There has been a "remarkable shift" in poorer children now receiving a bigger share of education spending in England, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The independent financial researchers say in previous generations children from richer families were the main beneficiaries, as they were likely to stay longer in education. But this pattern has been reversed by policies deliberately "skewed" to give more funding towards the deprived and with more poorer youngsters going to sixth form and un...

Employers and universities are calling for major changes to student funding in England, to reverse the collapse in part-time student numbers. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says university should not only be for young people, and adults need to be able to re-train for new skills. Part-time undergraduate numbers have fallen by more than 50% since 2010. The CBI and Universities UK want more support for students to take short, flexible part-time courses. A joint statement warns of a ge...

A new study, by education marketing consultancy GK and Partners, claims three-quarters (75%) of sixth-formers would consider an apprenticeship more seriously if degree apprenticeships were offered in their chosen career. Almost two-thirds (63%) of the 1,051 young people interviewed also say that they would be more likely to apply for an apprenticeship if a UCAS-style format was available. At present, would be apprentices must apply to individual companies. The findings – from the first study to ...

Almost all young people say that their parents influenced their education and career choices, yet our latest research, published with Kings College London last week, reveals that many universities fail to plan their outreach activities around parents. Why might that be? We found that problems start early, many schools struggle to engage parents, yet in many cases, universities rely on schools in order to access parents. As one interviewee put it: “Teachers are always acting as the gatekeepers so...

University is life-changing for many people, not just in terms of their employment opportunities, but in their outlook and confidence. It certainly changed mine. However, there are some practices, such as unconditional offers, which are letting students down. The increase in unconditional offers has been swift and significant, with fewer than 3,000 recorded in 2013, rising to more than 50,000 in 2017. Ucas’ annual report identifies that the number of unconditional offers from selective universit...

The new higher education watchdog, the Office for Students (OfS), is urging universities to pay more attention to socio-economic and school background, rather than just A-level grades, when deciding to award a place to a student. It wants institutions to be more ambitious on what are known as “contextual admissions”, offering places to students who have the potential to study at the highest level, but may be at a disadvantage because of background and school. Most universities already use contex...

'Thinktank calls for changes to help widen participation of ‘most under-represented group in higher education’. Helping white, working-class boys in England to go on to higher education should be a top priority for policymakers, according to a manifesto to widen access to universities that identifies more than 30 gaps and weaknesses in policy. The document, published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), includes proposals to appoint a national commissioner for student mental health, ...

Research into aspirations of working class girls in social mobility cold spots finds many lack reliable advice on education & careers.The UK has one of the widest attainment gaps in education within the developed world. This effectively means that if you are born in the UK to a family living in disadvantaged circumstances, you are much less likely to achieve your potential than your peers. And research shows it may take another 50 years to close this gap. Many young people who grow up in an ...

With soaring debt, and no maintenance grants, more than 50% of students at some universities now live at home. They are locked out of lectures or reprimanded by staff for being late when public transport lets them down. They are excluded from freshers’ week functions ticketed in halls and, if they do go on a night out, they are constantly checking their phones for the last train. Commuter students, living with their families, are not having an easy time in a system geared to the residential expe...