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CES Newsletter: Issue 10

Gordon.ceslondon@gmail.com www.ceslondon.com

This edition contains details of a new service that I am offering to parents and I would be obliged if you would consider it and cascade the information to your parental base.

It also has a comprehensive list of training for teachers working in careers and related areas. This is in the red miscellaneous section

CONTENT

[DATE][Company name]

A new CES service for parents

The schools section contains articles on;

The higher education section contains articles on;

The employment section contains articles on;

The miscellaneous section contains articles on;

SNIPPETS

A NEW SERVICE FROM CES

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I have been a careers adviser for over 30 years and ran my own agency, Careers & Education Services, for over 200 years. In my interviews in schools I am frequently asked by parents if I can give telephone or email advice to a sibling of the interviewee I am working with (I always invite parents to the interview). I am happy to do this and do not charge, and I am also happy to put parents on my newsletter list (parents very much like being kept up to date).

Bearing this in mind, I thought that it would be a good idea to offer this service more widely. Thus, I am proposing to offer a fortnightly CES newsletter (copy attached), as well as enabling parents to contact me by email, or by telephone to discuss any career/higher education concerns they may have for their children.

The cost of this service for one year would be only £25 plus vat per parent. If a school was to subscribe for 30 or more parents, and collect the money, the cost would drop to £15 plus vat. All I need is the email of the parent concerned. For parents in schools I am currently working in the service will be free.

Given that we are nearly half way through the academic year, I am happy to offer the service for free up to the end of the year. The charges would only apply if they want to subscribe for the following academic year.

The newsletter will be around 5 pages long and be based on the existing very successful CES newsletter that already goes out to schools, but tailored for the parental market, with articles relevant to those with children in years 10-13.

I believe that this will be very popular with parents and would be obliged if you could publicise it to your parental body. There is no limit to the number of times that parents can contact me and if the parent wants to talk on the phone they can email me, and I will contact them to arrange a suitable time. If you want to sign up to the service, simply email me at Gordon.ceslondon@gmail.com.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCHOOLSA NEW BROOM Damian Hinds is the new education secretary, replacing Justine Greening, who was the first comprehensive-educated Tory education secretary. Mr Hinds went to a Catholic grammar school in Altrincham and then studied at Oxford. He is a former chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility. Geoff Barton, head of the ASCL, said he was disappointed to see Ms Greening's departure. He said, "She has tried hard to tackle the school funding crisis, without any help from the chancellor or prime minister." The NAHT leader, Paul Whiteman, said, "Where budgets are at breaking point and recruitment is still a massive challenge, education does not need more upheaval ."

Ms Greening had made social mobility a major focus and had built bridges with the teaching profession, and some commentators have questioned whether her approach aligned with the priorities of Mrs May and her backbenchers. There was said to be disquiet that the push for more selection had been sidelined, and it is likely that Mr Hinds will be expected to make more sympathetic noises about selection. He will also have to tackle the delayed decision on whether to make it easier for faith groups to open free schools, as pledged in the Conservative' election manifesto. Writing in 2014, in a chapter of a book Access all Areas, Mr Hinds said: “There is no appetite in the country for a wholesale return to academic selection at 11, for good reasons, but why not have at least one unashamedly academically elite state school in each county or major conurbation?”

THE KNIVES ARE OUT (for Justine Greening)Nick Timothy, Theresa May's former chief of staff, has criticised Justine Greening for stalling his plans for more grammar schools and succumbing to “the blob”. He said that she had "exasperated" the prime minister by "putting the brakes" on reform, and described her replacement by Damian Hinds as "the bright point" of the Cabinet reshuffle. Mr Timothy said, "Greening was unpopular with officials, she frustrated reformers, and she exasperated the prime minister. Charged with making Britain 'the world's great meritocracy', she put the brakes on policies that work, like free schools, and devised bureaucratic initiatives of little value." He added, "Greening blocked proposals to reduce university tuition fees and refused to hold a proper review of tertiary education. Hinds must be brave enough to do that, to ensure universities are better, fees are lower and young people get the technical or academic education that suits them.”

However, the demoted former universities minister, Jo Johnson, who worked under Ms Greening at the DfE, tweeted: "So wrong, this stuff re Justine Greening, she supported me in every single reform we undertook of our universities,

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was a terrific colleague and faultlessly loyal." The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Nick Timothy left Downing Street more than seven months ago and he doesn't speak for the Prime Minister or for the Government ."Meanwhile, the extremely effective health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has apologised for ‘accidentally’ liking a tweet about Justine Greening leaving the government.

A SHORT CAREER (SEND minister)Robert Goodwill, the minister for children and families, whose brief included child protection, children in care, early years, the pupil premium, free school meals, school sports and improving social mobility in the 12 ‘opportunity areas’ around the country, has been sacked in the Cabinet reshuffle. Whilst ministers inevitably change, Mr Goodwill was only in post since June 2017. In his very short ministerial career he is best remembered for passionately defending the government's record on improving social mobility after the entire board of the Social Mobility Commission resigned.

THE THOUGHTS OF THE NEW EDUCATION MINISTERDamian Hinds, in his first article as education secretary said that teaching will be opened up to all generations and not just new graduates, and pledged to ‘crack’ the problem of excessive workload to make teaching a more manageable and attractive job. He also praised grammar schools for playing a key role in England’s “rich, diverse system”.

CREATIVITY NEEDS TO BE NURTURED (it makes economic sense)Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, has written an interesting article on the creative sector and the need to facilitate it educationally. He says that there are 3 ‘myths’ about creativity: 1) that the true artist is born, mysteriously fully formed in their own exceptional talent: 2: that creativity thrives in adversity: 3: that creative sorts are somehow morally wayward, something to be tolerated as long as the results are diverting, but not a model for citizenship. He says that “the British government has bought into this fiction. What other explanation can there be for the baffling disconnect between its industrial strategy, which prizes the creative industries as a priority sector, and an education policy that is deliberately squeezing creativity out of our children’s learning?”

Mr Norris notes that the DfE has said, “Maths should not be perceived as an exceptional talent; it is a basic skill that can be mastered with the right teaching and approach,” He says that this is a “laudably pragmatic approach”, but says that, “The creative industries are the fastest growing part of the UK’s economy, one of the few sectors in which we are celebrated world leaders and in which there is huge employment growth. We are the world’s third largest cultural exporters, after China and the US. Last year the creative industries were worth £92bn to the UK economy. The sector returns more golden eggs every year to the Treasury than the automotive, oil, gas, aerospace and life science industries combined, and for every £1 invested in subsidy the government gets £5 returned in taxes”. He says that these figures are not disputed, “nor even particularly new, everyone knows that our writers, musicians, actors, IT innovators, fashion designers, architects and film technicians are world-class. They are all over the world, leading their fields. It would seem careless in the extreme to endanger this success story. Particularly if the carelessness were based on myth”.

