Author: Martin Allen

Education’s ‘Creditability Crunch’: the upper secondary years

 Martin Allen Forum   Vol  52,  Number 3, 2010 http://www.wwwords.co.uk/FORUM Improving education in the upper secondary years (generally given the title of  14-19 education) remained a central component of New Labour policy throughout its 13 years of office. The ‘Curriculum 2000’ reforms tried to make A-levels more accessible by introducing an AS and A2 modular system … Continue reading Education’s ‘Creditability Crunch’: the upper secondary years →

Review of ‘Lost Generation? New Strategies for youth and Education’

British Journal of Educational Studies, 1467-8527, Volume 58, Issue 3, 2010.   Lost Generation? New Strategies for Youth and Education. By M. Allen and P. Ainley Pp 186. London: Continuum. 2010. £16.99 (pbk). ISBN 9781441134707. As the election process for the next leader of the Labour Party in the UK gets underway (summer 2010), some … Continue reading Review of ‘Lost Generation? New Strategies for youth and Education’ →

Wolf Review of Vocational Education

Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley Education minister    Michael Gove has commissioned Professor Alison Wolf to carry out a review of vocational education. As Wolf notes in her letter ‘calling for evidence’ the review is part of a new government   approach   to qualifications, but it won’t be examining the detailed content of vocational qualifications but on … Continue reading Wolf Review of Vocational Education →

An Open Letter to John Humphrys

USUAL MUDDLE OVER EDUCATION  Patrick Ainley The BBC recently ran a series of programmes on the mess that education – and schools in particular – have become. With John Humphrys’ ‘Unequal Opportunities’ (BBC2 20/9) the Corporation gave it their best shot and yet what were the conclusions of this tour of England’s schools?  Humphrys endorsed … Continue reading An Open Letter to John Humphrys →

Education and the reserve army of labour

PATRICK AINLEY Post-16 educator No 59 Introduction Andrew Gamble’s 2009 book The Spectre at the Feast follows Marx in seeing ‘One of the key functions of economic crisis is to reconstitute the reserve army of labour’ (p.47). As Gamble argues, this previously occurred at the time of the last recession which ended ‘the long boom’ … Continue reading Education and the reserve army of labour →

Youth unemployment rises again

There is no sign of any pick up in the labour market. Though unemployment , as measured by the broader Labour Force Survey method has fallen by 8000, this is much lower than City analysts had predicted and still leaves joblessness at 7.8%. More significantly, the quarterly figures from the Office for National Statistics  show the ‘Claimant Count’ … Continue reading Youth unemployment rises again →

Lost Generation. New Strategies for Youth and Education. Patrick Ainley and Martin Allen

  Pass rates at record high for GCSEs and A-levels Half of 850 000 A-level   candidates achieving A*-B         yet 150 000+ UCAS applicants without places Unemployment  for the 18-24 age group at 17% Average end of course student debt now predicted to be £24000 As a new academic year begins; a  must for any … Continue reading Lost Generation. New Strategies for Youth and Education. Patrick Ainley and Martin Allen →

Still trying to answer the A-level question

As expected, the 2010 A-level results show  increases in entries and pass rates, but also a further drift towards traditional or ‘hard’ subjects, like maths and economics,  at the expense of  those such as  law and  business Studies, now regularly denounced as ‘soft’ or ‘inappropriate’ for  entry to top universities.   Statistics also show a sharp … Continue reading Still trying to answer the A-level question →

Post-14 education: what next after 13 years New Labour?

Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley BERA social justice seminar  Birmingham City University 10/06/10 Despite the continued administrative separation of schools under the resurrected Department of Education from post-compulsory provision (17+ in 2013 and 18+ after 2015) with F&HE plus adult and training still funded from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, English education and … Continue reading Post-14 education: what next after 13 years New Labour? →