Dear All

The start of another school year-they come around far too quickly! We hope the Newsletter finds you all keeping well…

Latest articles from UK Education Guide

We are delighted to say we have too many new published articles to feature in the Newsletter this time around but they are all kept here and you can access them at any time.

A summary of some of our most recent published pieces:

Announcing the launch of our forum - working with Russell Group University partners to make sure international pupils already studying in the UK get the same access to UK Universities as domestic students to help them make better informed higher education decisions.

The importance of guardians - why is the role of the Guardian so important? How has the pandemic highlighted this vital role Guardians play in the lives of international pupils and their families.

The changing role of the education agent - How has the pandemic changed the role for ever?

Why honesty (about your child and their needs) is vital to make a successful school placement - not clearly explaining your child’s personal and academic needs can result in unhappy children in inappropriate schools.

Do school rankings really matter? - Overall we would say not, but explore the pros and cons in this article.

Citizenship Award

We are delighted to announce another worthy winner of our autumn award

Mia Goddard from Cardiff Sixth Form College has had a weekend job working at Cardiff market for many years. Whilst working on the market stall she has met a lot of people from Cardiff who are from very poor or underprivileged backgrounds, many of whom have significant family and mental health issues. Building these relationships made Mia realise that there were people in her community she wanted to help.

So, Mia focused hard on her studies and now has a place to study medicine at Cardiff University, having achieved 4 A*’s in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and EPQ.  It was important to her to stay near her home as she wants to continue to help those in her local community...

Gareth Collier, Principal of Cardiff Sixth Form College: “Mia has been a real leader at Cardiff Sixth Form College and has worked as part of a team encouraging others all the way through school and during the pandemic.  She works tremendously hard and has made a real success of her life but she also has real empathy for others.  She will make an outstanding doctor.”

International Education Round-up

China and Japan to keep borders shut for another term

From Times Higher Education: “International students have been left hanging once again as summer vacations end and yet another new term starts in China and Japan without them. The students – many of whom come from the Global South – had high hopes for a return in September, as vaccination levels have risen globally. However, there is still no news from the two Asian giants, which had collectively enrolled 800,000 international students in 2019 but have mostly kept borders closed since early 2020. In China, the academic year will begin in September without most foreign students, many of whom recently received notices from universities asking them to defer another year.”
View the full article from Times Higher Education. [Subscription required]

Online tutoring in China was booming. Then came a dramatic shift in regulations.

From Ed Surge: “China’s ballooning edtech market is suddenly deflating thanks to new government restrictions on lucrative private tutoring companies that serve millions of the country’s children. … The new rules restrict both tutoring services and the profits they generate. They limit online lessons to 30-minute sessions; impose a tutoring curfew of 9 p.m; and prohibit instruction during weekends, holidays and school breaks. Companies that offer private instruction in core subjects will have to register as nonprofits and will no longer be able to raise investment capital through IPOs or advertise their programs. ... the new government rules prohibit ‘overseas education courses’ and also ban hiring foreign teachers who live overseas.”
View the full article from Ed Surge

Elite UK universities take lion’s share of bump in recruitment

From Times Higher Education: “The UK’s most selective universities boasted record intakes as A-level results were released, with students on oversubscribed medical courses being offered £10,000 to switch institutions. Overall a record 435,430 students were placed on UK degree courses on results day, up 5 per cent on 2020. With 44.8 per cent of all A levels being awarded at A* or A in a second year of rapid grade inflation because of the use of teacher-assessed scores instead of examinations, data released by Ucas showed that the most selective institutions had taken the lion’s share of increased recruitment at this stage.”
View the full article from Times Higher Education [Subscription required]

China applicants replace EU students at U.K. universities after Brexit>

From Bloomberg: “Chinese applications to U.K. universities now outstrip the total number of would-be students from the European Union, highlighting the impact of Brexit and the sector’s growing reliance on China even as relations cool between London and Beijing. Applicants from the EU dropped by 43% to 28,400, according to data from the U.K. university admissions service UCAS. That compares with 28,490 applications from China, a number that has more than doubled since 2017.”
View the full article from Bloomberg

Long hard yards ahead for Australia’s university sector

From The PIE: “The university sector in Australia might take several years to bounce back from the hard hit it has taken since the start of Covid-19 pandemic, early last year, the minister for education has said. While speaking at the Australian Financial Review’s Higher Education Summit 2021, Australia’s minister for education, Alan Tudge, said “even if international students roared back in 2022, the impact of the massive decline in commencing students (36.5% since June 2019) will still be felt for several years.”
View the full article from The PIE

Nadhim Zahawi announced as (new) education secretary

Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed the new education secretary for England - replacing Gavin Williamson in the Cabinet reshuffle.

Mr Zahawi leaves his previous post as the minister responsible for the Covid vaccines roll-out.The departing education secretary had faced much criticism over his handling of schools during the pandemic."We can't pretend we are sorry that Gavin Williamson has gone," said teachers' union leader Kevin Courtney.

Mr Zahawi, who has previously been a junior education minister, was born in Iraq. His family moved to the UK in 1976 when he was aged nine, attending independent schools in London and then studying chemical engineering at University College London.

View the Full article on the BBC website

Pat & the whole UKEducationGuide team