Mr Norris says that since 2010 there has been a 28% drop in the number of children taking creative GCSEs, with a corresponding fall in the number of specialist arts teachers being trained. He blames the Ebacc and the funding squeeze, saying, “the result is that the practice and study of drama, design, music and art are rapidly disappearing from the curriculum. The pipeline of talent into the industry is being cut off by the government’s misguided sidelining of creativity in education”. He contrasts this to the position in private schools, saying, “The three theatres at Eton are among the best equipped in the country because the school knows this is a crucial aspect of its offer. Creative confidence brings initiative and freedom of thought, an understanding of teamwork and communication that sits at the heart of a dynamic and successful working life”.

Mr Norris says that the government has committed itself to supporting social mobility, but is “pursuing creative education policies that actually exacerbate inequality of opportunity”. He says, “A myth embedded in our British psyche is being reinforced: that culture and creativity belong naturally to the elite, that they are not for everyone”. He says, “This problem affects us all, because the whole economy needs creative skills. According to the World Economic Forum, by 2020 creativity will be in the top three most important skills for future jobs, alongside complex problem solving and critical thinking. Which are skills innate to and honed by a creative education”.

Mr Norris then talks about his own experiences, saying that in his working life, “he is surrounded by actors, designers, stage managers, musicians, technicians and craftspeople. Like me, many of them would not have found their way to that room, were they at school today. I was helped by teachers who had both the vision and, crucially, the space to create opportunity on and off the curriculum”. He says, “In my career I have known thousands of fellow practising artists, many regarded among the most ‘talented’ people in the world. Almost all have got there by two

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means: elbow grease and support for their creativity. This is what we have learned: just like maths, creativity should not be perceived as an exceptional talent; it is a basic skill that can be mastered with the right teaching and approach”. He calls on the government to scrap the Ebacc, saying that they “need to work the leaders we have, in the arts, in science, in innovation, to equip our young people with the skills they need. We need an education system fit for the 21st century, one that champions this country’s creativity as the foundation of its economic health”

STEM ANALYSISThe NAO has published a wide-ranging report on STEM skills. Here is a summary in relation to schools:

Mixed picture regarding STEM teacher recruitment efforts Early research suggests that a £67m maths and physics teacher supply package is having a positive impact. The scheme aims to recruit an additional 2,500 teachers and improve the skills of 15,000 non-specialist teachers in the subjects. However, other elements of the STEM teacher recruitment programme are unsuccessful, with the return to teaching pilot only recruiting 428 returning teachers, out of a target of 810, and just 330 completing the training

Only a fifth of physics A-level pupils are girls Although the number of entries to A-level physics has reached a five-year high, the proportion of entries from girls remains low. In 2016-17, 6,947 girls did the subject at A-level, compared to 25,750 boys. Across most STEM subjects, there is a “consistent gender participation gap”. In 2016-17, girls made up 42% of all STEM A-level entries, including just 9.4% of entries in computing, 21.2% in physics and 39% in maths. However, girls made up 61.8% of biology entries. Girls regularly outperform boys in many STEM subjects, and “results overall are very similar”.

UTCs have failed to take off The NAO said that many of the UTCs have “failed to establish their position in the educational landscape”, and have struggled to attract enough students. This is despite almost £200m having been spent setting them up.

Funding worries stop schools promoting FE Among the ‘challenges’ facing the growth of STEM training is the financial disincentive for schools to promote FE routes. Because funding follows pupils, it is not in the interest of schools to encourage children to leave early to pursue other options. Other challenges include the ‘patchy’ nature of careers advice and work experience.

Government departments need ‘a shared vision’ Because responsibility for STEM is split between a number of departments they face a “complex challenge to improve the quality of teaching and student take-up in key STEM subjects”. It said that whilst some initiatives run by the DfE and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have had some positive results, there “remains an urgent need for a shared vision of what they are trying to achieve and coordinated plans across government”. It added that, “The absence of a precise understanding of the STEM skills problem means the efforts of DfE and BEIS are not well prioritised and a better targeted approach is needed to demonstrate value for money.”

The DfE needs to provide ‘clarity’ on its definitions of STEM The DfE uses different definitions of STEM, depending on the context. It said, “Without clarity on the matter, meaningful comparisons of progress across different policy areas will always be challenging”.

NEED TO DO MORE TO PREVENT EXCLUSIONS More than half of UK prisoners were excluded from school, and DfE figures suggest that 6,685 pupils were permanently excluded from schools in England in 2015/16, an increase of 40% over the past three years. However, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that these figures do not show the real scale of the issue. Their report, Making the Difference: Breaking the Link between School Exclusion and Social Exclusion, said that 48,000 children are being educated in the AP (alternative provision) sector. The vast majority ‘dropped’ out before they sat GCSEs, suggesting that schools may be finding reasons to exclude kids who are not likely to perform well in their exams.

The IPPR report suggests that exclusions are rising because schools are “struggling to care for children with complex needs”. It said, “Excluded children are the most vulnerable: twice as likely to be in the care of the state, four times more likely to have grown-up in poverty, seven times more likely to have a special educational need, and 10 times more likely to suffer recognised mental health problems.” The authors, Kiran Gill, Harry Quilter-Pinner and Danny Swift, say that the problem is much bigger than previously recognised and suggest that the rising incidence of mental ill health in young people will cause more vulnerable children to spill into the AP sector. The say, “Too often this path leads them straight from school exclusion to social exclusion. Excluded young people are more likely to be unemployed, develop severe mental health problems and go to prison.” 

The report says that “every cohort of permanently excluded pupils will go on to cost the state an extra £2.1bn in education, health, benefits and criminal justice costs”. A report by Barnardo’s, Not Present and Not Correct: Understanding and Preventing School Exclusions, 2010, found that poverty and social disadvantage increase the risk of being excluded from school, with persistent behaviour issues being most frequently noted as the cause. It said that

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exclusion does little to improve behaviour, aggravates alienation from school, and places young people at risk of getting involved in anti-social behaviour crime. It states that “excluding them from the stable routines of school and sending them back to a chaotic home or risky neighbourhood only worsens their behaviour”. Another study, by Exeter University, The Relationship Between Exclusion from School and Mental Health, found that exclusion from school can trigger long-term psychiatric illness, and warns that excluded children can develop a range of mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, as well as behavioural disturbance.

