Latest news with #schoolleavers
Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Half of school-leavers in England ‘should go to university'
At least half of school-leavers from all areas of England should go to university, a wide-scale inquiry has concluded. A report published on Monday by UPP Foundation, a higher education charity, calls for a 'triple-lock' target to boost access to university. Maintenance grants for the poorest students should be introduced and the foundation said that university 'cold spots' should be the first to benefit from any revenue raised by an international student fee levy. The report, the final of a four-part inquiry, highlights substantial inequalities in university intakes, based on where candidates live and the wealth of their family. It also calls for universities to be scrutinised based on their graduates' outcomes three to five years after leaving. • Universities 'ignoring local deprived applicants in favour of Londoners' The inquiry proposes that universities have a gap of no more than ten percentage points between the number of applicants they take from different regions. The most recent figures show that 13 per cent of school-leavers from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, go to university, compared with 70 per cent from Wimbledon, southwest London. The triple lock would also set a minimum target of 50 per cent of young people going to university from each region and 70 per cent of the English population to have studied qualifications at Level 4 by the age of 25. The qualification is considered equivalent to the first year of a bachelor's degree. The report notes that significant variation in application rates to undergraduate degrees by school-leavers could not be fully explained by attainment, and that there was a large variation in 'positive outcomes', ie graduate employment, between different universities and different groups of students within institutions. Richard Brabner, the executive chair of the UPP Foundation, said: 'In this final paper, we have set out a series of ambitious, but achievable, targets for where the government and the sector can go next on widening participation. The sector is facing a new reality.' Leverhulme Trust, which says it is one of the UK's largest research sponsors, will announce a £100 million package of support for British universities on Monday to mark its centenary. This will include funding for 200 new PhD scholarships, 20 research leadership awards for mid-career academics and five new research centres tackling global challenges such as a climate change and AI. It will focus on interdisciplinary research led by academics. All the money invested in the centenary awards will be additional to its existing £120 million annual investment in UK research. Alan Jope, the chair of Leverhulme's board of trustees, said: 'This will bolster the type of bold, blue-skies research that has earned British universities their global reputation for excellence and enable them to focus on the most pressing challenges and opportunities of our time, even in the face of financial challenges.'
Irish Times
27-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘Check your spam': Six things to know ahead of CAO deadline day
For thousands of Leaving Cert students it has been a six-year journey like no other. After starting in the calm of late August 2019, students had to navigate their way through a pandemic, school closures and its aftermath. Now that the exams are finally over, there's just one last box to tick off: what to do after school. Despite the wide range of options on offer to school leavers, the CAO application process will dominate the thoughts of most students. In fact, applications for third-level college courses are on track to reach a record high this year with 83,447 applications at last count, up from 77,049 a year ago. For applicants, there are some important pointers to bear in mind in advance of the CAO deadline next week. READ MORE 1. Deadline day: July 1st, 5pm Other than for a small group of 'restricted application' courses, this is the last chance for any CAO applicant to add, subtract or amend in any way the courses they wish to apply for honours degree (level eight) or ordinary degrees (level six/seven) courses. All such amendments must be completed online by 5pm on Tuesday, July 1st. [ Classroom to college: your essential newsletter with advice on the CAO and study options Opens in new window ] 2. Watch out for discontinued CAO courses Some applicants may decide they are happy with the course list they submitted before the initial February 1st deadline. This would be a serious error. The online handbook available ( ) was compiled this time last year. Since then, some courses have been discontinued, while many new ones have been added by colleges as they progress through their internal approval process. In short, no CAO applicant should allow the 1st July deadline pass without reviewing their course choice lists. 3. Points may drop across many courses With the deflation of exam results, it likely there will be a reduction in points across many courses. So, if you feel a programme is outside your points range, you might be surprised. Another factor involved in driving down entry points is greater supply of places. On June 11th last, the Government approved a significant expansion in training places for health and social care professions which will see up to 320 additional student places created in 2025 (and a further 141 in subsequent years). The immediate expansion will be in nine areas: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, radiation therapy, radiography, podiatry, social work, medical science, and dietetics. These areas may well see further points reductions. 