Connecting YOU with what’s happening in education today …
Our readers grill Ed Balls on his decisions and achievements as secretary of state
1. What has been your biggest mistake as secretary of state and what have you learned from it?
From Amanda Blinkhorn, London NW5
Perhaps it was a mistake to get on the swings with Andy Burnham on a visit to an adventure playground. We [...]
Even when offenders have the courage to undertake a course in prison, there are many barriers to overcome
“Looking back at prison I really wish I’d done something on the education side,” says Martin, 25. He did three terms in jail: three months as a juvenile, another term of two years, and a further six months.
Was [...]
We were surprised and disappointed that the usually sensitive and astute Nancy Banks-Smith wasn’t more sympathetic to the plight of the four eight-year-old girls portrayed in the moving documentary Leaving Home at 8 (Last night’s TV, 12 February).
While April’s reaction to the rupture of her attachment to her mum was the most extreme, it clearly affected [...]
Universities have leapt to defend themselves following revelations about the state of their buildings. But can they now afford to invest in new ones?
The arts and humanities block at one university was a running joke until it was knocked down last year. The flat roof leaked and urgently needed replacing. The walls may have looked [...]
Our series following four would-be students finds out how they’ve been coping with exam stress
The combination of passing exams, making new sixth-form friends and thinking about university has made year 12 a stressful time for Lewis Nelken, one of four students who have agreed to let Education Guardian into their lives as they go through [...]
When schools can get cheap cover for lessons, why would they employ a qualified teacher?
On a recent edition of the TV quiz show QI, the actor Ben Miller, having bored everyone with a barrage of tedious facts on some obscure topic, was humiliated by a put-down from the comedian Rob Brydon: “Thank you, Mr Miller, [...]
The Guardian’s second postgraduate guide will help you to choose the right course and campus
In the face of a fearsome job market and high graduate unemployment levels, postgraduate academia is booming. More than 270,000 students returned to university to add a dash of postgrad sparkle to their CVs in 2007-08: demand for master’s degrees surged [...]
University of Dundee researchers link deprivation with mutation of crucial tumour-suppressing gene
Scientists believe they have established a link between poverty and mutation of a gene which could explain why women from poorer backgrounds are less likely to survive breast cancer.
Researchers believe the reason why women in the lowest socio-economic groups are “significantly more likely” [...]
The gifted and talented programme has been a mess, but gifted pupils still need support and this should be an election issue
‘Inconsistent and incoherent”: that was how the government’s programme for gifted and talented children in England was described in recent evidence to the Commons schools committee.
In private some use much stronger language, describing the [...]
Gifted and talented, employer-led degrees, and where the new curriculum really started
Gifts that money can’t buy
Were you being provocative, illustrating the end of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (Nagty) with a young harpist (And so farewell, gifted and talented scheme, 2 February)? The concert harp is a wonderful instrument. What you need [...]