Matt Wesolowski, a teacher in a pupil referral unit, said that he was not surprised that so many excluded students end up in the prison system. He said: “Most of these kids spend their school years being sent out, punished and treated like scum, they are branded ‘bad’ rather than trying to be understood.” He said in the vast majority of cases the “anger and poor behaviour” stemmed from the fact that they felt “thick”. He said, “The curriculum is not accessible to everyone. There are simply not the funds, thanks to cuts, to help pupils with emotional and social needs, kids who have attachment issues, who have suffered trauma and neglect, or who cannot function in a class of 30. The current state of underfunding and constant scrutiny of schools’ results allows pupils who need more focus simply to slip through the cracks. Their behaviour, because they don’t ‘get it’ is not addressed, and they are, effectively, dumped .” The reports also note that around 70% of those permanently excluded are SEND pupils.

RISE IN CHEATING The number of staff penalised for helping students cheat in exams has risen by 150% this year, but the number of penalties issued to schools and colleges has fallen. The data, provided by exam boards, shows that access to a mobile phone was the main cause for student penalties, with half of all student penalties issued for access to unauthorised materials: 78% involved a mobile phone, 19% accessed study guides, and 3% involved other materials. Plagiarism, the second largest category of student malpractice, accounted for 17% of penalties. The vast majority of these (86%) were in computing. Maths and computing together accounted for over a third of all student malpractice penalties in 2017. This was the first year that subject level data was collected in this way.

In November, Ofqual proposed that a 20-hour non-examined assessment in computer science should no longer count towards overall GCSE grades, after “widespread rule breaches”. Ofsted carried out a consultation on changes to the assessment after it discovered that tasks and detailed solutions were posted on forums and viewed “thousands of times”. The consultation ran until December 22nd, and a decision is imminent. Ofqual’s preferred approach is for pupils to still sit the test, but it won’t be formally marked or count towards their final grades. Instead, pupils will receive feedback on the test from teachers, to help them prepare for exams.

The majority of staff found to be cheating were given a written warning, the second most common penalty was the requirement for training or mentoring. The number of school staff suspended as a result of exam malpractice fell, whilst the number of written warnings issued to schools or colleges decreased by 49%. In contrast, penalties requiring schools to conduct a review and provide a report increase by 62%, from 30 to 45.

A BLACK COMEDY (corruption that you just could not make up)A caretaker at the embattled Durand Academy was paid between £100,000 and £105,00 last year, including a one-off payment of £39,000 for eight years of unclaimed holiday. The one-off payment to Brendan McShane was signed off by the school's former head Mark McLaughlin. Mr McLaughlin left in August 2017, after the DfE withdraw funding following concerns about its financial management and governance. A source in the academy trust's governing body said: "The governors were completely unaware that this payment had been made. The first we heard of it was when the auditors alerted us." Mr McShane was paid £75,000 to £80,000 the previous year. The average salary for his position was between £27,500 to £31,500 in London, and £21,550 to £24,00 outside of London.

Phillip Reynolds, from the accountancy firm Kreston Reeves who works with the academies sector, said: "Anything above £40,000 is odd, unless it's for a large multi-academy trust." Asked how common it was for academies to pay a lump sum in lieu of years of accrued annual leave, he said: "I've definitely not seen that before." Mr McShane is a trustee of Durand Academy Trust (DAT) as well as being a director of Durand Education Trust (DET), the company that owns the land on which the school sits and at which Mr McLaughlin is also a director. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has previously demanded that no DAT director was also a director of DET. DET contracts London Horizons, the firm owned by the school's founder Sir Greg Martin, to run a leisure facility on the school site. Sir Greg received a salary of nearly £400,000 in 2012-13, made up of income from the leisure centre as well as his pay as Durand's former head. He resigned as head in 2015, and stood down as the school's chair of governors last August.

A DAT spokesman said: "The payment was made for the holidays which Mr McShane was entitled to as per his employment contract with the academy, and the holidays had been accrued over the last eight years because of

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ongoing major building works at different sites. It is understood that there had been arrangements between the staff member and the senior management of the academy that any accrued holidays would be utilised at a future period.This arrangement appeared to have been historically approved by the board." Regarding Mr McShane's directorship of DET, they said that Durand was "seeking further advice on this matter". A DfE spokesperson said: “We investigate all allegations of financial impropriety. Following previous findings of financial mismanagement, Durand Academy Trust’s funding agreement will be terminated on 29 June 2018. As outlined in the notices sent in July 2016 and October 2016 there have been serious concerns about the financial management and governance of the trust. We continue to have those concerns and have accordingly taken this termination action.”

STATE SCHOOL ADVANTAGE?Analysis of 9,000 graduates from a single university in 2010-12, controlled for A level grades, found that state school students were more likely to obtain a 2:1 or above than their private school peers in 7 out of the 11 areas considered. Overall, 95% of state school students who achieved AAA at A level got a 2:1 or 1st compared to 91.1% of private school students. Among students who got AAB, 82.7% of state school students got a 2:1 or 1st compared to 80.7% of their private school peers.

The senior researcher, Steven Jones from Manchester University, said, “We see this as evidence that the full academic potential of high ability state school children is not always realised until they reach university”. The findings back other studies by Cambridge Assessment and HEFC, who found that state school students were more likely to get a higher degree pass than their peers with similar A level grades from private schools. Dr Jones said that his study was more accurate because they only used one university and this minimised “the variation caused by having disparate universities having different degree awarding regulations”.

Chris Ramsey, head of Whitgift School and chair of the HMC, commented that, “By far the strongest predictor of university outcomes is prior attainment. A small number of mid performing A level students do better than would be expected at university when they come from some types of maintained schools, around 1% of all state school entrants to university”. He added that top performers, “Overwhelmingly, gain outcomes at university exactly in line with their 18+ attainment”. There is another way of interpreting the figures, i.e. it may be that private schools give high added value to students, meaning that they get higher grades than their raw ability would suggest, but that this advantage is lost when they get into university. Thus, private schools may be a victim of their own success. It is also worth noting that private school pupils tend to get into more prestigious institutions and on to more competitive courses than state school peers with similar grades.

WE DO NOT WANT TO TEACHTeacher training applicants have fallen by a third, with heads blaming concerns over classroom stress and accountability, and confusion about routes into the profession. By mid-December 12,820 people had applied for postgraduate routes into teaching starting this autumn. This compares with 19,330 people at the same stage in 2016 and 20,330 in 2015. The government has missed its teacher-recruitment targets for the past five years despite spending hundreds of millions of pounds on training new teachers.

Geoff Barton, ASCL head, called the figures disastrous, “particularly as we know that there are going to be another half a million children coming through the system over the next nine years”. He said, “I suspect that teacher workload, teacher accountability, all of that narrative, plays into the fact that people, particularly young people perhaps making a decision about whether to go into accountancy, management consultancy or teaching, are just put off by something which looks like it’s not going to compare with the work-life balance they will get in a different career.”

