Learning for Labour: specialist diplomas and 14-19 education.

  Martin Allen    FORUM      Vol 49  No 3   2007 http://www.wwwords.co.uk/forum/content/pdfs/49/issue49_3.asp     Despite reports of ministers wanting to delay implementation, government have given the go-ahead for 5 new specialist diplomas to begin from September 2008 in a limited number of schools and colleges. The 2006 Education Act gave young people a ‘national entitlement’ to … Continue reading Learning for Labour: specialist diplomas and 14-19 education. →

Social tinkering spells disaster for our young

                    Patrick Ainley and Martin Allen  Times Higher  20/04/2007     Raising the school-leaving age to 18 could do more than any other measure to widen participation in higher education. But not in the heavy-handed and incriminating way that the Government proposes.   Staying at school or going to college is now the norm … Continue reading Social tinkering spells disaster for our young →

Will staying on to 18 open up possibilities, or close them?

  Patrick Ainley      The Guardian    13/03/2007     Education make you fick, innit?” was how one further education student explained why he was not “aiming higher” for university. So it’s perhaps not surprising that many young people oppose raising the school-leaving age to 18. They echo the working-class children and families who saw the previous … Continue reading Will staying on to 18 open up possibilities, or close them? →

A-levels: not as golden as they used to be

  Martin Allen                                                          Socialist Education Journal No2   August brings the annual hue and cry about A-levels being too easy, with this year proving to be no exception. The London Evening Standard front paged with ‘A-grades for one in four A-levels’ while The Guardian provided a picture of  a 12 year old computer games fan, … Continue reading A-levels: not as golden as they used to be →