Category Archives: Education, training and exams

Student loans to replace government funding for adult education

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

Summary It’s not looking good for adult education and lifelong learning. “Just one in 10 people aged 24 and over would definitely undertake a further education course at college if controversial plans to charge student loans are brought in, according … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, training and exams, Party politics | Leave a comment

A negative number is not an approval rating

Posted on May 20, 2012 by

Summary More on the crisis of politics – is it about the schools? Twitter was jumping up and down this weekend about how Ed Miliband had higher approval ratings than David Cameron. If you’re a Labour supporter, so far, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, training and exams, Party politics | 4 Comments

On A-Level reform

Posted on April 21, 2012 by

I posted this on The Student Room in a thread about reforming A-levels and am reposting it here. What exams boil down to are a measurement of someone’s ability in a given field against an arbitrary measure at a given … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, training and exams, Public administration & policy | 2 Comments

The unintended consequences of adult education policy

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

Summary Why adult education should be invested in, not cut. Some of you may be aware that I’m doing an introductory engineering course with the Open University. After the exam this June my relationship with the institution will probably end. … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, training and exams, Employment and job hunting | 1 Comment

What training does the civil service need?

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

Summary Exploring issues around the restructuring of training and development in the civil service. This is an issue I jumped up and down about on a regular basis when I was in the civil service. Training was very much a … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, training and exams, Public administration & policy | 2 Comments

Knowledge is porridge

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

(…unless you don’t like porridge). Summary On learning at school, at university, at work and beyond. We the web kids vs what went before I don’t know how many of you have read the article We the web kids but … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, training and exams | 2 Comments

On faith-based schools

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

Summary: With the expansion of faith-based schools, politicians have a duty to put in place better safeguards for those who choose to turn away from/reject the faiths that they have been brought up in. Some of you will be familiar … Continue reading →

Posted in Charities and Big Society, Education, training and exams, Mental health, Public administration & policy | 10 Comments

The Civil Service Fast Stream

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

I’ve been waiting for a bit of water to flow under the bridge before writing this blogpost mainly for the benefit of anyone looking to apply for the Civil Service Fast Stream – the main graduate entry programme for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, training and exams, Employment and job hunting, Public administration & policy, Social media | 2 Comments

Please stop pricing us out of existence

Posted on January 7, 2012 by

This blogpost picks up on a number of themes written by @Penners_ in her article Living with grandma. Like may people in their late 20s and early 30s, I certainly didn’t plan on having to move back in with my … Continue reading →

Posted in Business economics and finance, Charities and Big Society, Education, training and exams, Employment and job hunting, Housing and transport | 4 Comments

In praise of mentors

Posted on December 20, 2011 by

It seems strange to praise something that I’ve never really had. Perhaps it’s because of that void that I somehow appreciate what I never had along with the positive impact it could have had. I’m talking about mentors. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Charities and Big Society, Education, training and exams | 3 Comments