at Policy Exchange, said: "Given the huge challenges which our education system faces in the coming years, the government should continue to push the boundaries of the status quo. This report challenges the idea that there is simply a choice between for-profit and not-for profit schools. A John Lewis model of school where private companies, including teachers and school staff are encouraged to personally invest offers one such innovative alternative."

Earlier this month, the former top civil servant in the Department for Education told the Guardian he sees "no principled objection" to profit-making companies taking over state schools and believes they will "probably" be allowed to do so eventually.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "There are no plans to allow organisations to run schools for profit. The success of many academies in raising standards is built on philanthropic organisations using their expertise to turn around underperforming schools.

"We're more than doubling targeted investment at areas facing the greatest pressure on school places, to over £4billion in the next four years. Parents want to send their child to a good local school - that's we are building free schools, letting the most popular schools expand to meet demand from parents and driving up standards right across the system."

Jeevan Vasagar

Universities making 'background checks' on applicants

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:30 GMT

Universities are increasingly employing data on teenagers' family and education background to hit tough Government targets to recruit more poor students, according to research.

State school RE 'under-resourced'

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:27 GMT

The funding of religious education in UK state schools is "frighteningly dependent" on the head teacher's personal stance, research suggests.

Clegg: Jobless Teens Are Ticking Time Bomb

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:14 GMT

The Deputy Prime Minister has called the problem of teenagers who are not in work, school or training - so-called Neets - a "ticking time bomb".

Kate praised by art charity chief

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:32 GMT

The Duchess of Cambridge has been praised for her "understanding of the arts" as she arrived at a school where painting and drawing are used to help children with behavioural problems.

Joan Foster obituary

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:11 GMT

My mother, Joan Foster, who has died aged 70, was a gifted and versatile teacher and local historian. Energetic and creative, she brought history to life for countless adults in Newcastle and shone a light on the lives of children in the north-east in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Born in India, where her father was a lieutenant colonel, Mum spent her childhood in Yorkshire before reading history at Bristol University and moving to Newcastle to live with our father, David, who had begun his career as a lawyer there. They married in 1963.

Mum's belief that education should be accessible to everyone meant that she started her career teaching miners' children and boys who had been excluded from school before being drawn to teach adults of all ages and backgrounds. She ran outreach courses, summer schools and local study groups.

Mum held Newcastle and Northumberland in deep affection. The city was the focus for her two books, Newcastle upon Tyne – A Pictorial History (1995) and Our Bairns – Glimpses of Tyneside's Children 1850-1950 (published in 1997). In the latter, she wrote about the migration of children from Britain to colonies overseas. She visited Canada, where she met former child migrants who had been forced to leave their homes in Newcastle in the 1920s.

Mum's interest in the lives of local children stuck and in 2004 she wrote a thesis, Northumbrian Rural Working Children from 1800-1914. She also discovered the diaries of the Northumbrian farmer William Brewis, which gave a rare firsthand account of rural life in the first half of the 19th century. These diaries were later published.

Mum was modest and unassuming – about her talent and her beautiful looks. With her warmth, sunny optimism and sense of humour she created a happy, lively home for her three children – Sarah, Daniel and me – and a collection of animals. Despite the onset of Alzheimer's, Mum kept active for as long as she could. Dad cared devotedly for her at home until the last few weeks of her life. We survive her.

Valencia anti-austerity protesters arrested – video

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:44 GMT

Riot police clashed with protesters on Monday in the Spanish city of Valencia.

'Ban' for Mayle book in Malaysia

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:11 GMT

Malaysian officials order book shops to stop selling a sex education book by British author Peter Mayle.

New exam 'appeals' tightened up

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:56 GMT

Concerns are raised over changes to the exam result appeal process which are due to take place as new qualifications are introduced.

VIDEO: Duchess embraces art on school visit

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:43 GMT

The Duchess of Cambridge visits schools in Oxford, where one of the charities she supports runs classes for children with behavioural problems.

Valencia police and students clash over education cuts

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:23 GMT

Fifth day of rallies against education cuts and heavy-handed policing threatens to spark further protest across Spain

A tense standoff between demonstrators and police in Valencia, eastern Spain, threatens to spark protest across the country as schoolchildren and students start a fifth day of rallies against education cuts and heavy-handed policing. Baton-wielding police pursued demonstrators around the city on Monday as protests grew following the arrest of a 17-year-old protester from a local secondary school.

