Ministers have said more must be done to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in England, after last summer’s exam results showed the gap between children from poor families and their better-off peers had widened further. A breakdown of GCSE results issued by the Department for Education (DfE) showed the gap between disadvantaged pupils and others increased for the second year in a row. The introduction of tougher exams appear to have halted the improvement seen in previous years. READ...

Two out of every five 18-year-olds in the UK are applying for a place to study at university this year, along with record numbers of students from China and India, according to figures from the university admissions service. Ucas, which operates the application process for higher education, said the number of UK sixth formers applying for undergraduate places rose to 275,300, despite a 1.5% decline in the UK’s overall 18-year-old population, suggesting the appetite for university education remai...

Top universities in England have been told to significantly increase places for disadvantaged youngsters. The university watchdog, the Office for Students, wants the "access gap" between wealthier and poorer students to be halved in five years. Young people from affluent areas are six times more likely to get places at the most selective universities. "It is damning for the sector that large gaps still remain," said Universities Minister Chris Skidmore. "We cannot let this talent be wasted." REA...

The career hopes and dreams of young people in the UK are at odds with the types of jobs available, a study warns. Research by the charity Education and Employers suggests five times as many 17- and 18-year-olds in the UK want to work in art, culture, entertainment and sport as there are jobs available. And this disconnect means far too many are "destined for disappointment". The report, Disconnected: Career aspirations and jobs in the UK, is based on a survey of 7,000 teenagers. READ MORE

Schools have been warned against "gaming" their league-table ranking by getting pupils to take qualifications that are of low value to them. Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman said good grades were "hollow" if children missed out on a rounded education. The head of England's education watchdog criticised too narrow a focus on exam results. "We should not incentivise apparent success without substance," Ms Spielman said.

EMWPREP are looking for two talented and enthusiastic individuals to join the team. EMWPREP Data Analyst (Full Time) The EMWPREP Data Analyst will be responsible for supporting a full monitoring, evaluation and tracking service to partners with a focus on providing quantitative data analysis. They will be required to ensure data acquired from a broad range of sources is analysed to meet the specific requirement of individual partners taking into account the current national context for edu...

Social mobility “cold spots” in England are likely to get colder if action is not taken, a cross-party group of MPs and peers warn. There could be serious repercussions for children’s achievement in these areas, such as Norfolk, Somerset and Blackpool, if the government does not offer more support, a report on social mobility says. The all-party parliamentary group on social mobility is calling for ring-fenced funding for children’s centres and for high-quality early years provision to be offere...