The drop in postgraduate applications covered all age groups including career switchers and older applicants. The figures showed decline across a range of subjects: applicants for history fell by 46%, science by 23%, English by 25%, maths by 28% and French by 29%. DT was worst hit, with the number of applicants falling by 67%. For postgraduate primary school recruitment, the number of male applicants fell by 37% and female applicants by 32%. Please note that Teach First, the biggest graduate recruiter, figures are not included in those published by UCAS. A DfE spokesman, writing from their Alice in Wonderland alternate universe, said, “There are now a record number of teachers in our schools, 15,500 more than in 2010. We are also creating a free website for schools to publish vacancies to help reduce costs and make it easier for aspiring and current teachers to find new posts.”

GROWTH OF SUPER SELECTIVE LONDON SIXTH FORMS London Academy of Excellence (LAE) Tottenham started last term. Choices are restricted to ‘hard’ A-level courses, and it has small classes in classrooms with transparent walls. It requires at least a grade A (7 under the new GCSE scale) in subjects chosen for A-level, with students required to stay on site from 8.30am-4pm. It is modelled on LAE 6

Stratford, which opened almost six years ago, and was named State Sixth Form of the Year for 2015-16 by the Sunday Times. Harris Westminster Sixth Form is another selective sixth form school in London, which opened in 2014, and was recently listed in the Tatler’s annual State Schools Guide. King's College London Maths School, asks for seven GCSEs, including English at grade 5, but requires at least a grade 7 in physics and an 8 or 9 in maths. 

The LAE and Harris school have independent school support, both financial and pedagogical, with teachers from private schools seconded to share their expertise. In addition, students have visited the partner schools, and vice versa. At LAE Tottenham, a number of senior leaders from Highgate School, the lead education sponsor, sit on the board. LAE Stratford is backed by six independent schools, including Eton College, whilst Harris Westminster is backed by Westminster school. Alleyn’s School, one of LAE Tottenham’s partner schools, said that it would be interested in sponsoring another school in the capital if the opportunity arose.

However, there are no plans for super selective sixth form schools in other parts of the country, despite Phillip Hammond inviting applications for new specialist maths schools, like the King's College London Maths School in his Budget announcement. In September, the System Partnership Unit, to monitor and broker partnerships between independent and state schools, was announced by the DfE. Although the unit has not specified that new free schools should be selective, Sir David Carter, national schools commissioner, has said that LAE Tottenham was a great example of a partnership. Heath Monk, executive director of King Edward VI Foundation, a group of grammar schools and independent schools in Birmingham, has said that he is keen to look into setting up a new academically selective sixth form. However, he said, “It is always difficult with a new school because you would face, I am sure, opposition from school sixth forms that would perceive themselves as being under threat because of this.” He added, “Probably even our own [schools] would be slightly uncomfortable about it.”

Jan Balon, head of LAE Tottenham, in answering questions about how his school affects other local provision said that the local sixth form college doesn’t serve the same cohort. He said, “Our students would not have gone there. They would have gone out of the borough.” He added, “Why should local ambitious young people have to leave the area” LAE Tottenham had 113 students start in September, lower than the target, and this year, up to a third of the Year 12 cohort didn’t meet all the school’s entry requirements. However, applications are up by 40% for September, and the long-term aim is to have 350 in each year group. The school prioritises students from five local 11-16 schools, at which between 57-69% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Mr Balon said, “It will take some time to convince [the community] that the people behind the school are in it for the long haul and are genuine about making sure it remains a school for local young people as much as possible.” Adam Pettit, head of Highgate School, thinks it is important for any new selective sixth forms to open in areas with similar conditions to the LAE model, so that they are able to serve local children in deprived areas. He said, “Schools should check that you are going to have children that are, broadly speaking, in 11 to 16 schools who would be moving anyway.”

Geoff Barton, head of the ASCL, commenting on the new sixth form schools, said: “Sixth forms in general are becoming hugely expensive to run. If part of what this is doing is rationalising provision, then there is probably a good argument for it. If what it is doing is creating an outpost for the very brightest kids, if that leaves the others without some provision, then that would be more worrying.” A number of independent schools have said that they are too small, or lack sufficient alumni funds, to help set up a free school. Jim Skinner, chief executive at the Grammar School Heads’ Association, said: “Unless there is some other sort of sponsorship funding, I think setting up any freestanding sixth form, whether it is selective or not, in the country in the current funding climate is a real challenge. Post-16 funding is worryingly low and nothing significant has been done to address that.”

PLUGGING THE GAPThe number of unqualified teachers has risen by 20% in the past three years, whilst over a fifth of secondary maths teachers and a third of physics teachers do not have a relevant qualification beyond A level. Heads say that they are having to rely on staff from other departments, unqualified teachers or supply teachers to pug gaps. Geoff Barton, head of the ASCL, said, “School leaders are doing everything they can to make sure there’s someone in front of the class, even if that is someone teaching beyond their specialism. Teachers are teaching in areas they have no training or appetite for, or experience in.” He said that heads, “Often selected the most charismatic teacher and gave them a lesson plan, even if they had no knowledge of the subject, with specialist teachers saved for the older pupils and top sets, or chose to work in the best schools.” He added. “This is driving a bigger wedge potentially between those with advantaged backgrounds and those without. It’s a social mobility issue.”

A Guardian survey found a music teacher who was asked to teach French, whilst one drama teacher said that he was asked to take music classes, adding: “I laughed, I said you’ve got to be crazy, I can’t even play an instrument. I have absolutely no musical capacity. They said they’d give me lesson plans.” Sarah Charles and Alison Hardman, education

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lecturers from Derby University said that government initiatives estimated to have cost £555m had “done little to prevent a mass exodus from the profession”. They said: “Deceptive advertisements highlight a seductive salary and promises of accelerated career progression. But the motivation to teach should not be desire for monetary reward, rather a desire to make a difference and to increase opportunities for children.”

