Top PDF Education in England: Annual Report 2018

Our 2018 Annual Report assesses recent progress in raising attainment throughout the phases of education in England. It also looks to carefully assess recent trends in the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children. If the debate about improving English education is to be productive, then it needs to be based on an objective assessment of the country’s strengths and weaknesses – shifts in the qualifications regime and in accountability measures can make this objective assessment more difficult to complete than might be expected.

One of our most valuable tools is the EPI’s ‘Education in England’ report, directing our coalition’s work over time as we seek change. In this year’s report, it is disappointing that after so much intervention over the past two decades (and some hard-won progress in closing the gaps), the data shows we are stalling – possibly even reversing – the gains made, especially at secondary level. For children where disadvantage is most entrenched, educational achievement remains stubbornly low. At a time in history when our country most needs a well-educated, energetic, skilful cadre of young people to compete on the world stage, we cannot fall back. Inaction is not an option.

Note: All figures are given in 2018 prices, in net-present-value terms using the government discount rate of RPI + 0.7%. These figures apply to young full-time England-domiciled students studying at the 90 largest universities in England starting in 2017–18. Cohort of students is held constant across systems. We assume that all students taking out loans do so for the full amount to which they are entitled, that there is no dropout from university, that graduates repay according to the repayment schedule and that they have low unearned income. This assumes cohort size of 365,700 based on 2015–16 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) estimates of England-domiciled first-year full-time undergraduates. We assume 10% non-take-up of loans, approximately in line with Student Loans Company (SLC) data on loan uptake. For data behind this graph, per-borrower figures and RAB charge estimates, see Table C.1 in Appendix C.

The analysis in this report also reveals that there are three main models of delivery of citizenship in the curriculum in the schools surveyed, namely: citizenship through modules in PSHE (used in almost two-thirds of schools); citizenship as a dedicated ‘discrete delivery’ timetable slot (used in almost one-third of schools), and citizenship through a cross-curricular approach involving a range of subjects as well as tutorials and assemblies (used in almost half of schools). These models have been chosen by schools for a variety of reasons; reasons which, in turn, are influenced by a number of factors. The revised typology and school case studies highlight how these factors play out differently within and across schools. This helps to explain the current diversity of approaches to citizenship in secondary schools in England. What is clear from the latest data is the growing power and influence of school leaders in deciding on approaches to citizenship education. Decisions by school leaders are often made in consultation with internally appointed citizenship co-ordinators. Two of the case-study schools have recently appointed a new school leader, who has put his/her mark on how citizenship should be delivered in the school.

conclusions to the two parts of overarching question, namely how far has citizenship education become embedded in secondary schools in England since 2002? and what does the future hold for CE in secondary schools? It also provides an overall conclusion. The conclusions are seen through: the three interrelated lenses of the CELS data in this report (i.e. breadth, in depth and over time); and against the three contexts where citizenship learning was to be developed (i.e. in the curriculum, school culture and the wider community). The section also identifies some common factors that influence how far embedded CE has become in schools and how it will fare in the future. The third section builds from the conclusions in this chapter and from the current and forthcoming challenges (as detailed in Chapter 6) to set out recommendations for action for key groups involved with CE: namely policy-makers, practitioners and stakeholders/support agencies.

better in between 88% and 94% of schools and learning was considered to be good or better in between 89% and 96% of lessons, depending on the model of inspection used. These figures represent an improvement on the previous “Chief Inspector’s Report 2010-2012” where, for example, during Incidental Inspections, the quality of teaching was satisfactory or better in over 86% of all schools while the quality of learning was satisfactory or better in 87% of all schools. At post-primary level, the overall quality of teaching was evaluated as good or better in between 88% and 94% of lessons, and the quality of learning was good or better in 85% to 91% of lessons visited, depending on the model of inspection used. This was better than in the 2010-2012 report in which the quality of learning was satisfactory or better in between 82% and 84% of lessons and the standard of teaching observed was satisfactory or better in over 85% of all inspections. However, at both primary and second level, inspectors noted that while overall the standards of teaching and learning were good or better, more lessons were “good” rather than “very good”. The “Chief Inspector’s Report 2013-2016” contained detailed analysis of inspection findings about the teaching of English, Mathematics and Irish, and a range of other curricular areas. It also commented that the quality of school management was generally very good, but it noted the major challenges facing voluntary boards of management and the weaknesses in the current management structures for schools. The report stated that parent questionnaires administered by the Inspectorate had indicated that in the majority of schools, student behaviour was very good and that there were good student management systems in place. Schools were reported to be doing good work to tackle bullying and there was a marked improvement since the last report in the percentage of post-primary parents and students that are confident that schools would deal with bullying promptly and effectively.

