Latest education news
2nd of July 2009
Degrees of comfort: Where to find smaller classes and caring lecturers
Vicky Payne, 21, quit university after one year. It wasn't that she had struggled academically or made no friends. She just felt held back – something that completely changed when she started the same degree in hospitality management at Westminster Kingsway College.
John Bingham: 'This reform will improve the support that governors need'
People who are thinking about becoming a college governor often spend little time considering how the institutions work and how they are directed before deciding to join. Most become a governor because they want to put something back into their community – they possess knowledge or skills which they know will be of benefit to staff and the students they serve – and understandably they don't focus their thoughts too much on the intricacies of further education and the instruments and articles of governance.
18th of June 2009
The joy of studying without moving
What should a business do in a recession: make people redundant or invest money in training staff? According to training provider MOL, British businesses are choosing the latter option, while students are attracted by newer, more flexible ways of learning.
11th of June 2009
Instead of going on holiday stay in a Gothic mansion and study
Holidays are usually defined narrowly as an escape from work, but, an increasing number of people are seeking something constructive to do in their free time and signing up for a residential course instead of a lazy beach break, according to the Adult Residential Colleges Association (ARCA).
21st of May 2009
Master the job market: Give your career an edge with further qualifications
Whether training for a specific career, indulging in academic research, or simply sitting tight to avoid the fierce graduate recruitment market, more and more university leavers are choosing to extend their studies. The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (Hecsu) expects that of the near 300,000 students who graduate this summer, 30 per cent will enrol on a postgraduate course – an extra 30,000 students on the recent average.
2nd of April 2009
Formula for fun: Salford City College takes a lighter approach to attract young scientists
It's a question that has business, industry, educationalists and politicians scratching their heads: why isn't the UK producing more maths, science and engineering graduates? Not enough students are studying these key disciplines at university, A-level and GCSE, with young people consistently being turned off by poor teaching, dull classrooms and the common misconception that these are difficult subjects leading to "geeky" professions.
Radio Ga Ga: Students air their views on the airwaves
When Sheffield City College decided to trial its own radio station earlier this year, it quickly became a magnet for students. "To think that I was worried about how I'd come up with a regular supply of current shows," laughs Matt Hine, digital media lecturer. "From the start, students at all levels and of all ages were requesting to come in and record shows at lunchtimes and after classes. Many of these students would previously be off just as soon as class was over."
Enterprising minds: Surge of interest in courses for budding entrepreneurs
With the repercussions of the global credit crunch no longer confined to the Square Mile and ordinary households tightening the purse strings amid fears for their jobs and pensions, it may seem perverse to call this a time of opportunity. Yet a period of upheaval can also be a time of renewal, with new business ideas arising from the ashes of the old.
John Bingham: It's time to recognise the value of sixth-form colleges - and create more of them
Sixth-Form Colleges are a better choice than school sixth- forms for many of our young people – yet there appears to be no proactive Government policy to propel the creation of sixth-form colleges where the need is greatest. There are pockets of the country where these institutions abound, but equally in some regions they are very thinly spread.
The world's your oyster: College students are being given the opportunity to live and work abroad
By his own admission, Dan Buckland, 21, was a trying student when he arrived at London Leisure College. He'd had a bad experience of school and although he was looking forward to training to be a rugby coach at the college – which works in partnership with other London colleges including Greenwich Community College – his confidence was low. Little did he realise that a three-week trip to Zambia with the college, in which the students coached Zambian schoolchildren, would turn his life around.
19th of March 2009
Art colleges lose research cash as ministers opt to protect science
Some of London's top art colleges are seething about cuts that mean that the University of the Arts London is losing £3m and the Royal College of Art £500,000 of research money next year. The cuts have come as a shock because the colleges actually did better in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), but this improvement was not reflected in cash.
11th of December 2008
New Year, New You: Put your green fingers to work
Credit-crunch blues making you think of sharpening up your CV? Or fancy something to hone the mind, spark a new interest, or build on an old one? If you don't want to wait until next September, it's worth thinking of applying to one of the many January- or February-start courses now on offer round the country – take your pick from full, part-time or even home study.
6th of November 2008
Eyes on the prize: Specialist officers are giving students a better experience of sport
When Kevin Hamblin took over as principal of Filton College in Bristol, only 14 students took part in any timetabled sporting activities and just one sports coach was employed on a part-time basis. "Those 14 did football on a Wednesday afternoon and there wasn't even a goalkeeper among them," says Hamblin.
Bright future: How Britain's colleges are unlocking young talent
At this year's Conservative Party Conference, MP John Hayes described colleges as "the unheralded triumph". High time, then, that colleges start to blow their own trumpet and it is in this spirit that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Association of Colleges will launch the first ever Colleges Week on 10 November.
From bad to verse: South London students are fighting violent crime with their own performing arts scheme
Fear of gun and knife crime stalks communities in our inner cities. Although official statistics show that it is still relatively rare, with knives used in 6 per cent of violent crimes and firearms in just 1 per cent, the headlines talk of a barrage of youth-on-youth knife and firearm attacks amid an increasingly violent and lawless street culture. For those communities devastated by these senseless slayings, it doesn't matter what the headlines and statistics say: they need action to counter the downward spiral of fear and hopelessness that begets only more violence and vengeance on our streets.
9th of October 2008
Martin Doel: 'Fifty colleges will be raising money for Children in Need '
It is a common refrain among education professionals that the contribution of colleges to our economic and social welfare is often overlooked, but the first Colleges Week – from 10-16 November – will swing the spotlight in their direction.
Apprentices are victims of the credit crunch
When Mark Rood began his apprenticeship in electrical installation at Eastleigh College a year ago, he could never have believed that, just 12 months later, he would be a victim of the credit crunch.
2nd of October 2008
Leading Article: Help part-timers
It is very good news that the Government finally is to look at the inequity in funding between full-time students and part-timers, who often are having to squeeze their studies around family commitments and a job.
18th of September 2008
Conservatoire says yes, yes, yes to pop
This month, the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester, began a new foundation degree called "popular music practice (session musician)". Yes, a conservatoire teaching a job-specific foundation degree. And yes, a conservatoire doing pop.
11th of September 2008
Against The Grain: 'We shouldn't be earthbound'
Charles S Cockell is a professor of microbiology at the Open University. He argues that Britain should be more involved in space exploration.