History > 2006 > UK > Education

Scrap school tests

to stem rising tide of illiteracy,

says think-tank

December 27, 2006
The Times
Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent

Many children lack basic skills

The system must reveal pupils at risk

National tests for pupils aged 11 and 14 should be scrapped and replaced with random tests in order to develop broader skills in reading, writing and arithmetic, according to a leading left-wing think-tank.

The Institute for Public Policy Research believes that the current testing regime encourages teachers to drill children to pass tests, resulting in a narrow curriculum.

It calls instead for a system based on internal teacher assessments, backed by “sample monitoring tests” to ensure that schools continue to be held accountable for their teaching and results.

The radical proposals come after Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, suggested that children could be measured on individual progress rather than against national targets.

He said that the system was too narrow and needed to be opened up to give more incentives to teachers and bored under-achievers. With the introduction of the national curriculum in 1988, test or “Sats” results for children aged 7 and 11 in the three Rs rose consistently until 2001, the think-tank said.

Since then the rate of improvement has levelled off and one in five children now leaves primary school unable to read, write or add up well enough to cope at secondary school.

One in five boys aged 14 has has the reading age of a seven-year-old. Less than half of 16-year-olds achieve five good GCSEs, including English and maths.

Richard Brooks, the institute’s associate director and author of the reports, said that every child needed to master the three Rs.

“For that to happen, there needs to be accurate assessment and a focus on identifying pupils at risk of low attainment,” he said. “An end to national ‘key stage’ testing should make space for better teaching and learning, but it would also mean new assessment responsibilities for teachers.”

The “new deal for teachers and heads” would consist of regular teacher assessments of pupils’ work and random tests of pupils in English primary and secondary schools.

Pupils at the start and end of primary school who are struggling with the three Rs would be entitled to intensive tuition.

National targets for 14-year-olds would be replaced by progress targets. There might be up to 20 national tests in reading, writing and arithmetic, which the Government would allocate randomly to schools.

The result, Mr Brooks said, would be to free up the curriculum because teachers could no longer predict questions. League tables would remain, but the information would be more acccurate.

“The big worry about shifting from national testing is losing accountability, but with this system we’d improve accountability by changing the nature of the tests and the pedagogical thrust,” he said.

“The sample monitoring tests would be a check on teacher assessment as well as giving a better measure of both school and national performance.”

Teachers have repeatedly complained that targets force them to teach to the test and stifle a hunger for learning in pupils.

John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association for School and College Leaders, said that the proposals would make teaching more relevant.

He said: “Teachers have always used assessment as an important part of teaching and children like to do well in those tests. What we’ve got to get away from are the high-stakes national tests and build a testing regime much more into the learning process of the child.”

Ministers have already toned down the tests for seven-year-olds and the results are no longer reported separately.

However, a spokesman for the Department for Education insisted that key stage tests were “here to stay” and were part of the drive to raise standards in the basics yet further.

“They are not designed to be ‘pass or fail’ examinations and we have stressed that preparation time should be kept to a minimum and that teachers help children prepare best when they teach the core subjects as fully as possible.”

    Scrap school tests to stem rising tide of illiteracy, says think-tank, Ts, 27.12.2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2519806,00.html

Racist:

A damning report on our schools

Official investigation leaked to 'IoS'
reveals widespread 'institutional racism'

But ministers refuse to accept
sweeping criticisms from experts

Published: 10 December 2006
The Independent on Sunday
By Ian Griggs

A high-level official report has found a compelling case that Britain's schools are "institutionally racist", but ministers are refusing to accept that conclusion. The report, leaked to The Independent on Sunday, reveals "systemic racial discrimination" in the country's education system, with three times more black children being excluded than whites.

The Government ordered a "priority review" into the issue last year. Its damning conclusions were delivered to ministers two months ago, but have not been released.

The report, written by Peter Wanless, director of school performance and reform, states: "The exclusions gap is caused by largely unwitting, but systematic racial discrimination in the application of disciplinary and exclusions policies."

But Lord Adonis, the Schools minister, is refusing to authorise the use of the term "institutional racism", despite being presented with a clear judgement that it was justified.

"A compelling case can be made for the existence of 'institutional racism' in schools," the leaked report reveals.

The report, entitled Getting It. Getting It Right, addresses why Afro-Caribbean pupils, in particular boys, are three times more likely than white pupils to be permanently excluded from school.

Every year 1,000 black pupils are permanently excluded from school each year and 30,000 more are banned for a limited period. By contrast it found black children are five times less likely to be officially registered as "gifted or talented". It weighs up whether "out-of-school" factors such as street culture cause black pupils to behave more aggressively in school. But it concludes that black pupils are disciplined more frequently, more harshly and for less serious misbehaviour than other pupils.

"While a compelling case can be made for the existence of institutional racism in schools, there is a comparatively weak basis for arguing that street culture has a more persuasive influence on black young people than it has on other young people," the report said.

The internal report supports experts who say: "The exclusion gap is due to institutional racism - decisions made by schools and their staff which have the cumulative effect of producing a racist outcome. It is argued that unintentional racism stems from long-standing social conditioning involving negative images of black people, particularly black men which stereotype them as threatening.

"Such conditioning is reinforced by the media portrayal of black 'street culture'. It encourages school staff to expect black pupils to be worse behaved and to perceive a greater level of threat and challenge in their interactions with individual black pupils."

The authors of the report stopped short of insisting that the highly controversial term be used, leaving the final judgement with the minister. "If we choose to use the term 'institutional racism', we need to be sensitive to the likely reception by schools [but] if we choose not to use the term, we need to make sure the tone of our message remains sufficiently challenging."

A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said: "In the light of this work, ministers concluded that it would be inaccurate and counterproductive to brand the school system as racist. However, there is more that schools, parents and the Government can do to ensure that every child fulfils their potential whatever their background."

About 100 schools and 20 local authorities have been identified as giving the most cause for concern. Schools could be in breach of their duties under the Race Relations Act 2000 that requires public bodies to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination.

    Racist: A damning report on our schools, IoS, 10.12.2006, http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article2062498.ece

Institutionally racist:
Report tells how black children are being discriminated against in schools

Black pupils are three times more likely to be excluded than white, and five times less likely to be on the official register of gifted and talented students. Why? Because, according to a Whitehall report, teachers in England and Wales are unconsciously prejudiced against Caribbean-origin pupils. Ian Griggs reports

Published: 10 December 2006
The Independent on Sunday

The choice facing Lord Adonis was stark: accept that black pupils are more likely to be badly behaved or brand Britain's schools "institutionally racist".