importance of the ONS recommendation: under the old rules, the short-run impact on the deficit was much greater because all of the grants counted towards the deficit while the loan write-offs did not. As stated in Britton, Emmerson and Pope (2018), this is a much more sensible way of accounting for student loans in the public finances and gives a more transparent estimate of the long-run impact of different policies. However, as mentioned in Section 5.2, there is an important caveat to this: while loan write-offs do count towards the deficit under the new accounting treatment, they (mostly) do not count towards the current budget deficit. Consequently, abolishing loans and replacing them with grants still acts to increase the current budget deficit in the short run. This matters for Labour’s policy because in the 2017 election the Labour party set its fiscal targets based on the current budget deficit (so that it could exclude investment spending).

This ambition, to prevent the gap from worsening as pupils get older, may sound modest in principle, but it involves schools working to compensate for the many advantages enjoyed by the children of more affluent parents during their school years, either exclusively, or to a much greater extent than is the case for disadvantaged children. Advantages such as private tuition, cultural and educational experiences and paid-for extra-curricular activities are clearly less affordable for disadvantaged families, and the depth of support with homework and learning outside of school that is provided by parents is necessarily influenced by their own level of education.

The strategy aims to maximise the commercial benefi ts and secure fi nancial commitment from the cities to delivering the lowest carbon FIFA World Cup™. The outreach programme would include educational workshops across England and an annual stakeholder report to improve coordination and the buy-in of stakeholders. Supporters would be engaged through social media and candidate Host City-based programmes. The Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board would have overall responsibility for ensuring a balanced approach to environmental, social and economic aspects. The integration of environmental sustainability within the LOC would be strengthened through a dedicated team and the continued education and involvement of LOC staff in environmental activities.

Diversity Role Models, Equaliteach, National Children’s Bureau, Stonewall and The Diana Award were awarded a share of the funding to extend the existing programme that has now supported more than 1,800 schools in England. The extended programme will run until March 2020, and the Government Equalities Office and Department for Education are considering jointly how to ensure this work is taken forward.

PAS continued to review its recruitment and selection documentation throughout 2018 to ensure that all of its documentation supports its core diversity objective. PAS, in partnership with a range of NGO’s, also worked with a range of nationalities in Ireland (including Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Latvian and Brazilian nationals) to promote public service job opportunities across these communities. Re-development works have also commenced at Chapter House with a view to creating a more modern and welcoming area for candidates and a ‘shop-window’ for careers in the public service. This development has a very strong diversity theme that has been informed by stakeholder feedback, including diversity reviews conducted by Trinity College Dublin Innovation Academy. Evidence of the effectiveness of PAS diversity initiatives can be found in the group of new Gardaí who completed their training in Templemore in November 2018. 8% of this new intake are originally from outside Ireland and include recruits from England, Romania, Scotland, Latvia and Kenya.

The Ministry of Education and Training with the support of the Vanuatu Education Sector Program (VESP) has been implementing a lot of activities in 2017. The table beneath sums up the overall progress against the key out-puts of the VESP/MoET plans. (Note that the progress beneath is structured according to the VESP theory of change & reporting and additions were made to include reporting on progress of activities supported by the recurrent budget. Meanwhile a draft overall theory of change for the MoET is in place and will be established in 2018, whereby all reportings will be streamline to use standard approaches, thus enable ease of reporting).

TFHO’s mission is to be a truly Ghanaian organization that works to improve the health of people, primarily through the social marketing of health products and services as well as health communications in a measurable and impactful way. With PSI as prime, TFHO is a sub-award recipient of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Support for International Family Planning and Health Organization 2: Sustainable Networks (SIFPO 2), funding the Ghana Social Marketing Program (GSMP). TFHO’s covered subcontract covers the period of July 1- December 31, 2018.

