First among equals

The BBC reports today that first class degrees are soaring.  What are employers to make of this?  Does it mean there are more top class graduates than ever?   More committed students?  Better teaching?  Easier assessments?  More teaching to the test?  Dumbing down?  Any, all, or more.  Expect the usual comments, debate and lack of …

Autumn Statement 2013

Good news if you want to employ a youngster, go to university, rent a shop or use a lot of fuel. The Autumn Statement predicts increased growth, up to 1.4% from 0.6% for 2013, and the total in employment by 2018 of 31.2 million.  In other words, about half the population. Fuel duty is to …

If you live in the countryside, don’t go to school there

Defra has published its latest update to its Statistical Digest of Rural England 2013 today.  The education section has been updated this time.  Key conclusions to emerge seem to be: If you live in the countryside you're as likely as anybody else to get 5 or more GCSE's at Grades A* to C (equivalent to …

Dissertation Time

Term starts at Harper Adams and the final year REALM (Rural Enterprise and Land Management) students have just returned from their placement years.  It's always good to see them back from placement: confident after their year's experience, appetites for learning refreshed and the maturity that comes from direct professional experience. One of the early tasks …

#AS2011: Rural aspects of the Government’s Autumn Statement on the economy

The price of energy and agricultural commodities featured early in George Osborne's Autumn Statement to Parliament today.  They share the blame for the UK's economic slowdown in the last 18 months. But these were not the only rural interests in the Autumn Statement.  Some detailed proposals which did not command the headlines include: Rural Broadband: …