Education News

University students in Scotland may have to stay in their halls of residence over Christmas, the Holyrood government has said.John Swinney, Scotland’s education secretary, said there was a “realistic possibility” that students would be prevented from returning home in December “if we have a situation where the virus has not been controlled”.Speaking on the BBC Good Morning Scotland radio programme, the deputy first minister said the return of students at Christmas “without a doubt” depends on the coronavirus infection rate being reduced.Asked if that meant students could be forced to remain in halls of residence, he said: “We want to avoid that at all possible cost because we want students to return home.”But I have to be realistic that, if we have a situation where the virus has not been controlled, then we will have to look at other scenarios and other plans.”Mr Swinney added: “There is a lot of thinking and work going on within the Scottish government, with Universities Scotland, the institutions, with the National Union of Students, and also with the governments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to try to make sure this can be undertaken as safely as possible.”But there obviously is a risk that if the virus is not contained, then we may not be able to support the return of students to their homes.”We want to avoid that but it is a realistic possibility.” More

Universities are to be asked to move all teaching online in the run up to Christmas in a bid to get students home safely and prevent mass Covid-19 outbreaks across the country.It follows fears the migration of students into campuses in recent weeks has helped drive a sharp spike in cases.Tens of thousands of students across the country have since tested positive for coronavirus.  A number of institutions have also reported significant outbreaks.Reports suggest universities could be asked to abandon face-to-face tuition as early as 8 December.Some will already have finished for the year at that stage.
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Thousands of students have been told to self-isolate following outbreaks at UK universities. Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said while the “vast majority” of students had been following the rules in place to limit the spread of coronavirus, a minority had been “sometimes socialising in a way that is not fit with the guidance”.“That is why we have seen some of these spikes on the whole arising,” she told the Education Select Committee on Tuesday. Hundreds of Covid-19 cases have been reported at universities since term started. Read moreMore than 750 are self-isolating at Northumbria University after testing positive, while around 500 cases have been confirmed among Sheffield University students and staff.When asked when concerns arose over a potential spike in demand for testing at universities, Ms Donelan said: “A lot of this depends on student behaviour in terms of the outbreaks.”The Conservative MP said some spikes could be down to students arriving at university unaware they had coronavirus. “But on the whole, it is the socialising,” she added.“We always knew there would be cases of Covid, we are in the midst of a pandemic,” Ms Donelan told the committee. “Our job is to minimise that risk as much as possible, which we have done,” she said, citing guidance provided to universities to make sure campuses are Covid-safe, as well as the move to blended learning.Additional reporting by Press Association More

Geoff Barton from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) told The Independent the government “needs to show a greater sense of urgency” on the matter. On Monday, five education organisations put forward a series of proposals over next year’s exams, including having contigency plans if pupils cannot take exams or their preparation was badly disrupted, and giving students more choice over what questions to answer. The group – which includes the ASCL and the school leaders’ union NAHT – also suggested students due to take GCSEs and A-level exams in 2021 should be prioritised for Covid-19 testing to reduce “ongoing disruption” to their learning. Reports have suggested there could be a delay to the exam timetable next year to help deal with disruption caused by coronavirus – which kept some pupils out of school for months this year. Read moreHowever, unions have suggested different changes are needed amid the fallout from the pandemic. “Qualifications awarded on the basis of a series of exams, where students’ experiences of teaching and learning next year could be very different because of local lockdowns or other restrictions, will be unfair and may lead to additional disadvantage for some students compared to others,” Paul Whiteman from the NAHT said.“The right approach to alleviate this issue is the adjustment to assessments and exams in 2021 to take account of the fact that students may not have covered the full course content.”The NAHT’s general secretary added: “However, there is now a very short timeframe of opportunity to achieve this.”Mr Barton from the ASCL told The Independent: “The benefit of shifting exams to a later date is really quite marginal compared to the scale of what has happened.”The return to school last month was the first time all students were allowed back in the classroom since March. Mr Barton told The Independent: “There has to be a robust contingency plan for those who are unable to sit exams or whose preparation over the next few months is very badly disrupted.”Watch more“We are proposing some form of staged assessment in the autumn or spring term to provide a basis for awarded grades for students in these circumstances.”He added: “But time is running out and the government needs to show a greater sense of urgency.”Mr Williamson told the Education Select Committee there will be an announcement this month concerning the 2021 exams.Days later, a government U-turn meant students could take their Centre Assessed Grades if higher than their moderated ones.The Independent has approached the DfE for comment. Additional reporting by Press Association More

The government is to set up schemes for students who have to defer their university place following this year’s chaotic awarding of A-level grades.The universities minister Michelle Donelan said she had been working to “make available a range of opportunities for development” for those who end up having to take a gap year. A new grading system was set up this year after exams were cancelled due to coronavirus.Ms Donelan wrote in The Telegraph that both universities and herself “want to keep the number of students deferring to a minimum”.Read more”I am sure, however, that those who do defer will have concerns about the options available to them for the next year,” she said.”I want these students to know that I have been working across government and with the higher education sector to make available a range of opportunities for development that will provide young people with an additional string to their bow.”Ms Donelan said information on the available options would be shared “shortly”.The Department for Education has been approached by The Independent over what these gap year schemes could entail. Universities were told they would be given extra funding to help increase capacity on a number of courses after warning they had limited space for students who saw their results increase.However, leading institutions warned eligible students may be asked to defer if they do not have the space. Additional reporting by Press Association More

