Tag Archives: Post-16 funding

People’s College and Top Academy: which is best?

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Imagine two colleges, let’s call them People’s College and Top Academy. We want to compare them, so we turn to the national performance tables which tell us that the average A-level point score for People’s College is 200 (C-) compared … Continue reading →

Posted in Education policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Alison Wolf on education and the economy

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

NewVIc autumn lecture: 12th November 2014 Alison Wolf is Professor of Public Sector Management at King’s College London and the author of the ‘Wolf Report’ commissioned by Education minister Michael Gove in 2010 to ‘consider how we can improve vocational … Continue reading →

Posted in Education policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A sixth form college manifesto for 2015

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The Sixth Form College Association has published its manifesto for the 2015 general election. It will join the manifestos of many other organisations in politicians’ in-trays, no doubt prompting many warm words but few cast-iron promises. This was evident in … Continue reading →

Posted in Education policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Education and skills coming together?

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The appointment of Peter Lauener as the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) while remaining as chief executive of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has prompted speculation that the two agencies could soon be merged, although this has … Continue reading →

Posted in Education policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Market madness #6 Students as commodities: premium, discount and remaindered

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Enrolment is always a challenge. We come back from our holidays to an empty college. Like someone organising an open house, we’ve stocked up on a range of snacks and drinks for our guests but we can’t really be sure … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sixth forms working together against the tide

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Opening speech to the Sharing Good Practice conference at St.Angela’s school, Stratford, 4th June 2014. We are all here today because we are committed to providing the best possible educational opportunities to young people aged 16-18 and because we think … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A tale of two boroughs

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

I want to start by telling the story of 16-18 education in two London boroughs; a story which illustrates some of the things I think we should be concerned about. Borough A was an economically disadvantaged area where most secondary schools … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy, NewVIc | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Post-16 funding: making the wrong choices

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

I agree with quite a lot of what Michael Gove says about the purpose of education and I like his championing of egalitarian aims. I welcome the fact that he has moved the Conservative party away from selection pre-16. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy, NewVIc | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Aspiration tax for the many, jackpot for the few

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Now that colleges have received their funding allocations for next year, we know the full extent of the “aspiration tax” on 18 year olds. At Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc), 472 of our students are over 18 and they will … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy, NewVIc, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Drop the aspiration tax

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The government has announced that funding for 18 year olds studying in colleges and sixth forms in England is to be cut by 17.5% per student next academic year. Among those affected will be a large number of students currently … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Education policy, NewVIc | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments