Figures released today by Statistics Wales show an increase in the number of 16-18 year olds taking advantage of the Education Maintenance Allowance and a 2% increase in the number of 15 year olds reaching the Level 2 threshold (effectively a pass in a pre-16 qualification).
The EMA figures showed a 2% increase in the number of applicants for the past year, up to 33,290, with 94% being approved. Nearly half of the applicants were from 16 year olds
82% of the applications were from teenagers from families with a household income of less than £20,810pa and received the full £30pw EMA.
There was an increase of 10%, to 12,020 students, of a retention bonus for students continuing their studies.
Provisional examination results for Wales show a small increase in results for students who were 15 at the start of the year, with 56% achieving five or more grade A*-Cs or their vocational equivalent, up from 54.2% last year, and now the highest since the records began, with 40.8% gaining a C or above in the 'core' subjects of English or Welsh L1, maths and science.
94.0% of those who were 17 at the start of the year achieved the equivalent of 2 A-levels (in whatever form), effectively the same result as last year.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Welsh education 'must do better'
As education is one of the portfolios devolved to Cardiff, it isn't an issue with which I deal on a daily basis - meaning that often my major interaction with the Welsh education system is Thursday's Education supplement in the Western Mail (Thursday's not just for the jobs section, you know!).
Today's section was more interesting than usual, coinciding with the start of the new school year. Jane Hutt's regular column focused on the development of the Foundation Phase of school, an excellent idea, but I hope that teaching unions' concerns about funding are unfounded, while, elsewhere, Fforwm, the group that represents Futher Education providers, laid out their funding needs for the coming years, although I must admit to being a little concerned at the £200m capital infrastructure investment apparently needed, of which they are currently asking for £50m.
The most interesting article, though, was a rather damning piece by Exeter University's David Reynolds, focusing on a comparative decline in GCSE passes against England. Reynolds blames this on the need for different priorities in Wales compared to England, which did not need to undertake the administrative re-organisation or consider the needs for Welsh language teaching, noting that education spending since the Assembly's inception rose by less than other major departments. He also suggests that the Welsh education system has been less able to innovate and expresses concern about the ability of Local Education Authorities to adequately supply the education needed.
Bizarrely, though, these very valid concerns and criticisms are then held up as being a possible failure of devolution. Like any institution it is the policy's undertaken that have most impact, not the powers available. Different policies would have produced different results. Rather than suggesting that it is the failure of the institution, Reynolds should be holding to account the people in power during this period - and that was the Labour Party.
Today's section was more interesting than usual, coinciding with the start of the new school year. Jane Hutt's regular column focused on the development of the Foundation Phase of school, an excellent idea, but I hope that teaching unions' concerns about funding are unfounded, while, elsewhere, Fforwm, the group that represents Futher Education providers, laid out their funding needs for the coming years, although I must admit to being a little concerned at the £200m capital infrastructure investment apparently needed, of which they are currently asking for £50m.
The most interesting article, though, was a rather damning piece by Exeter University's David Reynolds, focusing on a comparative decline in GCSE passes against England. Reynolds blames this on the need for different priorities in Wales compared to England, which did not need to undertake the administrative re-organisation or consider the needs for Welsh language teaching, noting that education spending since the Assembly's inception rose by less than other major departments. He also suggests that the Welsh education system has been less able to innovate and expresses concern about the ability of Local Education Authorities to adequately supply the education needed.
Bizarrely, though, these very valid concerns and criticisms are then held up as being a possible failure of devolution. Like any institution it is the policy's undertaken that have most impact, not the powers available. Different policies would have produced different results. Rather than suggesting that it is the failure of the institution, Reynolds should be holding to account the people in power during this period - and that was the Labour Party.
Teachers' Assessments of 14 year olds
With Wales eschewing the Standard Attainment Test system used in England to examine the progress of 14 year olds, teachers' assessments of the standard reached are used to measure progress.
This year's findings regarding progress in non-core subjects, reported today, show the highest ever percentage of pupils attaining level 5 (the expected level) in all subjects except for music and art, although art was an increase on last year's results.
Sadly, achievement in modern foreign languages and Welsh as a second language were significantly below achievements in other subjects (art, design & technology, music, physical education, geography, information technology and history), rating at 61% and 54% at level 5, compared to between 70 and 75% 'pass' for the remaining subjects.
The concerning element, though, is the wide variation that exists between male and female achievement in almost all subjects, physical education being the obvious exception to this rule. Masked by relatively high results for the majority of subjects, this is very clear in both modern foreign languages, where 53% of boys attain the required level, and even more so with regards to Welsh as a second language, where just 44% of boys reach level 5, much weaker than their performances in other subjects.
Similar variation exists, especially in Welsh, between different locations. Surprisingly given the possibility of hearing and using Welsh to a greater extent in the community, the 'pass' rate for pupils in Welsh speaking areas is often less than in more Anglicised areas. Hopefully, this isn't a reflection of different norms being used across Wales to establish the criterion.
The silver lining to this is that this is part of a continuing rise in the figures, one that I hope shows genuine increase in standards - something we'll discover in two years time when this cohort reaches its GCSE year.
This year's findings regarding progress in non-core subjects, reported today, show the highest ever percentage of pupils attaining level 5 (the expected level) in all subjects except for music and art, although art was an increase on last year's results.
Sadly, achievement in modern foreign languages and Welsh as a second language were significantly below achievements in other subjects (art, design & technology, music, physical education, geography, information technology and history), rating at 61% and 54% at level 5, compared to between 70 and 75% 'pass' for the remaining subjects.
The concerning element, though, is the wide variation that exists between male and female achievement in almost all subjects, physical education being the obvious exception to this rule. Masked by relatively high results for the majority of subjects, this is very clear in both modern foreign languages, where 53% of boys attain the required level, and even more so with regards to Welsh as a second language, where just 44% of boys reach level 5, much weaker than their performances in other subjects.
Similar variation exists, especially in Welsh, between different locations. Surprisingly given the possibility of hearing and using Welsh to a greater extent in the community, the 'pass' rate for pupils in Welsh speaking areas is often less than in more Anglicised areas. Hopefully, this isn't a reflection of different norms being used across Wales to establish the criterion.
The silver lining to this is that this is part of a continuing rise in the figures, one that I hope shows genuine increase in standards - something we'll discover in two years time when this cohort reaches its GCSE year.
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