YET ANOTHER TEACHING SCHEME (but from an unlikely source)Jo Shuter, a former ‘superhead’, who successfully overturned a lifetime ban from teaching last year, has started a ‘Teach Forever’ training scheme Ms Shutter, a former head of Quintin Kynaston Academy, was given a lifetime ban in 2014 after she was found guilty of thousands of pounds of expenses abuses. This included spending £7,000 on a 50th birthday party, claiming £8,269 for a hotel stay for the senior leadership team, ordering £1,500 of furniture to be delivered to her home address and charging mobile phone contracts for herself, her son and her daughter to the school. The Teach Forever website says that it is a "fully paid route to [qualified teacher status] assured, accredited and monitored by the University of London". The website includes testimonials from two of her former students at Quintin Kynaston who have gone on to become teachers. There is no mention of her expertise in completing expenses forms. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HIGHER EDUCATION THE THOUGHTS OF THE NEW HIGHER EDUCATION MINISTERSam Gyimah, the new universities minister, has said that a review of tuition fees will be a “positive move”, saying. “It is right to look carefully at how the current system is working and to make sure that it works best for students.” Speaking at Queen Mary University he said that he was shocked to learn that students in London were being asked to pay a year’s rent in advance, and to pay for printing out their essays.  He said, “I mean it’s a small cost, but it just shows there are lots of things around student funding, fees, living costs, I think it is good for us to look at them. The point I was trying to illustrate is the case for reviewing, when you talk to students directly here are a lot of issues in play, not just fees”. He told the audience of around 200 students: “This regime has been in place since 2012. There are things that are working well, and we shouldn’t forget what is working well. Whatever comrade Corbyn says I don’t think we will go back to an era where students do not contribute in any way to their fees .”

A HUGE INCOME SOURCEA report from the Higher Education Policy (HEPI) has said that international students are worth £20bn to the UK economy. It says that on top of tuition fees, their spending has become a major factor in supporting local economies. London alone gains £4.6bn, with Sheffield the biggest beneficiary in proportion to its economy. The analysis, carried out by LSE, calculated the financial contribution of overseas students, such as spending on tuition and living expenses, and balanced that against costs, including the extra pressure on local services and non-repayment of loans.

HEPI director, Nick Hillman, said that the figures support calls to remove students from immigration targets, with, "International students bringing economic benefits to the UK that are worth 10 times the costs of hosting them. Fewer international students would mean a lot fewer jobs in all areas of the UK, because international students spend money in their universities, in their local economies. It is literally the sandwich shops, the bike shops, the taxi firms; it is the night clubs, it's the bookshops. Without international students, some of the local companies might go bust. Some of the local resident population would lose their jobs."

HEPI is calling for a much more positive approach to students from overseas, and to separate them from the wider debate about immigration. It quotes a recent report from India's Hindustan Times that told its readers that the UK had many top universities, "but they also offer the most student-hostile government in the world". The Home Office commented that there were "no plans" for such a change to how migration targets were measured. It said, "There is no limit to the number of genuine international students that can come to the UK to study and we very much value the contribution that they make."

HEPI carried out a regional breakdown of the economic impact of international students, calculating that each constituency on average gained £31.3m. London has the biggest share of overseas students, but the study shows that in relative terms, smaller cities, with more than one university, can have a greater impact from their spending. Top 10 constituencies with biggest economic impact from international students:Sheffield Central; Newcastle upon Tyne; Nottingham South; Oxford East; Manchester Central; Holborn and St Pancras (London); Liverpool, Riverside; Cambridge; East Ham (London); Birmingham, Ladywood

A MISLEADING MORAL PANICSussex University VC, Prof Adam Tickell, has told a parliamentary committee that claims that universities are inhibiting free speech are based on misleading evidence "whipped up to create a moral panic". He said, "We hear all sorts of claims of the inhibition and chilling of free speech in British universities but the evidence base for it is

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anaemically small." He said that criticism of his university had stemmed from a campus rule banning the use of derogatory language referring to women and "people of colour" and because the student union wanted to check posters before they were put up. He said that these were "things not relevant to discussions around free speech".

Frida Gustaffson, Sussex University SU president, said they had a no-platform policy for "six racist, fascist or extremist groups" drawn up by the NUS, but that, "These processes have never stopped anyone coming to speak at the university.” Prof Tickell said that reports of books being removed from university libraries were baseless, although there were instances of works by the writer David Irving being removed to restricted shelves. Baroness Amos, director of SOAS said she did not think anyone had been no-platformed at her university in the past 10 years. However, she said that said she had detected "a squeezing of our ability to be open, diverse, inclusive". Saying that this was in part due to the Prevent Strategy which places universities under a duty to stop extremism on campus. She said, "There are a whole range of things, how we treat refugees, our visa policy, how Prevent is implemented. All of these things are having an impact on how young people of colour, Muslims, actually feel in terms of being under additional scrutiny." Edinburgh University SU president, Patrick Kilduff, said that Prevent was having an effect on free speech on campus. He added: "If we believe that free speech is so that people can hold truth to power, especially marginalised groups, this is stopping marginalised groups, Jewish students, Muslim student, black and minority ethnic students from being able to voice their concerns and host events."

DEGREE INFLATION HESA figures show that 26% of graduates got a first last year, up from 18% in 2012/13, the first year of higher fees. For the 2:1 classification the figure was 75%, up from 68% in 2012/13. Women were more likely to graduate with a 1st

or 2;1 (77% compared with 72%). There were also regional differences, with 75% of students at English universities gaining a first or 2:1, 78% in Scotland, 71% in Wales and 76% in Northern Ireland.

INTERESTING HIGHER EDUCATION DATATwo recent pieces of research suggest that taking traditional A level academic subjects give students an advantage. A doctoral thesis from Catherine Dilnot at the UCL Institute of Education analysed information on English students who went to university between 2010 and 2012, and found that those taking vocational A-levels such as law, accounting or business, were less likely to go to elite institutions than those who did subjects such as science, maths, languages, history or geography. A recent study from Essex University found that students who took vocational BTEC qualifications instead of A-levels were less prepared for degree-level study. Students with traditional A-levels such as maths, biology, geography or history were more likely to do well at university.

The Essex research, looking at a sample of all students starting undergraduate courses between 2007-08 and 2014-15, also found that 20% of them didn’t complete their degrees at the first attempt. (Of the 80% who passed, 16% got a first, 48% a 2:1 and 23% a 2:2.) Poorer and ethnic minority students were more likely to drop out. These attainment gaps can partly be explained by the fact that those groups are more likely to have non-academic A-levels, and are more likely to be mature students. Mature students are more likely to drop out, but if they do complete their degrees they’re more likely to get a high grade. Asian students are more likely to choose courses with high failure rates, such as medicine or pharmacy. The research suggests universities could offer more targeted support to help BTEC students with the transition from practical or lab-based work to academic writing and exam-based assessment.

The latest analysis from the Higher Education Longitudinal Survey found that just under three quarters of graduates were in full-time paid work three and a half years after graduating, with 2.3% believed to be unemployed. But there were big variations between those with different degrees. The lowest unemployment rate was among those who studied medicine or dentistry (0.6%), and the highest was among computer scientists (4.6%). Those least likely to be in full-time work were biological scientists (72.3%) but they were more likely than others to still be studying.

