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Daily News Summary
13 November 2020

Exams 2021: Labour suggests grading needs a 'regional dimension' next year
Coronavirus: Investigation reveals scale of COVID impact on schools this term
Government to include “post-qualifications applications” in university admissions reform proposals
Independent school set to launch free arts event for all schoolchildren
Universities warned of threat to higher education from hostile states

Exams 2021: Labour suggests grading needs a 'regional dimension' next year

 

Shadow education secretary Kate Green has told Tes she believes “there needs to be some sort of regional dimension to the way that the results are norm-referenced” for next year’s exams. By Dave Speck.

Schools Week reports Hamid Patel, the chief executive of Star Academies, has also suggested Ofqual needs to take geographical differences into account when awarding grades next year. By John Dickens.

Matthew Shoults, headmaster of Notting Hill and Ealing High School, writes in The Telegraph warning that GCSE students will be adversely affected if exams are taken away from them next year.

Qualifications Wales, the country's exams watchdog, has raised concerns about the practicalities of the Welsh Government's proposals for next year's exams. BBC News.

 

Coronavirus: Investigation reveals scale of COVID impact on schools this term

 

A Tes investigation of 62 councils has found at least one in three schools have had staff or pupils test positive for coronavirus since the start of term. By John Roberts and Amy Gibbons. Tes has also published the full list of figures detailing COVID cases in schools this term by local area.

Schools Week reports on the schools piloting rapid COVID-19 antigen tests, whose headteachers have described them as a “game-changer” to keep pupils in the classroom. By Freddie Whittaker.

According to the Association of Colleges, approximately 100,000 students do not have a suitable digital device to use for their studies or to access the internet. By Kate Parker, Tes.

A report from the House of Lords Public Services Committee has revealed only one in 10 vulnerable children attended school or early years education during the coronavirus lockdown. By Paul Gallagher, iNews.

 

Government to include “post-qualifications applications” in university admissions reform proposals

 

The Telegraph reports the Government is expected to propose a number of options for reforming university admissions, which could result in students receiving offers after A-level result day. By Camilla Turner.

 
The Telegraph

Independent school set to launch free arts event for all schoolchildren

 

King Edward VI High School For Girls is preparing to launch 'TuneUp Tuesday' on 24 November, which aims to enable schoolchildren across the UK to celebrate the positive impact the arts can have on young people’s mental health and wellbeing. By Jo Golding, Independent Education Today.

 
IE Today

Universities warned of threat to higher education from hostile states

 

Anthony Finkelstein, the Government’s chief scientific adviser for national security, has urged universities to do more to safeguard academic freedoms in response to the growing threat posed by hostile states. By Charlie Parker, The Times.

 
The Times

 

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