One of Tony Blair's favourite ministers had been presented with the conclusions of a high-level official report into why black pupils are three times more likely than whites to be excluded from school.

Although couched in careful Whitehall language, it makes for uncomfortable reading. "The exclusions gap is caused by largely unwitting, but systematic, racial discrimination in the application of disciplinary and exclusions policies," concludes the report by Peter Wanless, the director of school performance and reform at the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), and two other officials.

"Even with the best efforts to improve provision for excluded pupils, the continued existence of the exclusion gap means that black pupils are disproportionately denied mainstream education and the life chances that go with it."

After siding with commentators who believe that the fault lies mainly with schools, the officials say in the report that the minister has to decide whether to use an incendiary term. "If we choose to use the term 'institutional racism', we need to be sensitive to the likely reception by schools [but] if we choose not to use the term, we need to make sure the tone of our message remains sufficiently challenging."

In the event, Lord Adonis ducked the issue, arguing that since the report does not baldly conclude that Britain's entire school system is " institutionally racist", the term ­ and issue ­ could be quietly shelved.

But now, The Independent on Sunday can reveal the unsettling reality of how schools are failing generations of black children because of unconscious prejudice.

In November 2005, ministers ordered an urgent study into why so many black pupils were being thrown out of school. The "priority review" led by Mr Wanless reported in the autumn. It finds black children are five times less likely to be officially registered as "gifted or talented". It also finds that 1,000 black pupils are permanently excluded from school each year and 30,000 receive temporary bans.

And the problem could be worse than official figures show, the report says, because of the existence of "unofficial exclusions", in which head teachers persuade parents to remove their children from school voluntarily, or simply do not report exclusions centrally.

Around 100 schools and 20 local authorities, none of which is named, have been identified as giving the most cause for concern. Schools could be in breach of their duties under the Race Relations Act 2000, which requires public bodies to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination.

But a key question is whether the behaviour of black children is generally worse than their white peers ­ or can the higher proportion of exclusions be explained by teachers' unwitting prejudice?

The report weighs claims that factors outside school play the larger part in the problem against those that say schools take the greater share of responsibility. The first camp suggests black pupils are subject to influences outside schools that cause them to behave more aggressively.

"On the face of it, this view is supported by the statistical evidence that black pupils are most likely to be excluded for 'violence against a pupil' and more likely than average to be excluded for 'violence against a member of staff'," the report says.

"The portrayal of images heavily dominated by the experience of black Americans has encouraged growing levels of aggression and a view that violence is a product of poverty and disempowerment. Such cultural factors have encouraged young men to posture aggressively as a means of 'getting respect' and resolving conflicts."

But the authors favour the second explanation, which suggests black pupils are disproportionately punished. They cite powerful evidence of bias in comparing exam results remotely marked against those assessed by teachers. When marked "blind", black children "significantly outperformed" their white peers. But when assessed by their teachers, the opposite was the case.

Quoting academics who say schools are to blame, the report states: "The exclusion gap is due to institutional racism ­ decisions made by schools and their staff which have the cumulative effect of producing a racist outcome.

"It is argued that unintentional racism stems from long-standing social conditioning involving negative images of black people, particularly black men, which stereotype them as threatening. Such conditioning is reinforced by the media portrayal of black 'street culture'. It encourages school staff to expect black pupils to be worse behaved and to perceive a greater level of threat.

"While a compelling case can be made for the existence of institutional racism in schools, there is a comparatively weak basis for arguing that street culture has a more persuasive influence on black young people than it has on other young people."

The report warns that focusing on "out-of-school" factors would imply that black boys are more likely to be excluded because they are worse behaved than other children. "This would be regarded by many as a racist viewpoint," the report says.

It goes on to say that if nothing is done to address the exclusions gap, it will give credence to the subconscious view that black children's failure in school, and wider social exclusion as a result of it, is "to be expected ".

But Mick Brookes, the general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, said he believed the findings of the report were spurious. " Pupils will be disciplined for bad behaviour if they exhibit bad behaviour," he said. "In my experience as a head teacher my colleagues have always shown absolute integrity in how all young people are treated."

Mr Brookes said unofficial exclusions were often a good method of dealing with incidents without it ending up on a child's school record. "For temporary exclusions I have in the past said to parents that a child needs to go home and calm down for a bit but that's about having a good relationship with parents," he said. "In permanent cases, we have a 'managed move' which may well be a fresh start which is right for that pupil."

Mr Brookes said the question of whether in-school or out-of-school factors were to blame for the exclusion gap was a complex one. "There are cases where there is a clash of school and external culture which can cause problems, but this is rare."

Kemi Pearce is an advice worker for the Advisory Centre for Education, a charity that works with parents whose children have been excluded. She insisted there was a wealth of evidence of prejudicial treatment of black children in school.

"There has been a lot of research into how exclusions affect ethnic minorities more than the average for other racial groups, and that is reflected in the calls we receive," she said. "My gut feeling is that there are more black children affected by exclusions."

Julia Thomas, an education solicitor for the Children's Legal Centre who acts on behalf of children who have been excluded from school, agreed: " Some exclusions do have a racial element to them and Afro-Caribbean families experience a higher rate of exclusions than other groups."

Exclusions have alarming implications for society. Excluded children are more likely to commit serious crimes, to reoffend and to smoke, drink or take drugs.

Martin Narey, the former director general of the prison service, said in 2001 that: "The 13,000 young people excluded from school each year might as well be given a date by which to join the prison service some time later."

Excluded pupils are also one-third less likely to achieve five good GCSEs, 3 per cent more likely to be unemployed and, on average, earn £36,000 less during their lifetimes. In a poll of 1,000 black parents at a conference on London schools and black children in 2002, exclusions emerged as the top issue, above academic attainment and the deficit of black teachers. Some in the black community even view the exclusion gap as equivalent to " stop-and-search" procedures in the criminal justice system.

The report says some schools are doing well at tackling the gap and gives examples of good disciplinary procedures. It says strong leadership on race equality and behavioural issues is key, as is taking the view that exclusion is a last resort and represents a failure by the school.

Carron Adams-Ofori, a head teacher at a school in Hackney, recently won the Teacher of the Year award for her work with young black boys. "There is a disparity, but I would challenge anyone who feels it has to be that way. One thing we have done is to look at leadership ­ in this instance with black boys as leaders."

Despite the report's uncompromising conclusions, Lord Adonis has drawn back from using the term "institutional racism". He has done so partly because the Government fears a backlash from the right-wing media but also because ministers fear it would alienate schools.