Police claimed they were attacked by demonstrators hurling bottles and that 11 officers had been injured.

Schoolchildren and university students are at the forefront of daily protests in Valencia against a regional government gripped by corruption scandals as it imposes austerity measures to control debt and balance its budget.

Police have arrested 43 students and schoolchildren, including eight minors, in the city over the past four days.

Demonstrations in support of the Valencia students were being organised in half a dozen cities around the country on Tuesday evening. Valencia's students, meanwhile, said they would continue to protest "with our books and hands in the air".

The Valencia region, which is run by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative People's party (PP), is seen as a test of how his new government will set about imposing further austerity measures on a country already tumbling back into recession and gripped by 23% unemployment.

Rajoy's government has vowed to crack down on spontaneous protest, with interior ministry officials saying they will not tolerate the kind of camp-outs in town squares organised by the Indignado movement last year.

Local police chief Antonio Moreno has called the demonstrators "the enemy", adding fuel to complaints that his officers are using heavy-handed tactics against protesters as young as 16.

Trade unions and opposition politicians have criticised police, while the local journalists' association says several of its members have been treated roughly.

"My daughter was with me and her two grandmothers … We weren't demonstrating, but they didn't seem to care," said Ana Navarrete, mother of 17-year-old arrestee Alumdena, told El País newspaper. "They tore her out of my arms, grabbed her by the hair, threw her to the ground and, between three of them, took her away."

Interior minister Jorge Fernández said he would inform parliament about the incidents, adding that demonstrators had disobeyed police instructions.

Valencia's government is at the centre of a number of PP corruption scandals, including one involving the King Juan Carlos's son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarín – who is due in court on Saturday.

The regional government's credit rating was recently reduced to junk status by ratings agencies.

Giles Tremlett

Shoesmith backs sacked Baby P duo

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:16 GMT

Former Haringey children's services director Sharon Shoesmith gives her support to two of Baby Peter's social workers who claim they were unfairly sacked.

Examiners could be banned from attending seminars with teachers

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:16 GMT

Exam boards consider new curbs on examiners after claims that teachers were being tipped off about questions

Exam boards are considering imposing strict new curbs on examiners in the wake of allegations that some are divulging to teachers the questions pupils will be asked.

Mark Dawe, the chief executive of one of the country's leading exam boards, OCR, told MPs that in future examiners could be banned from attending seminars with teachers.

Each year thousands of teachers go to seminars organised by exam boards to pick up tips on what examiners are looking for when they mark pupils' exam scripts.

But an undercover investigation by the Telegraph last year claimed examiners were tipping off teachers about the questions their pupils should expect.

The exams regulator, Ofqual, withdrew a GCSE exam paper as a result of the investigation and three examiners were suspended.

One was recorded telling teachers: "We're cheating. We're telling you the cycle [of the compulsory question]. Probably the regulator will tell us off."

The sting sparked alarm among ministers, who ordered Ofqual to conduct an inquiry into whether there was sufficient "unpredictability" in exams. The inquiry is expected to report by the summer.

MPs on the cross-party Commons education select committee, who had already started their own inquiry into the exam boards at the time of the investigation, described the revelations as shocking and suggested that there may be a need for radical changes.

Facing questions from the MPs as part of their inquiry, Dawe admitted that two of his examiners had been sacked for divulging information to teachers in the past 18 months. The cases were unrelated to the newspaper's sting, he said.

One of the examiners had revealed inappropriate information in a textbook, while another had given hints of what might be in an exam during a seminar, Dawe said. The hints turned out to be incorrect.

Dawe told the MPs he was considering banning examiners from seminars if it turned out that the public was concerned they were giving away too much information.

However, he said attending seminars was very helpful for examiners because they were given an opportunity to hear feedback from teachers on the questions they had set in previous years.

"It would be with some reluctance that we stopped examiners going to the seminars," Dawe said. "But if we are continually facing accusations … we are going to have to do this."

The process of banning examiners from seminars would take about a year and would not be painless, he said.

Jessica Shepherd

Clegg announces £126 mn fund for young jobless

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:02 GMT

Nick Clegg has unveiled a £126 mn fund to focus on the "ticking time bomb" of young people who are not in employment, education or training, or 'NEETs'.