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Recent Posts
- ‘The Ministry of the Future’ by Kim Stanley Robinson December 20, 2020
- Why the comprehensive college? September 20, 2020
- Exam results – what just happened? August 23, 2020
- Starting to rethink education. June 10, 2020
- Knowledge and education for the future. May 25, 2020
- England’s unexpected exam revolution. May 5, 2020
- Tsitsi Dangarembga’s ‘Nervous Conditions’. May 3, 2020
- Rebecca Solnit on Hope. April 23, 2020
- In praise of lightness – Calvino’s Leggerezza. March 29, 2020
- An A-Z for a world which has to change. March 22, 2020
- Decarbonising education. March 15, 2020
- The mighty pencil November 2, 2019
- Knowledge-rich and skills-rich August 18, 2019
- ‘Unsheltered’ by Barbara Kingsolver August 11, 2019
- ‘The Overstory’ by Richard Powers. March 10, 2019
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Tag Archives: Social mobility
The narrative of the ‘poor bright child’.
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. Jane Addams. Earlier this month the government announced a £23m ‘future talent fund’ targeted at ‘bright’ … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged Education, Equality, Future Talent Fund, high, NewVIc, selection, Social mobility, university progression
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The East End’s ‘engine of progression’.
The East End’s ‘engine of progression’. In September, the Mail Online and others published articles extolling the achievements of the ‘Eton of the East End’, one of the highly selective sixth forms in Newham which have opened in recent years. … Continue reading
Oxbridge admissions – time for action.
Last week’s news that Oxford and Cambridge universities are failing to diversify and broaden their undergraduate intakes to reflect British society was deeply depressing for anyone who believes in university access and participation as a social good. The story broke … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged Cambridge university, comprehensive education, diversity, Education, Newham, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Oxbridge, Oxford university, Russell group, Sixth form, Social mobility, Tower Hamlets, Universities, university progression, Wadham College Oxford, widening participation
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Newham’s outstanding record of widening participation
Disadvantaged young people in Newham are more than twice as likely to progress to university than in England as a whole and their progression rate is the 4th highest of all local authorities in the country. The ‘disadvantage gap’ between … Continue reading
University Gold.
With some help from the Jackson 5: The proposal to classify English universities as Gold, Silver or Bronze is a stroke of genius. The perfect expression of the English obsession with ranking. So obvious, one wonders why we’re not already … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged class, Equality, Jackson 5, meritocracy, selection, Social mobility, university
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Overlooked and left behind?
The latest report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility runs to over 100 pages and makes some worthy points. However, it seems to support the idea that education in itself can improve mobility and fairness in the … Continue reading
The limits of social mobility
In his Observer article a couple of weeks ago, the sociologist John Goldthorpe shatters two cherished illusions: first, that social mobility in Britain is in decline and second, that education is a powerful agent for promoting social mobility. 1. Social … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged economy, Education, Equality, John Goldthorpe, marketisation, Social mobility, Sociology
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Reducing London’s disadvantage gap.
There is much talk of the educational performance gap between disadvantaged students, eligible for free school meals (FSM), and their peers. One measure of success for sixth form students is progression to university of students reaching the end of their … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged disadvantage, Education, England, free school meals, London, Sixth form, Sixth form college, Social mobility, university progression, young people
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Labour split or Labour unity?
This weekend, the case for a Labour split was given prominent coverage in the Observer newspaper. Party members were also able to read a rather more unifying message in an interview with the Labour leader in Labour Today, the party’s … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged elections, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour party, Social mobility, unity
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University progression for the NewVIc class of 2015
Every year, when we analyse our students’ university destinations, we conclude that the current year is our best year ever. And every year it’s true. Our class of 2015 is another great cohort, full of ambitious and determined young people, … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged aspiration tax, Education, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Russell group, Social mobility, Universities, university progression
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Cracking Oxbridge
Nationally, 93% of young people in England are educated in state-funded schools and colleges, but only 61% of Cambridge university undergraduates are drawn from the state sector, a figure which has recently fallen. At Oxford university the proportion is less than … Continue reading
Reviewing post-16 education in London
Principals and chairs of governors from most of London’s colleges assembled at City Hall last week for a briefing on the post-16 area review process. It’s not often that this group meets and although it happened without any great fanfare … Continue reading
England’s engines of mobility
England’s sixth form and further education colleges are among the most significant engines of social mobility as measured by the number of 16-18 year olds eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) progressing to Higher Education. This contribution needs to be … Continue reading
London’s engines of mobility
If we use the proportion of students eligible for free school meals (FSM) progressing to university as a measure of social mobility, it’s clear that the ‘London effect’ is very marked. London’s FSM progression rate in 2012 was 58% compared to … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged Colleges, Education, England, free school meals, London, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Social mobility, university progression
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NewVIc breaks all its university progression records.
Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) has always had high rates of university progression, both in terms of numbers and the proportion of leavers progressing. These have consistently been well above the national and London averages. We are also very proud … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged aspiration, Education, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Russell group, Social mobility, university progression
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