The Department for Education faces an uphill battle in trying to address the problem because schools are hostile to the concept of race relations, a Commission for Racial Equality study found in 2003. It found schools were significantly less likely to respond to a survey on race relations than other public authorities and, of those that did, only half had set goals for improvement.

The CRE found that only two thirds of schools that responded believed race equality laws produced positive benefits, compared with 74 per cent in the police, 80 per cent in higher education and 89 per cent in government. " We have long said that there are differential outcomes for different ethnic groups in terms of achievement, especially in the case of young black boys," a CRE spokeswoman said. "However, the cultural outlook for this group is also a factor. The CRE believes black children need role models and, ideally, parents to play a more active role in their children's education."

The CRE said local authorities were in the driving seat with regard to monitoring in schools. "However, all state schools should have their own race equality policy to address such issues," the spokeswoman added. "Schools need to be proactive, challenging wherever appropriate with monitoring, exclusion and harassment policies. They will then be in a position to build an effective network with pupils, staff, parents and the local community to create a safe learning and working environment."

The DfES itself does not escape criticism of its commitment on race relations in its own report. "The response to requirements of race equality legislation from local authorities, schools and parts of the DfES ranges from grudging minimum compliance to open hostility," the report says.

The authors are so concerned at the implications of their own report that they considered releasing a sanitised version of it that does not use the word "racism", for fear of alienating teachers' unions and education authorities. But the report says any policy change might be difficult to enforce because schools with a bad track record will view change as an unfair and pointless bureaucratic burden and will respond by " completely ignoring it".

A significant number, if not a "majority", of schools and local authorities, it is feared, will drag their feet over reform. "There is a danger that a policy will be met by a 'box-ticking' approach to indicate minimum compliance or result... in schools doing something but not relating their efforts to a tangible reduction in the exclusions gap," the report says.

Ms Pearce said teachers needed to be more aware of how they interact with pupils. "There is good guidance out there on avoiding discrimination on grounds of race but the question is, has the school taken action?" She added: "Schools can have a policy but is it in the 'hearts and minds' of the school? It's a huge obstacle to achieving fairness in terms of exclusions."

The report recommends a campaign aimed at the entire school community to address the question of how black children are treated. It says the 20 worst-performing local authorities and 100 worst-performing schools for exclusion gaps must be supported to change their attitudes towards black pupils.

A variety of strategies, including targeting pupils at risk of exclusion with support services such as mentoring, and improving discipline techniques, are to be considered.

It calls for a "much more robust response from Ofsted", the school inspection body, to bring about change in the worst performers. With this support, the report says, the exclusion gap could be closed by 2010.

"The report shown to ministers earlier in the year did not conclude that there was institutional racism in the school system," a DfES spokesman said. "In the light of this detailed work, ministers concluded that it would be inaccurate and counter-productive to brand the school system as racist. However, there is much more that schools, parents and the Government can do to ensure that every child fulfils their potential, whatever their background."

The NUT said it had undertaken work in the area of black children's achievement. "We have taken strides to tackle institutional racism and instil positive attitudes in schools," said John Bangs, the head of education for the union. "Schools are actively targeting areas of under-achievement, but I don't think the situation is perfect at all."

Mr Bangs agreed that there were cases of subconscious prejudice on behalf of teachers in some schools. "I think we may have to concede there may be such cases," he said.

He also said the evidence that black boys were five times less likely to be identified as gifted and talented was more of a class issue. "You could apply this statistic just as easily to white, working-class boys."

As for the exclusions gap, Mr Bangs said there were complex reasons for this, including out-of-school factors such as street culture. "We have to raise aspirations of young Afro-Caribbean boys, and everyone ­ from teachers to the community ­ has to have these high aspirations, linked to practical outcomes... Nothing is perfect, but the question is, how do you raise aspiration? Because clearly it is a problem."

John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondary school heads, rejected suggestions of institutional racism: "I think schools are very racially tolerant places in comparison with what can happen in society outside their gates."

On the question of schools' failure to identify as many gifted and talented black children, Dr Dunford said: "So many of these children have very few educational advantages at home." He added that, in many cases, their parents took less interest in education than parents in Indian and Chinese communities.

Voices of experience

"I was happy in school... but black kids were seen as being different"

Oona King, former Labour MP for Bethnal Green & Bow

"It's not helpful to stereotype all black boys as failing - many are succeeding"

David Lammy, MP for Tottenham

"There aren't many black male teachers, who could be setting a good example"

Donna Bernard, GMTV Presenter
 

"I wasn't supported by my teachers"

Chief Supt Ali Dezai, National Black Police Association

"Girls find it a lot easier to get on without having a father"

Javine, Singer

"We learnt that if we did come across any discrimination it wasn't our fault"

Rageh Omaar, Broadcaster and Journalist

"Teaching black history would be an incentive for black children to learn"

Dawn Butler, MP Brent South

"I felt my teachers saw me as far more threatening "

Kwame Kwei-Armah, Actor

"Black boys' performance is due to institutionalised racism"

Courtenay Griffiths, Barrister

"Some of my best friends were racists"

Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director, ICA

    Institutionally racist: Report tells how black children are being discriminated against in schools, IoS, 10.12.2006, http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article2062500.ece

Blair plans to double number of new city academies to 400

· PM points to exam results to justify expansion
· Move likely to revive row within Labour

Thursday November 30, 2006
Guardian
Patrick Wintour, political editor

Tony Blair will today stir up controversy within the educational establishment and the Labour party by announcing plans to double the number of proposed city academies from 200 to more than 400. The move - seen as central to Mr Blair's "legacy" on education - will mean more than 10% of secondary schools will become academies.

The government had planned to build 200 academies by 2010, but Mr Blair will say he now thinks that demand is sufficient for 400. City academies cost £25m on average to build, suggesting £5bn extra would be required.

Mr Blair will justify the expansion by pointing to initially encouraging exam results from the small number of city academies that have opened, and to a stream of blue chip business sponsors and universities willing to join his inner cities drive.

After much opposition inside the Labour party Mr Blair secured a commitment in the 2005 manifesto to try to achive 200 academies by 2010, even though the Commons education select committee claimed academies - described by the government as independent state schools - were unproven.

Mr Blair will make his announcement in a speech at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust conference designed to coincide with his own speech a decade ago setting out "education, education, education" as his priority, and 30 years after the then Labour prime minister Jim Callaghan set out plans for a national curriculum at Ruskin College.

Mr Blair will single out Mossbourne academy in Hackney, east London, for its leadership, state of the art building and surge in applications, and will also point out that the school was previously earmarked for closure.

The prime minister believes academies represent the best chance of narrowing the education chances divide between the poor and rich.

He rejects criticisms that academies are largely populated by middle class children, pointing to large proportions of pupils on free school meals.

But Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "There is no proven 'academy effect', but there are concerns about the undue level of control handed to unelected, largely unvetted individuals or businesses.

"There is an astonishing lack of accountability despite the large amount of public funds going into each academy."

The government will also publish a No 10 strategy unit document reviewing progress in education over the past decade, pointing to improved results but also a slowdown in the rate of progress over the past three years.

There are 46 academies in existence or about to be set up, with a further 100 in the pipeline.

The previous target of 200 by 2010 included 60 in London, but the new target suggests more than 100 academies in the capital.

Each academy needs a business sponsor - an individual or consortium - willing to put up £2m endowment. The consortium can be a business, faith group or drawn from the voluntary sector. The sponsor appoints, and normally chairs, the school's governing body, but is not allowed to select pupils by ability. Sponsors are also given responsibility for the ethos and curriculum of their schools.

Apart from the £2m sponsorship, funding for the new schools comes from the Department for Education, and has averaged £25m so far.

Names coming forward to sponsor schools include BT, Channel 4, University College London, Microsoft, the BBC, Manchester Airport, UBS and charities such as United Learning Trust.

The results show that 40% of pupils are receiving five good GCSEs, measured as between A to C, representing an increase of 10% on two years ago. The provisional 2006 GCSE results suggest that standards have risen by only 1.8% nationally, and by 6.1% in academies.

    Blair plans to double number of new city academies to 400, G, 30.11.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1960237,00.html

Revealed: rise of creationism in UK schools

PR packs spread controversial theory

Monday November 27, 2006
Guardian
James Randerson, science correspondent

Dozens of schools are using creationist teaching materials condemned by the government as "not appropriate to support the science curriculum", the Guardian has learned.

The packs promote the creationist alternative to Darwinian evolution called intelligent design and the group behind them said 59 schools are using the information as "a useful classroom resource".

A teacher at one of the schools said it intended to use the DVDs to present intelligent design as an alternative to Darwinism. Nick Cowan, head of chemistry at Bluecoat school, in Liverpool, said: "Just because it takes a negative look at Darwinism doesn't mean it is not science. I think to critique Darwinism is quite appropriate."

But the government has made it clear that "neither intelligent design nor creationism are recognised scientific theories". The chairman of the parliamentary science and technology select committee, the Lib Dem MP Phil Willis, said he was horrified that the packs were being used in schools.

"I am flabbergasted that any head of science would give credence to this creationist theory and be prepared to put it alongside Darwinism," he said. "Treating it as an alternative centralist theory alongside Darwinism in science lessons is deeply worrying."

The teaching pack, which includes two DVDs and a manual, was sent to the head of science at all secondary schools in the country on September 18 by the group Truth in Science. The enclosed feedback postcard was returned by 89 schools. As well as 59 positive responses, 15 were negative or dismissive and 15 said the material was "not suitable".

"We are not attacking the teaching of Darwinian theory," said Richard Buggs, a member of Truth in Science. "We are just saying that criticisms of Darwin's theory should also be taught."

"Intelligent design looks at empirical evidence in the natural world and says, 'this is evidence for a designer'. If you go any further the argument does become religious and intelligent design does have religious implications," added Dr Buggs.

But leading scientists argue that ID is not science because it invokes supernatural causes. "There is just no evidence for intelligent design, it is pure religion and has nothing to do with science. It should be banned from science classes," said Lewis Wolpert, a developmental biologist at the University of London and vice-president of the British Humanist Association.

The DVDs were produced in America and feature figures linked to the Discovery Institute in Seattle, a thinktank that has made concerted efforts to promote ID and insert it into high school science lessons in the US. Last year a judge in Dover, Pennsylvania, ruled that ID could not be taught in science lessons. "Intelligent design is a religious view, a mere relabelling of creationism, and not a scientific theory," he wrote in his judgment.

It is not clear exactly how many schools are using the Truth in Science material, or how it is being used.

The government has made it clear the Truth in Science materials should not be used in science lessons. In a response to the Labour MP Graham Stringer on November 1, Jim Knight, a minister in the Department for Education and Skills, wrote: "Neither intelligent design nor creationism are recognised scientific theories and they are not included in the science curriculum."

Andy McIntosh, a professor of thermodynamics at the University of Leeds who is on the board of Truth in Science, said: "We are just simply a group of people who have put together ... a different case."

    Revealed: rise of creationism in UK schools, G, 27.11.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1957858,00.html

Johnson backtracks in row over faith schools

· Minister will not go to law to enforce 25% quotas
· Religious groups welcome change of heart after talks

Friday October 27, 2006
Guardian
James Meikle, education correspondent

The education secretary, Alan Johnson, backed off from a fight with faith schools last night by saying he would no longer try to force them to accept up to a quarter of their pupils from other faiths or with no religion.

Mr Johnson announced last week that he wanted to give local councils the power to introduce the requirement, provoking an outcry from Roman Catholic and Jewish authorities who feared it would force them to have to turn away members of their own faiths. The Church of England had said it would introduce the move voluntarily, but cautioned against requiring the same of other faiths.

But yesterday, Mr Johnson said a voluntary agreement between the Church of England and the Catholic church had been reached, making the legislation unnecessary. He said he had "made considerable progress" with faith groups and MPs in finding ways to ensure non-believers could be accommodated in new faith schools.

All school governing bodies would have a duty to promote community cohesion and to ensure that the schools inspectorate, Ofsted, could verify that this was happening, he said. Amendments would be made to the education and inspections bill already before parliament.

The education secretary said: "I have listened carefully to colleagues on this issue, and recognise we all share the same goal for a more cohesive society where faith schools play an important part in building understanding and tolerance of other faiths and communities."

The government had exchanged letters with the Catholic church setting out "an agreed way forward" to ensure that the 25% of places in new schools available to those of other or no faiths would be in additional to demand for faith places. "As we now have the support of the two major faith organisations in the country for our proposed way forward, I do not feel the legislative route is necessary," he said.

The U-turn came late in the day. Earlier, Mr Johnson had still been negotiating with the Catholics and promising extra government help to fund enough buildings both to meet Catholic demand and offer further places to non-Catholics.

The CofE accounts for the vast majority of faith schools - one in four primaries and one in 20 secondaries - but there are also 2,000 Catholic state schools. There are 36 Jewish state schools, and fewer than 10 Muslim ones.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham, who chairs the Catholic Education Service and had called the admission proposals "deeply insulting", welcomed Mr Johnson's change of heart. There had been "broad agreement about how future Catholic schools could be planned in ways that ensure that they always meet the needs of Catholic parents. This is of prime importance to Catholics and accepted by the secretary of state. In addition, further places can be planned for wider access to such new schools through consultation."