DfE data shows that both university and degree subject are major drivers of future earnings. Some of the top earnings, five years after graduation, were among those who took business (£70,000), economics (£60,000) and law (£60,000), but graduates from some lower-performing business degrees were on average earnings of around £20,000, while those with economics or law could be earning slightly less than that. At the bottom end, art and design graduates from some institutions could be on an average of as little as £10,000 per year. The Sutton Trust says that private school students have average starting salaries £1,350 higher than their state-educated peers, even if they have taken the same courses and emerged with the same grades.

The Sutton Trust says that male graduates earn 28% more than men without a degree, and that for women the gap is much bigger, 53%. But students from the poorest backgrounds are less likely to go to high-status universities, more likely to study on low-status courses and less likely to go into the best jobs when they leave. A recent study from the Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy at Bath University suggests that the benefits of a degree for a male graduate from a middle-class family could be almost three times greater than that for a similar graduate from a poorer family. 9

For students who take a low-achieving course at a low-achieving university, and who come out with a lower class of degree, the benefits will be much reduced.

A recent House of Commons research paper says that the average debt among the first cohort to become liable for repayment was £32,000. But once changes announced in the 2015 budget have been implemented, the average debt will rise to £40,000. For those from the poorest backgrounds the figure will be £53,000. Those from poorer families are more likely to take out maintenance loans, along with those on arts-based courses, where earnings potential is likely to be lower. However, research suggests that students’ aspirations to go into higher education have not necessarily been dented by higher levels of debt, and that the concept of debt is becoming more widely accepted.

FEAR OF A DROP IN APPLICATIONS Early indications suggest that UCAS applications ahead of deadline are down by as much as 5%. Amongst the reasons are the continued drop in EU applicants, and a large fall in nursing applications. According to one source, bigger universities with many courses are likely to suffer most. The sector’s leading intelligence service, the WonkHE website, stated that as of the end of the 12th January some universities were seeing drops of over 20%, prompting fears of a severe shortfall in funding. Last year there was a fall of 4% in applications and a fall of 5% for EU students. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EMPLOYMENTWE NEED MORE APPRENTICES (German industry says)Germany has one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in the developed world, 7%, with credit largely given to its world-famous apprenticeship system. However, the head of the German Chambers of Commerce, Julia Flasdick, has said that for a number of years employers have complained that there are shortages of young people coming forward, with more seeking the ‘academic’ university route. A survey of 10,000 businesses found that nearly a third had failed to fill all their trainee positions. Ms Flasdick said that a “great gap” was opening up between what the economy needed and what university graduates are trained to do.

Ms Flasdick said that the increased demand by young people to go to university was a “social phenomena” and she called for all teachers to spend some time in commerce so “they know the real labour life”. Ulrich Muller, head of policy studies at the Centre for Higher Education think tank, said that the prestigious value of a degree was growing. He said, “Vocational education is still respected, but many young people see it as a first leg and not a terminus”. Heike Solga, and expert on skills and labour markets, said that there was a mismatch between where vacancies are, in small cities and the countryside, and where people live, in large cities. He also said that the pay in many apprenticeship areas was poor, with hairdressers receiving around £311-£356 a month. In addition, he said that more degree courses now included industrial placements, and that there was a greater demand for flexible workers who can adapt to new technologies, rather than people with a specific practical skill.

A MIXED ECONOMIC PICTURE (but mainly positive on a macro level)The UK economy is forecast to grow by 0.6% in the last quarter of 2017, up from 0.4% in the previous quarter, with rising manufacturing a prime reason. Manufacturing output has grown for 8 months in succession, growing 1.4% in the last quarter, a feat last achieved in 1994. The weaker pound and a growing world economy are the main factors. However, the construction industry has shrunk, with a 2% contraction in the last quarter. The UK trade deficit has shrunk (although still huge) by £2.1bn in the last quarter. Whether the improving macro-economic outlook is of any comfort for the majority of people who are seeing prices rise, wages stagnate and working conditions worsen is of course open to question.

BOAT BUILDING IS BOOMINGUK luxury yacht makers are working at full capacity to meet demand with the collapse in the pound and the rising number of super rich leading to huge growth. Boats and equipment sales rose by 3.4% last year to £3.1bn, with 95% of yachts exported. Russell Currie, MD of Fairline Yachts, said, “We suddenly became 15-20% cheaper than our competitors in Europe and the US”. Fairline was in administration two years ago before being bought out by a Russian owner. Mr Currie said, “We’ve gone from zero employees, with zero contracts, in January 2016 to more than 380 employees and a full order book”. The company has sold 163 boats in the last 2 years.

Another UK boat builder, Sunshine International, owned by a Chinese consortium, has also expanded hugely, with MD Phil Popham saying that they have already sold 90% of their production for 2018 on forward orders. He said that the biggest demand was for superyachts of over 130 feet. He said, “The world is becoming more affluent. There are more ultra-net worth individuals than ever. We see the trend continuing and that is clearly our target market” .

CHANGING WORK PATTERNS

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A study by the Resolution Foundation think tank has found that far more men are now working part time, with 1:8 men working part-time, compared with fewer than 1:12 20 years ago. The study also found that the share of men earning less than £175 a week (a third of the typical male weekly wage) has increased by 70% over the last 20 years, whilst the share of higher-paid men earning more than £1,060 (double the typical weekly wage) has increased by 15%. The average number of hours worked by low-paid men has fallen from 44.3 in 1997 to 42.2 in 2016. At the same time, average hours for the highly paid have increased by 0.5.

Resolution analyst, Stephen Clarke, said that there was a "hollowing out" of the male workforce, with fewer middle earners, with the share of middle-earning men, making between £400 and £660 a week, falling by 15%. He said: "When people talk about the labour market 'hollowing out' they're normally referring to mid-skilled jobs moving to other parts of the world, or disappearing altogether as a result of automation. But Britain's real hollowing out problem has much more to do with the hours people are working than the rates of pay different jobs bring. The increase in earnings inequality among men is about the increasing number of low-paid men who are either reducing their hours or moving into part-time work, in some cases against their wishes." He added: "Women still dominate part time and low-paid work but men are increasingly joining them. For the sake of both sexes we should be concerned about the numbers who find themselves there when they desperately need a full-time job."

THE PRODUCTIVITY GAPSilvana Tenreyro, who sits on the Bank of England monitory policy committee, has said that Brexit uncertainty is holding back productivity. The economist said that in the three decades before the financial crash in 2008 the UK’s productivity growth was 2.3% on average per year, but since then it has been 0.4%. She said that the rest of the G7 economies have an average output per head that is 18% higher than the UK, and that the global economy and Europe are undergoing an ‘investment boom’, but the UK is not part of it. She said, “The likely culprit is the uncertainty regarding future EU trading relations, which is keeping the levels of domestic and foreign investment relatively low in relation to what one would expect at this stage of the global cycle”.

