Research Briefing
As part of the Government’s programme of public bodies’ reform, which affects all Government departments, the Department for Education has abolished a number of school related quangos. Four new Executive Agencies within the Department for Education have been established and have taken on some of the responsibilities of those NDPBs
Research Briefing
This note summarises the Lords amendments to the Protection of Freedoms Bill, which are due to be considered by the Commons on 19 March 2012.
Research Briefing
Under the last Government the first academy was set up in 2002. Their number increased steadily over the following few years and reached more than 100 by the end of 2008. The rate of growth was even faster in the following two years. At the start of February 2012 their number stood at 337; 329 secondaries and 8 recently opened primary schools.
Research Briefing
The Government has raised the cap on tuition fees to £9,000, cut most ongoing direct public funding for tuition and will change various loan repayment terms. The proposed new system will apply to new students in England from 2012/13. The first indication is that net average fees will be around £8,070 in 2012/13. The Higher Education White Paper has set out broad proposals for further reform of the sector.
Research Briefing
The House of Commons will consider Lords’ Amendments to the Education Bill on 14 November 2011. This Library Standard Note highlights some of the main Lords’ Amendments on school-related matters.
Research Briefing
This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Education Bill. It complements Research Paper 11/14, prepared for the Commons Second Reading debate, which examines the range of matters covered by the Bill. As originally presented, the Bill sought to make provision relating to the National Assembly for Wales’ framework powers. However, these clauses were removed from the Bill following the ‘yes’ vote in the Welsh Devolution Referendum. A Government amendment to clause 13 (reporting restrictions on alleged offences by teachers) was agreed to without a vote. This inserted new schedule 11B into the Education Act 2002, and was introduced to secure compliance with a European Electronic Commerce Directive. Several minor and technical Government amendments were also made to the Bill. The Opposition tabled many amendments, a considerable number of which were pressed to a division, but none was successful.
Research Briefing
The purpose of this note is to outline the current debate on funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and to summarise changes in policy in this area. ESOL funding has been subject to a series of changes since 2007 when automatic fee remission was removed. This note provides background on these changes, comments on the relevance of proposed changes with regard to the ongoing debate on social cohesion and integration and highlights Parliamentary debate on this issue.
Research Briefing
This paper has been written for the House of Commons Second Reading debate on the Education Bill [Bill 137] on 8 February 2011. The Bill seeks to implement the legislative proposals in the Department for Education’s schools White Paper, 'The Importance of Teaching', and measures from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills relating to skills and the reform of higher education funding. It is therefore a very wide-ranging Bill.
Research Briefing
The Government announced in the Spending Review that the Education Maintenance Allowance Scheme (EMA) in England will stop at the end of academic year 2010/11. No new applications will be accepted from the start of January 2011. EMA currently provides up to £30 per week for students from low income households to encourage them to stay in education beyond the end of compulsory education. This note includes data on expenditure, the number of recipients, types of students who receive EMA and looks at the evidence on its impact on participation. The EMA section of the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) website gives information about eligibility criteria and how to apply. It also includes data on take-up and research into the impact of EMA and the effect of some of the changes to the scheme. It looks at the scheme in England only.
Total results (page 35 of 38)