Catholics had argued that, unlike CofE schools, their schools had been set up specifically to educate members of the faith. Sir Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi, wrote in an article for today's Jewish Chronicle, printed before the U-turn was announced: "When a measure designed to promote social cohesion succeeds in antagonising so many people, something is wrong."

Canon John Hall, the CofE's chief education officer, said: "This will be seen as a watershed moment, when public confidence in faith schools and their role in breaking down walls within communities has been affirmed. We look forward to the further growth of church and other faith schools within the maintained system."

Nick Gibb, the Conservative schools spokesman, said: "It has always been our view that these issues are for schools themselves to decide. It is a matter of social responsibility rather than a matter for central government and legislation."

Sarah Teather, for the Liberal Democrats, said attempts to rush through "half-baked changes were never the right way to deal with the serious issue of faith education in Britain".

Mr Johnson's decision comes as the row over Muslim women covering their faces continues to cause debate over secularism in British society. Writing in today's Times, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, says politicians should not interfere with a Muslim woman's right to wear a veil. "The ideal of a society where no visible public signs of religion would be seen - no crosses round necks, no sidelocks, turbans, or veils - is a politically dangerous one," he writes.

His comments reflect concern within the church that some members of the government want to see Britain move down a more secular path, similar to that in France. "It assumes that what comes first in society is the central political 'licensing authority', which has all the resources it needs to create a workable public morality," he writes.

Then and now

Alan Johnson, October 18

"We must be careful that, rather than driving people into defending their faith, we instead encourage an open celebration of our diversity. Schools should cross ethnic and religious boundaries, and certainly not increase them, or exacerbate the difficulties in this sensitive area."

and on October 26

"I have listened carefully to colleagues on this issue and recognise we all share the same goal for a more cohesive society where faith schools play an important part in building understanding and tolerance of other faiths and communities ... I do not feel the legislative route is necessary."

    Johnson backtracks in row over faith schools, G, 27.10.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/faithschools/story/0,,1932880,00.html

One million pupils receive substandard schooling, say MPs

Sunday October 8, 2006
The Observer
Ned Temko and Denis Campbell

The education of almost one million children is suffering because they attend schools that perform badly, an influential committee of MPs will warn this week.

A hard-hitting report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee will highlight failing secondary schools where only a small percentage of pupils gets five GCSE passes at grades A to C. It will say that 980,000 pupils who go to them do not receive a proper education.

The cross-party group of MPs will tell ministers that once failing schools are identified they need to be helped to return to an acceptable standard more quickly.

The warning comes after one of the government's key advisers on education, Sir Cyril Taylor, claimed yesterday that some secondary schools were doing so badly that they should be 'shut down quickly'.

About 500 of them are seriously underperforming, judged from their exam results, said Taylor, head of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. 'Some are so bad they ought to be shut down quickly, some are struggling and need help'. Others were 'very badly underperforming'.

Taylor calculated that about 80,000 youngsters are at poor schools. His definition of underperformance is places where fewer than 25 per cent of pupils get five good GCSE passes, including English and maths, and fewer than 40 per cent achieve the equivalent of five such passes in any subjects.

The Commons committee is expected to suggest that Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, should visit successful schools less often, and spend more time examining poorer-performing establishments in a bid to drive up standards.

The MPs will also highlight the need for a greater number of dynamic head teachers to be brought in to help turn around the failing establishments.

The Department for Education and Science said that the number of low-attaining schools had been reduced from 616 in 1997, when Labour took power, to about 50 this year, based on provisional information from schools.

Last June, Ofsted said 33 of the 3,800 secondary schools in England were in special measures aimed at restoring them to a normal standard, and another 27 had 'serious weaknesses'. A spokesman said yesterday that a further 85 had been issued with a 'notice to improve'.

Senior figures accused Taylor of 'scaremongering'. Mick Brookes, general secretary of the Association of Head Teachers, said: 'We know we have a problem with what can be described as underachieving schools. If you start saying schools are awful, the public will start to believe it.'

Philip Parkin, general secretary of the Association of Professional Teachers, said Taylor's figures were 'exaggerated'.

    One million pupils receive substandard schooling, say MPs, O, 8.10.2006, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1890382,00.html

Schools poor at teaching citizenship, says Ofsted

Thursday September 28, 2006
Guardian
James Meikle, education correspondent

Schools are failing to ensure their pupils are politically and socially literate despite the government's determination to make citizenship lessons a key weapon in the fight against extremism, the education watchdog Ofsted warns today.

Progress is slow in helping pupils understand issues such as legal and human rights, central and local government, the electoral system and diversity, it says.

The subject has been compulsory in secondary schools in England since 2002 but only a minority of schools have embraced the subject with enthusiasm, while a quarter of schools inspected in the past year were judged "inadequate" for the quality of their lessons in citizenship.

The verdict comes as ministers step up the debate about Britishness and the rights and responsibilities of individuals and governments.

Ofsted says things are improving despite wide variations. In many schools there is "insufficient reference to local, national or international issues of the day and how politicians deal with them".

Ofsted's report says citizenship is usually taught best in its own right, rather than as part of a personal, social and health education programme (PHSE) or in a cross-curricular fashion with elements included in subjects like history, geography or English. A review of the 11-14 curriculum is already under way and inspectors make clear more room will have to be found for citizenship.

Miriam Rosen, Ofsted's director of education, said last night: "Citizenship is still seen as the poor relation of more established subjects but it requires teachers to be highly skilled and able to deal with contentious and sometimes difficult issues."

Most teachers are non-specialists. They are unclear about the standards they should expect from pupils, although this is changing. Dull or irrelevant teaching can be counter-productive, warn inspectors.

Standards are generally better in pupils' discussion than in written work, except on short GCSE courses. Ofsted recommends plans for full GCSEs and post-16 courses are implemented as soon as possible.

It rebukes schools that claim aspects of PSHE on family disputes or about bullying in drama are part of citizenship. PHSE, it argues, is about the private, individual dimension, including sex and relationships, drug education and careers guidance, while citizenship is educating children about public institutions, power, politics and community and "equipping them to engage effectively as informed citizens".

Pupils aged 11-14 should get about 45 minutes a week, say the inspectors, and "the past four years have shown that where this time is found in bits and pieces, there is little impact".

But the Department for Education and Skills says citizenship is still a relatively new subject and it is confident it will continue to improve.