4. Study locally, commute or secure accommodation? Every year some CAO applicants are thrilled to secure their first choice course in August, only to realise that college accommodation is either extremely scarce or outside their budget. Remember, you cannot move down your list of CAO course preferences, so choose carefully. It is worth checking with individual colleges about how to join the list of applicants for on-campus accommodation, if there is any. The reality is that our housing crisis continues to play a very significant role in the choices of those seeking third level places throughout the country. Some technological universities – which are closer to many people than the traditional universities in big cities – are an option too. 5. Check your spam Every year some students achieve excellent results but do not receive any college offers. Why? It often turns out that they missed a crucial 'statement of application' email from the CAO, seeking to confirm their personal details. In many cases, these emails end up in applicants' spam folders. In these cases, the student's exam number may be missing – so the CAO has no way of connecting their results with their applications. This year the CAO began sending out 'statement of application' emails to Leaving Cert candidates from May 7th onwards asking them to confirm their details. On May 29th, the CAO sent a reminder email to those applicants who had not yet confirmed their account information, and a 'final reminder' on Thursday just gone. It is up to the candidate to spot and correct these details. 6. Further education and training opportunities It's not all about the CAO and there are now more pathways than ever for school leavers. Further education and training courses are an excellent option ( ). For some, they are a destination; for others, they are a stepping stone to third level. Places on all further education programmes are allocated by each individual college and applications are available online on each of their websites. There is no deadline, but all places are allocated on a first come first served basis, based on suitability. Tertiary degrees are another option ( ): students begin their studies at a local further education college before seamlessly progressing to higher education, without the need for any CAO points. More than 40 of these degree courses are available for students starting in September 2025. Apprenticeships, too, are well worth exploring ( ). In addition to traditional options, there are lots of degree-level options in areas such as biopharma, engineering, finance and insurance.
BBC News
31-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
School leavers party for weeks on midnight buses, and Norway says it's gone too far
There is a broad acceptance in Norway that the school-leavers' party bus culture has to be scaled back. The government is also worried about potential risks to teenagers' safety, as they dance on buses that are driven around during the night. "We want this year's graduating class to be the last class that is allowed to use converted buses with sideways-facing seats and standing room while driving," says Jon-Ivar Nygard, Norway's Minister of Transport. "We can no longer send our young people off in unsafe buses." For many prospective school-leavers in Norway the government's plan goes too far. "The government wants to take away the sideways seating on the buses and just have group seating. I think it's the wrong way to go," complains Edvard Aanestad. And when it comes to addressing problems of inclusivity on the buses, he and his friend Henrik believe the authorities are taking the wrong approach. Only half of the 120 school-leavers in his year were part of a party-bus group, and they agree part of the reason was the high cost. But the two young men say they spent years planning their celebrations, even getting jobs on the side to pay for the whole experience. "This isn't going to help tackle exclusion," warns Edvard, who points out that banning some of the buses will mean there will be fewer buses to go around. "If anything, it's the opposite, so it's the wrong way to go."
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Headlines: Hollyoaks star's death and Glastonbury farm weddings
Here is our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media on Thursday 29 May. Our pick of local website stories The news that four police officers were attacked after disorder in Midsomer Norton performed well for Somerset Live. It was reported to have happened during a gathering of 200 school leavers. Avon and Somerset Police said its officers were "pushed, punched, and spat at" by "a small number of people" there.A complaint about people smoking in the no-smoking zones outside Bristol Airport is picking up traction this morning for Bristol this footage of a woman abusing a dog, which was captured on a doorbell camera, was one of the top posts for Bristol Live. The woman from Portishead has been given a suspended prison sentence. Our top three from yesterday What to watch on social media Cheltenham festival 2000 Trees has confirmed Irish language hip-hop group Kneecap will remain as one of its headliners. It comes after Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs in the band under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence by the Metropolitan Police after an alleged incident in London in November last a former nurse at the Royal United Hospital in Bath is turning 100. Bertha has no close family nearby and so the hospital has joined Bloomfield Care Centre, where she lives, to appeal for birthday cards.A picture in the Stroud Area Photos group showing staff who worked at the old jam factory in Stonehouse about 100 years ago has also proved finally, an update from Swindon Borough Council on Highworth Golf Course and options for its future has prompted plenty of comments on the authority's Facebook page.