The  Department is responsible  for  the development  and implementation of  policy,  along with  formulating and reviewing the budgetary allocations  for the provision of higher education and  research in approved institutions in the State.  This involves financial management and reporting  on  the  funding  framework  which combines  a system  grant  funding  model  with  the  Free Fees  schemes; the provision of funding to the HEA for direct allocation to institutions; liaison with the  HEA,  which  deals  with  Higher  Education  Institutions  (HEIs)  on  a  day‐to‐day  basis  and  the  provision of direct funding to non HEA designated HEIs. The Department is responsible for the  review  and  development  of  robust  systems  of  monitoring  and  evaluation  to  promote  accountability  within  the  institutions,  including  compliance  with  code  of  governance  requirements. It also engages in the on‐going review of the impact of changes in legislation, both  Irish and EU, on the free fees schemes.  

In November 1998 the Green Paper Adult Education in an Era of Lifelong Learning was published. This contains a comprehensive overview of adult education provision in Ireland. The publication was followed by a wide consultative process with key interests nationwide. This included the hosting of six regional seminars, a public advertisement for written submissions, individual meetings with over seventy national level organisations representing education, training, employment, industrial development, research, social, cultural and community and voluntary sector interests. The consultation process culminated in a National Forum on Adult Education in Dublin Castle in September 1999. The outcome informed the process of preparing a White Paper.

No new savings measures were included in the determination of the Department’s budget for 2015. The budget allocation did take account of the impact of a small number of savings measures announced in previous budgets. The allocation provided for an increase in teacher numbers of 1,400, in response to demographic pressures and demand for additional resource teachers, and for an additional 365 Special Needs Assistants (the number of SNAs was subsequently increased by a further 610 in response to demands). Provision was also made for an initiative to support the further extension of book rental schemes to cover all primary schools, for the continued rollout of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, Junior Cycle reform, the provision of high-speed broadband to second level schools and support for the Music Generation Project. Funding was also provided for the recruitment of additional inspectors for Early Years education settings. The focus of the allocation for capital expenditure continued to be on the provision of additional permanent places to meet demographic demands at both primary and post-primary levels.

The Higher Education System in Ireland is undergoing a programme of unprecedented modernisation and reform. The on-going implementation of the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, aims to develop the higher education system to equip people with the knowledge and skills necessary to live fulfilled and rewarding lives, and to meet the social and economic challenges facing Ireland. A System Performance Framework, stating national priorities and key objectives of Government for higher education was set out by the Minister for 2014-2016. With a view to improving students’ experience, a further key part of the reforms underway is to support a better transition from second-level to higher education. Key stakeholders and agencies across the second and third level sectors are at an advanced stage in agreeing a package of proposals that will achieve this objective.

The Department’s expenditure allocation for 2013 took account of a number of savings measures decided by Government, estimated to yield savings across the education sector of €90 million in 2013 and €123 million in a full year. However, notwithstanding the requirement to manage within a challenging expenditure ceiling, the education budget for 2013 did include additional funding for a number of important initiatives, including: continued implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and reform of the Junior Cycle; connection of 200 additional schools to high speed broadband; funding for 6,500 places under the Labour Market Education and Training Fund; additional part-time higher education opportunities under the Springboard programme; funding of €5 million for ICT Skills Conversion Courses; and capital funding to allow the commencement in 2013 of works on 50 new schools and major extensions.

In September 2001, in accordance with the provisions of the White Paper Ready to Learn, the Minister announced the establishment of a new Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education. The Centre, which is jointly managed by St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and the Dublin Institute of Technology, will develop a national quality framework, to include equipment and material, staff qualifications and training, teaching and learning methodologies, curriculum, guidance for parents and related areas. The Centre will also examine and develop appropriate forms of early intervention and support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with disabilities, building on the experience of existing programmes.

An education plan for each individual pupil with special educational needs will become mandatory when the relevant sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 are commenced. In preparation for this, the NCSE published guidelines on the individual education plan process, copies of which were issued to all primary and post primary schools at the start of the 2006/07 school year. These guidelines provide advice and assistance to schools, teachers and parents on devising and implementing individual education plans. It is the NCSE’s intention that these guidelines will provide a benchmark for best practice pending the implementation of the EPSEN Act 2004 and that schools will use these guidelines to draw up school policies and procedures in relation to individual education plans.