    Schools poor at teaching citizenship, says Ofsted, G, 28.9.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1882539,00.html

India's e-tutors give UK children homework help

Call centres charge £50 a month for unlimited individual help to pupils thousands of miles away

Sunday September 17, 2006
Amelia Gentleman, New Delhi
The Observer

When Kelsey Baird began worrying about the complexity of AS-level biology she got a tutor from India. It is more than 4,000 miles from her boarding school in Fife to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, but a new e-tutoring system makes the distance irrelevant.

Across India, hundreds of teachers have been recruited to feed a growing demand for online tutors. With maths and science teaching in Britain and the US in crisis, new Indian education companies are rushing to fill the gaps.

Working late into the night to bridge the time difference - India is four and a half hours ahead of the UK - the e-tutors give individual help. Some work in mini-call centres, fielding appeals for help from children struggling with trigonometry homework. Others sit by computers at home, soothingly guiding pupils on the other side of the world through the technicalities of algebra.

A handful of entrepreneurs has spotted the lucrative possibilities of converting this expertise into services to the West. Online education is providing a wave of new business.

Krishnan Ganesh sold his call centre company to set up Tutorvista, which launched cheap online tuition services in the UK last month.

'Education is a major preoccupation [in Britain]. There isn't the money to pay for enough teachers in schools and it's almost impossible for children to get personalised attention,' he said. 'Tony Blair might be able to afford private tuition for his children, but most people can't.'

His company offers students unlimited help for £50 a month. 'If they want to get into Oxford, get a place at a private school, catch up when they're behind, or just improve their marks, what they need is individual help,' Ganesh said.

Classes are conducted via a whiteboard that allows tutor and pupil to watch each other draw symbols and go through equations together on the net, using a mouse instead of chalk. 'You form a rapport with the whole family. Quite often the parents will be sitting by the computer trying to learn elementary algebra alongside their children,' said Anirudh Phadke, general manager of e-tutoring at Career Launcher, a company offering tuition for the US curriculum.

India's educational standards vary hugely but there is some fine teaching of maths and science, with a traditional and rigorous approach. 'The real advantage is that Indian teachers are cheaper,' said Shantanu Prakash, managing director of Educomp, which teaches internet maths to American pupils.

India's new online teachers have not been impressed by the standards achieved by British children. 'They are not really academically fully skilled,' said Rita Sampson, a former college principal, now teaching English language online from her Bangalore home. 'There seems to have been a deterioration in standards. Retention in Indian students is much better.'

Like their call-centre colleagues, the teachers go through intensive training to neutralise the way they speak English and have lessons in British culture.

'Most of the students don't even know that they are being taught by someone in India. We don't give ourselves Western names, although we are trained in US accents. Quite often when we tell students in the US that we are from India, they think we mean Indiana. Their geography is not strong,' Phadke said.

A glossary of UK slang has been compiled to help tutors navigate the peculiarities of teenage vernacular - explaining expressions such as 'bunking off', 'dodgy' and (perhaps less helpfully) 'blimey'.

The Indian co-founders of heymaths.com/net have developed a comprehensive online tuition system designed to make learning maths more enjoyable and offer help to schools.

'Maths teachers are retiring and not enough good teachers are coming into the system,' Nirmala Sankaran, Heymaths co-founder, said. 'This is increasingly a global problem. But Ganesh stresses that this is not an issue of removing jobs from the West.

'We are trying to make UK students more academically qualified, do better, graduate better, so that their jobs are not taken away from them and outsourced to India,' he said.

For Kelsey Baird, this is not just a way of paying someone else to do her homework. 'It's about having extra help with understanding things. I knew I would find it hard in my final year. It was kind of weird to begin with, looking at the screen and talking into the computer, but actually it's been pretty good.'

    India's e-tutors give UK children homework help, O, 17.9.2006, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1874192,00.html

Blow for literacy drive as English standard at 14 falls

· Only 72% of age group reach level five
· Boys lag behind girls in reading and writing

Thursday September 14, 2006
Guardian
James Meikle, education correspondent

Children aged 14 are not reading and writing as well as they should and more than four in 10 boys are failing to achieve the standard for the age group, test results showed yesterday. The findings raise concerns that the government's literacy drive has stalled as the key stage three results show teenagers' command of English is slipping, with boys lagging well behind the girls.

A third of children are not reading as well as they should, according to the tests. The verdict on writing is slightly better with more than three-quarters of pupils achieving at least level five, though here too there is a big gender gap.

The latest key stage three results show just 72% of pupils achieved the standard in English - down 2% on 2005 - suggesting schools will fall well short of the 85% target for pupils next year.

The findings showed among the 72% of pupils reaching level five or above in English, 80% of the girls successful, and 65% of the boys gained the level. In reading, only 66% of 14-year-olds reached the level (74% for girls and 59% for boys), while for writing the figures were 83% and 69%.

The differences persisted in brighter pupils at level six or above where 42% of girls and 27% of boys accounted for an overall 34% achievement rate in English. For reading 32% reached level six (40% for girls and 25% for boys). For writing, 37% of pupils got level six or above (44% of girls and 30% of boys).

The fall in standards follows warnings from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development that Britain could soon face a serious skills shortage among school-leavers, a development that in turn could throttle higher education expansion and economic growth, as too many 16- and 17-year-olds dropped out of education.

Conservatives and Liberal Democrats called the results "unacceptable". The government admitted concern and yesterday promised to redouble its efforts to reverse the slide. It made much of its drive, in the first years in office, to improve basic skills, including its introduction of the literacy hour in primary schools.

This term, however, it has had to shake up reading tuition methods for the youngest pupils, with the introduction of synthetic phonics. A review of the 11-14 curriculum is promised for the new year.

Ministers yesterday took comfort in the more promising results for maths, the subject having a 77% pass rate, and for science, with the pass level being 72%. They said even English results were well up on the 57% of 14-year-olds achieving level five in 1997 when Labour came to power.

Nick Gibb, the Tory schools spokesman, said level five was "an absolute minimum standard" that all children needed if they were "to benefit from secondary education and ... survive in the increasingly competitive job market in later life". The reading figures showed it was essential the government provided the necessary training and funding for phonics teaching.

Sarah Teather, for the Liberal Democrats, said: "That so many boys reach their teens with such poor language skills is utterly depressing." She attacked the government's "overly prescriptive national curriculum and obsession with testing" which, she said, was not bringing results.

Teachers also had to have more "one-on-one" time with pupils who were struggling at school.

Jim Knight, the schools minister, said: "We cannot afford to be complacent and [we] need to redouble our efforts - to reverse this - next year. That's why we have taken strong steps to ensure standards rise, including almost £1bn extra for personalised learning to stretch the brightest and help the less able, making phonics the prime approach to boost reading at primary school, and improving the key stage three curriculum."