However, Ms Tenreyro said that, “The silver lining is that there is scope to catch up by adopting technologies and processes that enhance productivity and already tested and in place in other countries”. She also said that she was optimistic because the UK had “Good institutions, a favourable location, top class research and human capital, which meant that firms in the UK were well placed to be at the technological frontiers”.

THE FILM ECONOMYThere have been major changes to the film economy, which is increasingly led by the demand for huge blockbusters that sell globally. Disney has been the most successful recent film studio, and yet it averages just 8 releases a year, with 5 of the biggest box office successes of 2017. The seven biggest Hollywood studios made only 113 films last year, but they gained $10bn out of the total US box office take of $11bn. This meant that around 615 other films captured the remaining $1bn, with the average US box office take of each film dropping 40% since 2013. However, there was a near record level of smaller budget films released last year.

The film economy has also been hugely affected by the increasing production by Netflix (and other streaming services) of quality film and TV drama. Netflix alone increased its budget for content from $6bn to $8bn last year and promises to raise it further. Colin Vaines, who produced films such as Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool and Young Victoria, said, “It is kind of like Dickens, it’s the best of times and the worst of times. There are new possibilities with Netflix, Amazon and Apple, potentially lots of opportunity if you can get a foot in the door and be one of the chosen few to go through

Film 4, which has been responsible for many critical and commercial success, and has recently backed the hit Three Billboards, said that they have had to adjust their strategy to cope with the new market, with fewer productions but a bigger budget per film. They said that the definition of success for smaller films was not in terms of the box office but purely profitability, and that many mid-range productions suffered because their costs were too high, and yet they did not have the global reach of the blockbusters. Richard Cooper, a film analyst for the entertainment consultancy Ampere agreed, saying, “There is definitely a squeezing in the middle”. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MISCELLANEOUSSOCIAL MOBILITY IN THE GOVERNMENT Sutton Trust analysis shows that the new Cabinet has a higher proportion of Oxbridge and privately educated senior ministers than when Mrs May became prime minister, 34% compared to 30%. Overall, Cabinet ministers were more than five times more likely to have gone to a fee-paying school than the general population, with 48% having attended Oxbridge. This is a higher proportion than in 2016 (44%), but is lower than that of David Cameron's 2015 team

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(50%). In addition, 24% of senior ministers attended grammar schools, compared with 7% of Mr Cameron's 2015 team. Less than half (41%) of Ms May's January 2018 Cabinet attended comprehensive state schools, compared with 44% of her Cabinet on becoming PM, and 43% in Mr Cameron's team.

TRAINING AND COURSESThe Careers Development Institute (CDI) run many courses for careers teachers and advisers. Here is a brief list of some that may be of interest, see their website for more details and other courses:

Introduction to Careers Leadership in SchoolsTuesday 6 March 2018 – Leeds; Wednesday 25 April 2018 - LondonThe course provides an overview of current careers policy and practice and then goes on to identify in detail the tasks of careers leadership. Through a range of case studies, delegates will learn about different models for organising the role in schools. The programme also includes an introduction to sources of further help, support and CPD. The day is led by David Andrews, who has undertaken extensive research into careers leadership in school and has over 30 years’ experience of running courses for careers leaders. Book your place through the CDI website.

Using Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in CEIAG to Accelerate the Learning and Inform Decision MakingWednesday 14 March 2018 - Newport, Wales: Tuesday 12 June 2018 - Jury's Inn, BirminghamA raft of educational research provides evidence that attitudes to learning significantly affect achievement and success. This course explores NLP as a method for communicating and behaving to create personal change. The course is highly practical and briefly explores the theory behind NLP and then provides the opportunity to identify and practice preferred techniques and strategies. Using NLP techniques, you will be supported to identify how we can challenge limiting beliefs, effectively support motivation and engagement and boost achievement and success in career learning. Book your place through the CDI website.

Career Education, Information, Advice and Guidance – A Workshop for School and College GovernorsThursday 15 March 2018 – London; Wednesday 25 April 2018 - SheffieldCareer leadership is vital in ensuring effective implementation. Careers leadership should be supported in each institution by a nominated governor who in turn can support senior management teams to ensure the positioning of CEIAG supports the effective implementation of CEIAG operational practice. This half-day programme will help school and college governors review current CEIAG planning and provision in their institution with the aim of helping governors consider ways to support senior management teams to develop and implement a clear CEIAG strategic and operational play. Book your place through the CDI website.

CDI Certificate in Careers Leadership Birmingham: LondonThe CDI Certificate in Careers Leadership which provides essential training for people who are either new to the career leadership role or who have many years of experience and would like to have accreditation for their work. There are a wide variety of units on offer and various dates. See the website for more details.

The certificate consists of the following three QCF Level 6 units: Plan and design career-related learning programmes; Lead and manage career development work in an organisation; Continuously improve career development work in an organisation.

You can book to do all 3 units and have these accredited, or book for one or two and have these accredited. Alternatively, you can opt to attend the training day only. Book your place through the CDI website.

CDI WEBINARS (free for CDI members)Quality In Careers Standard – The Benefit for your School, Careers Department and StudentsTuesday 23 January 2018, 16:00 - 17:00Download a full programme or book your place on the CDI website

There Has Never Been a More Important Time to Join the UK Register of Career Development ProfessionalsWednesday 24 January 2018, 16:00 - 17:00Tuesday 20 March 2018, 16:00 - 17:00Wednesday 11 April 2018, 16:00 - 17:00Download a full programme or book your place on the CDI website

Student Finance, Scholarships and BursariesTuesday 30 January 2018 14:00 - 15:00Download a full programme or book your place on the CDI website

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Studying Abroad in EnglishTuesday 6 February 2018 14:00 - 15:00Download a full programme or book your place on the CDI websiteQuick Ways to Develop Confidence in ClientsMonday 5 March 2018, 12:00 - 13:00Download a full programme or book your place on the CDI website

Tour Around the Website – Welcome to the CDIMonday 12 March 2018, 16:00 - 17:00Download a full programme or book your place on the CDI website

Introduction into Webinar TechnologyMonday 16 April 2018 14:00 - 15:00Download a full programme or book your place on the CDI website

All events must be booked online. This enables booking of multiple delegates, and requires online payment by Paypal or Credit/Debit Card. For any feedback or support relating to update please get in touch with ronaldo.hare@thecdi.net

Central Careers Hub Events ProgrammeCCH intend to offer events covering career sectors and topics such as:

T Levels Careers in Tech Professional Services and the Selective Application Journey Construction and the Built Environment Year of Engineering 2018 Health Careers

If you are an opportunity provider (Employer, Apprenticeships, University, FE College, Professional/Representative Body) and are interested in reaching the CCH network of 4000 Careers Advisers, Teachers and Influencers (who then see hundreds of thousands of clients), then contact CCH. Andy Gardner andyg@centralcareershub.co.uk. A list of CCH activities, information and events is on their website. 

