Latest news with #NickGibb
The Herald Scotland
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
X Factor winner Leona Lewis to be made an OBE at Windsor Castle
Ex-Labour politician Dame Patricia Hewitt, who as health secretary pushed forward the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, will be made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DCB). Former Conservative schools minister Sir Nick Gibb will receive a knighthood. Sir Nick Gibb (UK Parliament/PA) Presenter and singer Myleene Klass, a former member of the group Hear'Say and runner-up in the 2006 series of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, will be made an MBE for services to women's health, miscarriage awareness and charity. Lewis, 40, won the third series of The X Factor in 2006 and went on to achieve success with singles including Bleeding Love, Run and Better In Time. The British singer-songwriter from Islington, north London, became a seven-time Brit award nominee and was nominated three times for a Grammy award. She has also carried out charity work with a number of organisations including the Prince's Trust, the Teenage Cancer Trust and WWF. Dame Patricia, previously the chairwoman of NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, is being honoured for services to healthcare transformation. Dame Patricia Hewitt (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The former MP for Leicester West served as health secretary, trade and industry secretary and minister for women during Tony Blair's government. The Australian-born politician stepped down from cabinet in June 2007 when Gordon Brown took over as prime minister. Sir Nick was first elected as Conservative MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton in 1997 and was first appointed as school standards minister in 2010, before being removed from the post two years later. He was brought back as minister for school standards in 2014 and remained in the role until the reshuffle in September 2021 when he was sacked by then prime minister Boris Johnson. The veteran schools minister, who is being honoured for services to education, returned to the Department for Education (DfE) in October 2022 and stepped down from Government in 2023. During his tenure he oversaw curriculum and exam reforms and was an advocate of phonics as a method of teaching children to read. Myleene Klass (Yui Mok/PA) Klass, 47, has campaigned for paid bereavement leave to be extended to those who experience a miscarriage. The mother of three suffered four miscarriages and has spoken openly about the psychological effects of baby loss on women. She is an ambassador for the pregnancy and baby charity Tommy's and fronted the Bafta-nominated documentary Myleene Klass: Miscarriage And Me in 2021, in which she met women around the UK to hear their experiences.
The Irish Sun
24-05-2025
- General
- The Irish Sun
Students in South nearly TWICE as likely to get three A* A-level grades than those in North
STUDENTS in the South of England are nearly twice as likely to get three A* A-level grades than those in the North, data reveals. Just 5,800 of the 258,000 who sat the exams last year came away with three or more top grades. Advertisement Of those, 3,779 were from the South and 2,021 in the North. Nine out of ten of the best areas for A-levels were in the South. Pupils in reading, in Berks, came out top — with seven per cent hitting the highest grades. Dozens in London suburbs Kingston, Newham, Sutton and Barnet also got top marks. The Government stats show Salford, Gtr Manchester, fared the worst, with a single set of three A* grades. Advertisement READ MORE UK NEWS Social mobility expert Professor Lee Elliot Major called it a national scandal, saying: 'These figures lay bare a brutal truth — your chances of the highest academic success at school are still shaped more by where you live than what you're capable of. 'This A-star divide highlights the vast differences in support offered to today's children and young people both outside and inside the classroom. 'Increasingly A-level grades are as much a sign of how much support young people have had as much as their academic capability. 'This isn't just a North-South education divide. It's a London and South East versus the rest Divide.' Advertisement Most read in The Sun The Department for Education said: 'We are taking measures to tackle baked-in inequalities.' 1 Students in the South of England are nearly twice as likely to get three A* A-level grades than those in the North Credit: Getty Schools Minister Nick Gibb says he's optimistic about the GCSE results as students face 'shock' over grades