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers said: "It is pointless anyone getting excited over the test results." The association said that it was "only natural" for results to fluctuate year to year because of the different abilities of intakes, and the gender gap was wide only in English.

    Blow for literacy drive as English standard at 14 falls, G, 14.9.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1871806,00.html

University catches 237 student cheats who trawl the internet

Sunday September 10, 2006
The Observer
Rob Davies

One of Britain's newest universities has found more than 200 students guilty of cheating after it launched a crackdown on what university officials admit is one of the biggest problems they face.

Using a computer program to catch students trying to pass off others' work as their own - often simply 'cut-and-pasted' from the internet - Coventry University discovered that 237 students had broken the rules. As a result, seven were expelled from the university, while another 12 cases are pending.

These figures contrast starkly with numbers of cheats uncovered at other universities. Nottingham University disciplined 53 students for cheating and expelled just one, while Oxford, Durham, Edinburgh, Warwick and Newcastle did not uncover any cases serious enough to warrant expulsion.

'We decided we had to tackle the issue head-on to prevent students from assuming they would get away with it,' said Professor Donald Pennington, Coventry's vice-chancellor. 'We're not happy to have caught nearly 240 people cheating, but we're pleased to be so active in trying to stamp this problem out. It was a conscious decision to make it a high-profile issue.'

Like most British universities, Coventry uses a program called Turnitin to check students' submissions against a database of academic texts and other students' work to detect similarities. However, only Coventry has used the software with such success. Surveys suggest at least one in 10 students has browsed the internet for model essays, and this pushed Coventry to take a strict new approach. 'Three to four years ago we noticed a general increase in instances of cheating or plagiarism at both undergraduate and postgraduate level,' said Pennington. Now senior academics are calling on other centres of higher education to follow Coventry's lead and crack down on cheats.

'The first problem is the advent of the internet, which has led to a real temptation for students to concoct essays quickly by just cutting and pasting everything together,' said Professor Andrew Hamnett, vice-chancellor of Strathclyde University, who is to chair a conference on plagiarism next week.

'The second problem is that students are confused about what constitutes plagiarism. There is a grey area between using a reference and direct copying some students don't fully understand.'

The problem has not been helped by a growing number of internet-based companies who will write coursework for a fee. 'There was a time-lag in the late Nineties during which some students might have been getting away with it,' added Hamnett. 'But these days it would have to be a very innocent lecturer who doesn't wonder when a student who isn't the sharpest tool in the box turns in a high-quality essay. We have to beat into students the message that it isn't just a laugh, it's a dishonest act which could ruin their career. Most tutors would rather a student just admitted they hadn't managed to do the work.'

    University catches 237 student cheats who trawl the internet, O, 10.9.2006, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1869012,00.html

Black teachers face bullying and racism, survey finds

Friday September 8, 2006
Guardian
Hugh Muir

Ministers are facing calls for a public inquiry into racism in schools after claims from black teachers that they face widespread discrimination and bullying.

A landmark report will call for a formal investigation - akin to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry into policing - to address concerns that black teachers are isolated, maligned and robbed of proper pay and status. The study, commissioned by Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, links the plight of black teachers to the continuing problem of underachievement among black pupils.

Even many black headteachers feel unsupported and marginalised, it says. Though many praised the help they receive from white colleagues and mentors, others told researchers their colleagues had lower expectations of black pupils.

They nevertheless felt obliged in many cases to endure unfair treatment. Those who quit schools or the profession carried a "burden of guilt that they had somehow 'let black kids down'."

Black staff account for 1.5% of teachers in England and 7% in London. While 45% have qualified teacher status, only 4% become headteachers or deputy heads.

The report, compiled by researchers at London Metropolitan University, says: "Racism has a major impact on the everyday experiences of black teachers. To encourage more black people to become teachers, racism in schools must be challenged." One of the 60 teachers involved in focus group interviews reported feeling worn down by circumstances. "When you think of a black teacher with high blood pressure; that's normal now. We're stressed out of our minds. All of this you have to endure each day."

Mr Livingstone says more has to be done to make schools better for aspiring black teachers. "It cannot be right that in some of our boroughs 48 to 50% of the pupils are black yet only 16 to 18% of the teachers that teach them are of similar heritage."

The report, to be unveiled at tomorrow's London Schools and the Black Child conference, claims the recruitment of black teachers is an uphill struggle. One head told researchers of "times when I have been trying to recruit black staff and you have the entire governing body almost looking in your face and saying 'not in our school'. Even when they are the best candidate!"

Last year, 41.7% of black Caribbean students and 48.3 % of black African students gained five or more GCSE passes at grade A to C, reflecting continuing improvement since 1993 but still below the national average of 62.4%.

Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, who convened the conference, said: "This report reveals the depth of the institutional racism that teachers face. It is an important issue because good black teachers have a vital role to play in raising educational achievement."

    Black teachers face bullying and racism, survey finds, G, 8.9.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/raceinschools/story/0,,1867528,00.html

Muslim girls surge ahead at school but held back at work

Thursday September 7, 2006
Guardian
John Carvel, social affairs editor


Muslim girls are forging ahead at school but hit a brick wall of discrimination when they enter the workplace, the Equal Opportunities Commission says today in a report on its two-year investigation of the experiences of women from ethnic minority communities across Britain.

It found that girls of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin - 90% of whom are Muslim - have overtaken white boys in performance at GCSE, with a higher proportion achieving five good passes at grade C or above. Despite lower family incomes they are also rapidly catching up with white girls.

Black girls of African-Caribbean origin are not far behind and already outperform boys from their own ethnic group. The EOC said girls at 16 from all the minority communities have higher aspirations than their white contemporaries to progress to skilled jobs requiring degrees or long periods of training. Nearly 90% want to work full-time after leaving education, balancing employment with having a family.

But their ambitions are thwarted when they enter the labour market. They get lower pay and fewer opportunities to reach managerial positions.

One in six young Pakistani women is often asked at job interviews about plans for marriage and children, or the attitude of a husband or partner towards her going to work. One in eight young Bangladeshi and black African-Caribbean women face similar questions about their private lives, compared with one in 17 white women.

An EOC survey of 1,000 employers in areas of above-average black and Asian populations found more than 90% said there was a strong business case for employing black and Asian women. But more than 30% employed none and nearly 60% did not employ enough to reflect the area's ethnic profile.

Jenny Watson, the EOC's chairwoman, said: "The good news is that the next generation of ... black and Asian women have a lot to contribute to their families and to our economy. The bad news is that not enough employers are tapping into this pool of talent ... It's not only employers who miss out. We all do when young women's ambitions are dashed and we fail to build cohesive communities."

