New statistics from the Department for Education have shown that the Bishop Grosseteste University has the highest proportion of graduates in work or further study three years after graduating. According to the figures released by the Department for Education, 88% of students who graduated from the university in 2012-13 were either employed or continuing their education a year later. The study looked at all of the UK’s Russell Group universities, which included the likes of University of O...

Outcomes of consultation on arrangements for supporting widening access and successful student outcomes, including progression to taught postgraduate study. HEFCE's document details the outcomes of their consultation on arrangements for supporting widening access and successful student outcomes, including progression to taught postgraduate study. It identifies the key points made by respondents and HEFCE's responses to these points, including where we have made changes to the proposals outlin...

The Nuffield Foundation recently hosted a seminar to promote findings from a research project it funded that investigated what drives the socio-economic gaps in higher education. Key findings include the fact that the gap at HE can be entirely explained by differences in attainment at age 16, so it is crucial to focus on increasing the GCSE attainment of students from poorer backgrounds if the higher education gap is to be reduced. The researchers also found large socio-economic differences i...

A survey of the intentions of nearly 140,000 graduates finds few differences between what students from different backgrounds plan to do after graduation, but does find differences in how likely they are to fulfil their ambitions. The introduction of postgraduate loans might help to close the gap. The Intentions After Graduation Survey (IAGS) asks final year undergraduate students at English higher education institutions what they plan to do after university [Note 1]. HEFCE has analysed how t...

The UK's education class divide is wider now than it was half a century ago, new research has revealed, with children from poorer backgrounds already eight months behind their more privileged peers before starting school. A study into international inequalities by the Sutton Trust found the UK falls behind Canada and Australia in terms of the literacy gap between pupils from the poorest and most affluent backgrounds. Inequality levels are even larger in the US education system, where disad...

A leading university is to increase its intake of disadvantaged students by offering places with reduced grades. The University of Bristol is to accept lower exam grades from disadvantaged local pupils and applicants from schools with poor A-level results. Vice-chancellor Hugh Brady said this would be a "step change" in admissions. The project is launched as admissions service figures show young people from poorer families are much less likely to apply to university. The Bristol project, to ...

State schools in England will have to find £3bn in savings by 2019-20, says the public spending watchdog. Schools face 8% budget cuts and about 60% of secondary schools already have deficits, warns a funding analysis from the National Audit Office (NAO). The Department for Education is about to launch a new funding formula, which will see 10,000 schools gaining money and similar numbers losing.To ease the transition, those losing will have annual cuts limited to 1.5%. Education Secretary Justi...

Lack of access to grammar schools is not confined to the poorest children, those from "just managing" families are also left out, research suggests."There is a strong indication that families on below average earnings are not being helped by the current grammar school system," said the Sutton Trust. Grammar schools in England should not expand until the government can ensure fair admissions, the charity argues. Ministers said their plans would address these issues. The government's consultation...

Private schools will offer to provide up to 10,000 free places a year to low-income families in England. The Independent Schools Council (ISC) says if the government pays £5,550 per place - the cost in the state system - the schools will cover the rest. This is expected to cost up to £80m. Some pupils would be tested for academic ability but the scheme would not just target the brightest children. Chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw said the plan was not enough.The proposal, origi...

Children in London and the south-east are 57% more likely to get into universities ranked among the top third than their counterparts in the north, according to research by the children’s commissioner for England. Launching a year-long investigation into why many children in the north get left behind, Anne Longfield said the under-performance of secondary schools in the north of England was of “huge concern”, with poorer pupils getting significantly worse GCSE results. “London and the south-e...