WHITE CHILDREN MORE PRONE TO MENTAL HEALTH ISSUESThe largest ever population based survey of child mental health and wellbeing has said that white children are more likely to suffer mental health issues than other groups. Researchers at UCL and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families surveyed 30,000 children aged 11-14, and found that white children were ‘significantly’ more likely to experience mental health issues than those from black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic groups. Children were given a score based on their answers to series of questions about their emotional state, including whether they have experienced feelings of depression, anxiety or tearfulness. If their score was above a certain threshold it meant that there was a ‘high likelihood’ that an intervention, such as counselling, was necessary. They found that 20% of white children had scores above the threshold, compared to 14 % of children from other ethnic groups.

 Dr Jess Deighton, an association professor of child mental health and wellbeing at UCL who led the research, said the discrepancy could be partly explained by ethnic communities having “better family cohesion or having a more diverse group of friends, bringing more social capital” than their white counterparts. However, she added that white children may see it as more socially acceptable to talk about their emotional issues than their peers from other backgrounds, therefore more likely to report their mental health issues.

Commenting on the research, Professor Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at Kent University, said that a major reason was the level of family breakdown, where the figures are radically different when you compare children from white and Asian backgrounds. He added that white families increasingly lack the “moral confidence” to chastise youngsters for misbehaving and instead blame mental health issues. He said, “The tragedy is that parents encourage children to develop mental health issues by talking about how depressed and stressed out we are. By the time these children get to university they feel extremely disorientated and self-obsessed, and they find it difficult to aspire to autonomy. The Asian culture, for example, is much more governed by religious or moral explanations rather than psychological ones.” Thomas Pascoe, from the Coalition for Marriage, said the research supports the view that "communities in which parents stay married have healthier, happier children as a result We already knew that children from broken homes were up five times as likely to suffer from poor mental health than those whose parents stay together. We also knew that Asian children were more likely to benefit from parents who remain married than their white counterparts.”

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The research also found that girls were much more likely to report mental health issues. A quarter of girls scored above the threshold for emotional problems compared to 11% of boys. The researchers said that possible reasons may be the pressures girls face about body image, as well as experiencing more stress in relation to school work and exams. Dr Deighton said: “The most powerful findings from this research are that mental health problems amongst children and young people now appear to be at a worrying rate and that there is a strong and consistent association between deprivation and mental health problems.”

WOULD BE MORE IN KEEPING WITH NAZI GERMANY A senior academic is being investigated by UCL after he hosted an annual conference in which speakers debated ideas on eugenics and intelligence. The university is seeking to establish how the lecturer was able to host the event without informing senior officials, who were unaware of which speakers would be attending. Dr Thompson, a member of the psychology department, has now been blocked from hosting any future events while an investigation is carried out.

Conference details show that papers presented include research on the alleged links between genetics and racial disparities in intelligence. One attendee has written racial ‘admixture’ has had a negative effect on population quality, and that ‘skin brightness’ is a factor in global development. The brochure for the 2016 conference, includes an image of the 19th century eugenicist Edward Thorndike on its cover, and a quote from him saying, “Selective breeding can alter man’s capacity to learn, to keep sane, to cherish justice or to be happy”. Another attendee, Emil Kirkegaard, has written that a “compromise” for child pornography would be for paedophiles to have “sex with a sleeping child without them knowing. If they don’t notice it is difficult to see how they cud [sic] be harmed, even if it is rape.”

Dr Thompson has written about the “intelligence differences” of children according to their ethnicity. He wrote, “Government interventions are going to have to be early, very early. By 21 weeks differences in head circumference are apparent. Not 21 weeks of life, 21 weeks of gestation. Somewhere between 3 and 4 years of age, tests detect racial differences in intelligence between black and white children. By 7 years of life, the differences are stark .” Dr Thompson strongly denied that the event promoted ‘eugenics, And said that the “bulk of research” was focused on intelligence and whether or not it is heritable. He said, “Eugenics is one topic, but many topics are discussed. The reason we have the meeting at UCL is due to the London School, the idea that intelligence is heritable .” Defending his comments on child intelligence, he said: “I stand by it until people show me I’ve made an error”.

A UCL spokesman said it was investigating a “potential breach” in its room bookings process, adding that the university had not been informed of the speakers in advance. He said, “We are an institution that is committed to free speech but also to combatting racism and sexism in all forms. We have suspended approval for any further conferences of this nature by the honorary lecturer and speakers pending our investigation into the case. As part of that investigation, we will be speaking to the honorary lecturer and seeking an explanation.” Perhaps the good professor could seek a position as adviser the Mr Trump in the White House?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SNIPPETS The US inventor and engineer Ray Dolby has given £85m to Cambridge in his will to support their Cavendish

physics faculty. 7,500 extra places have been created in Grammar schools since 2010. A new international ranking of universities, sponsored by the Kremlin, has given Russian universities a much

higher ranking than the internationally recognised THE listing. Loconosov Moscow State University managed to move from 194th in the THE to 25th in the Kremlin list, with similar rises for other Russian institutions.

Sam Gyimah has been made Universities and Science Minister, replacing Jo Johnson who has been made Transport Minister. He studied PPE at Oxford and worked for Goldman Sachs for five years before becoming the MP for East Surrey in 2010.

A celebrity alumni panel from Reading University achieved a first by being the only team to ever score 0 on University Challenge. The panel included the head of the Women’s Equality Party, an anthropologist, a botanist, and the presenter of Springwatch.

A new pay code for VCs is to state that the university must publicly justify the reason why anyone is paid more than 8.5x the average staff salary. The average salary of a Russell Group VC is £331,641.

Alabama University pays its football coach $11m a year, more than every coach in the professional league. Apple Europe has agreed to pay an extra £137m tax after an ‘extensive audit’ by HMRC. In late 2017 it was

forced to agree to pay £11.5bn to the Irish government after an EU investigation. Sulaiman Wihba, who arrived in the UK from Syria in just a T-shirt and shorts smuggled in the back of a

lorry, has been offered a place at Balliol College, Oxford. A director at the private BPP university, which received £5.3m from the state in student loans, was paid

£645,000 in 2015/16, almost double the average VC salary at a Russell Group institution.

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Gordon Collins

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