    Muslim girls surge ahead at school but held back at work, G, 7.9.2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,,1866407,00.html

Academies fail to improve results, study says

· Number of pupils getting five GCSEs rises only 0.2%
· Government insists schools are successful

Monday May 22, 2006
Guardian
Matthew Taylor, education correspondent

Schools in the government's £5bn academy programme, which aims to create 200 privately run state secondaries by 2010, have failed to improve results compared with the comprehensives they replaced, according to a report.

The study, by a senior academic at Edinburgh University, found the number of pupils getting five GCSE A*-C grades including English and maths has increased by 0.2% - equivalent to three pupils - across the first 11 academies.

Ministers have repeatedly defended the controversial programme, claiming that the schools have brought about a dramatic improvement in academic standards, particularly the number of children getting five or more good GCSEs.

But last night union leaders and opposition MPs said the government had misled the public. Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman, said: "This research pulls the rug out from under ministers who have made extravagant claims about the results academies are delivering. The truth is that their performance is much less impressive than the government has spun. Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money is being poured into an unproven scheme."

The government said that according to its figures, the number of youngsters reaching the benchmark five good GCSEs including English and maths at the first 11 academies had increased by just over 1%.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills added that the academies' GCSE results were "outstripping" those of their predecessor schools, adding that if English and maths were not included there had been an 8 percentage point rise in those getting five good GCSEs. "This is the true measure of academies' success and the fact they are transforming lives for the better - that's why they're popular and oversubscribed."

But last night the report's author, Terry Wrigley, a senior lecturer at Edinburgh University and editor of the education journal Improving Schools, said that some academies were diverting children away from GCSEs to boost their standing in school league tables. The study found that many children had been switched from taking separate subjects at GCSE to the vocational GNVQ qualification, which counts as four GCSEs in government tables.

"There seems to be something important going on here," he said. "Of course we should value vocational as well as academic learning, but false equivalents simply let down the most vulnerable young people. It may be in the school's short term interests, and the government's, to improve exam statistics in this way. However, as soon as an individual applies for a job or university place, they will face problems. How many employers regard a GNVQ in computing plus a C in art as equal to five good GCSEs in different subjects, especially if you include English and maths?"

According to Mr Wrigley the proportion of children taking GNVQ qualification has risen from 13% at the predecessor schools to around 52% at the academies.

He said the findings would raise concerns about the government's plans for a new generation of trust schools - based on the academy model. "There are variations between academies; some are doing well and some have worse results than the schools they closed down," he said. "So why is so much success being attributed to business sponsorship? This is poor evidence on which to base the entire government strategy of academies and trust schools. Government thinking appears to be based more on faith in business sponsors and privatisation than any educational evidence."

But a spokesman for the education department insisted the schools were reversing decades of educational failure in some of the country's most deprived areas, adding that GNVQs allowed less academic children to leave school with a recognised qualification.

He said the schools were improving standards in English and maths for 14-year-olds, and that would feed through to GCSE scores in the future.

"A more reliable guide to their success in improving English and maths at GCSE in future is that there has been a 9.4 percentage point improvement rate for English and a 12.9 percentage point improvement rate for maths in tests for 14-year-olds. Achieving the required level at these key stage 3 tests is an important indicator of future success at GCSE."

At a glance

There are 27 academy schools open and ministers hope that will rise to 200 by 2010. The schools cannot charge fees but they stand apart from the state system. Individual sponsors have a large degree of control, appointing managers and deciding the schools' ethos and curriculum.

Sponsors were initially required to pay 20% of the school's capital costs, but that changed to £2m, or less than 5%. The remaining capital costs (around £25m a school) are met by the taxpayer, along with subsequent running costs. So far few sponsors have handed over the full amount.

The government says academic standards are rising more quickly at academies than at the schools they replaced or at other comprehensive schools. Many of the schools have had good Ofsted reports.

    Academies fail to improve results, study says, G, 22.5.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/newschools/story/0,,1780247,00.html

Teachers' leader attacks 'absurdity' of school sponsorship plans

· Warning that businesses may hijack curriculum
· Former academies adviser denies honours claims

Wednesday April 19, 2006
Guardian
Rebecca Smithers, education editor


Food and drink manufacturers banned by the government from selling fizzy drinks and sweets in school vending machines could "return through the back door" as sponsors of the government's new trust schools, the leader of the largest classroom teachers union warned yesterday.

Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, also condemned the "scandal" of the school curriculum being hijacked by wealthy business figures - including fundamental Christians - seeking to impose their "narrow and prejudiced views" on children.

His intervention came as Des Smith, the headteacher implicated in the cash-for-peerages row, said he "vigorously denies" allegations about how he secured the backing of millionaire sponsors for the government's £5bn city academy programme.

Mr Smith, a former adviser to the government's specialist schools and academies trust, was arrested last week and released on bail after newspaper allegations that he promised potential backers they could win peerages or knighthoods if they pledged cash - £2m a school - to the programme.

Yesterday his solicitors said they had advised him that "it would be quite inappropriate for him to make any statement at the present time other than to state he categorically denies the allegations and will be contesting them vigorously".

In a speech at the close of the NUT's five-day annual conference in Torquay, the union's leader was critical of many aspects of government education policy, although he praised Gordon Brown for his budget boost for schools.

To huge applause from the 1,000-plus delegates, Mr Sinnott said the government must focus on abolishing all forms of selection in schools. He said the private sector could not be trusted to run schools of any kind.

He went on: "The prime minister's vision is one of trusts; of boutiques of schools, ever changing in size, shape and identity. It involves outside companies dipping in and maybe out of the governance of schools."

Mr Sinnott said the NUT would continue to campaign for further changes to the education bill, which sets out proposals for new self-governing trust schools - which could be run by sponsors ranging from businesses to faith groups - alongside semi-independent city academies.

Condemning the "absurdity" of the plans, Mr Sinnott said the government had banned companies from selling their products in school vending machines, but would take their cash and involvement as sponsors: "Banned from selling fizzy drinks and sweets in vending machines, fast food companies might return through the back door as trust sponsors and governors. Perhaps they'll want to alter the science curriculum, or the design and technology curriculum, to highlight the science of food processing and marketing."

Earlier, the conference failed to back calls for an end to state funding for new faith schools, instead supporting the more moderate warning of the union's ruling national executive that " the government's policy of increasing numbers of faith schools could hinder integration".

    Teachers' leader attacks 'absurdity' of school sponsorship plans, G, 19.4.2006, http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1756480,00.html