School leaders have expressed concern over the government’s approach to face masks in schools, with headteachers deciding what approach to take as students start coming back to school.Richard Sheriff, the chief executive of a trust of Yorkshire schools, accused the government of passing the buck by leaving the decision up to individual schools.“I think it is a very uncomfortable position,” he told The Independent. “It feels like the buck has been passed to headteachers. We will now individually take the stick from parents, children, communities, about whatever stance we choose to be appropriate in these circumstances.” Pepe Di’Iasio, a headteacher in Rotherham, told The Independent he had received several letters from concerned parents after opting against face masks in school because of “relatively low infection rates” in the local area.Read moreMeanwhile, school leaders elsewhere will have discretion to make face coverings compulsory if they believe it is “right in their particular circumstances”. The shadow education secretary, Kate Green, accused Mr Johnson of trying to “pass the buck” to headteachers with last week’s face mask changes.“What they have done is left headteachers like myself with a barrage of emails saying, ‘Why are you doing what you are doing? Why are you making this decision?’” Mr Di’Iasio, who also claimed the changes came too late, said. The Wales High School headteacher added: “We have been left to pick up the pieces of the difficulties that parents face right now in an already uncertain time.”Mr Sheriff, from Red Kite Learning Trust, said: “Headteachers should not have to take responsibility for clinical decision-making in a public health setting.” He added: “We’ve been left by the government to make decisions which feel to me way beyond my geography teacher competence.”Mr Sheriff said he is not asking students to wear face masks at all across 12 out of 13 of his sites – with the one affected having particularly narrow corridors.Read moreWhile he said he is happy that headteachers can decide for themselves what their schools should do, he is less happy about Mr Johnson’s comments, which came shortly after the government scrapped its advice against wearing face masks in schools.“Having given heads discretion, he then rubbished some of the things that we have decided to do,” the Framwellgate School Durham headteacher told The Independent.England’s deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, commented last Friday on the issue of face masks for school pupils, saying: “The evidence on face coverings is not very strong in either direction.”She added: “At the moment the evidence is pretty stable, but it can be very reassuring in those enclosed environments for children, and for teachers as well, to know that people are taking precautions.”A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have consistently been guided by the latest scientific and medical advice, and we recently updated our guidance on face coverings following the statement from the World Health Organisation.“In local lockdown areas children in year 7 and above should wear face coverings in communal spaces and corridors. Outside of local lockdown areas, face coverings won’t be required in schools, though schools will have the flexibility to introduce this if they believe it is right in their specific circumstances. Face coverings will not be required in the classroom as they hinder communication and pupils’ education.”Additional reporting by Press Association More

GCSE and A-level exams could be pushed back next year to allow students more teaching time, the UK education secretary has said. Gavin Williamson said Ofqual, England’s exams regulator, was working with the education sector to figure out if there should be a “short delay”. Speaking about a potential delay to the GCSE and A-level timetable next year, Nick Gibb, the schools minister, told BBC’s Today programme: “We will come to a decision very soon.”He said: “We want to have as much teaching time [as possible] for young people to enable them to catch up.” Read moreMr Williamson told The Telegraph: “Ofqual will continue to work with the education sector and other stakeholders on whether there should be a short delay to the GCSE, A and AS-level exam timetable in 2021, with the aim of creating more teaching time.”Exam season usually begins in May, but the newspaper said sources suggested they could be pushed back to June and July – but they would not cut into the summer holidays.Watch moreGCSE and A-level exams were cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.Apologising for the disruption caused in the House of Commons in his first statement following the cancellation, Mr Williamson said his department was “determined” to see the next round of exams completed in 2021.Mr Williamson told MPs: “We are determined that exams and assessments will go ahead next year, and we’re working with the sector to ensure that this is done as smoothly as possible.“While none of this disruption is what we wanted for our students, I believe that they now have the certainty and reassurance they deserve and will be able to embark on the next exciting phase of their lives.“I hope the whole house will join me in wishing all of them the very best for their future.”Shadow education secretary Kate Green said pupils entering year 11 and 13 who have lost up to six months of teaching time face “a mountain to climb” unless the timetable is changed. More

Students should not be allowed their mobile phones during school hours, the culture secretary has said.Matt Hancock suggested more headteachers should confiscate mobile phones from children at the start of the day, as he warned mobiles can have a “real impact” on students’ achievements.The minister is concerned social media use can expose children to “risks” – including cyberbullying.Writing in theDaily Telegraph, Mr Hancock questioned why young children needed phones at school in the first place.He said: “There are a number of schools across the country that simply don’t allow them.“I believe that very young children don’t need to have access to social media. They are children after all. They need to be able to develop their social skills in the real world first.”Schools already have the freedom to ban or curb the use of mobile phones during the school day – and Mr Hancock said there was evidence to suggest banning phones in schools worked.“While it is up to individual schools to decide rather than government, I admire headteachers who do not allow mobiles to be used during the school day. I encourage more schools to follow their lead,” he said.His comments come as a group of Tory MPs have urged for a ban on mobiles during the school day, saying there is evidence it can have “a beneficial effect on pupils’ ability to learn”.In a letter to the Telegraph, the seven politicians cited a 2015 study by the London School of Economics, writing: “Where schools banned smartphones from the premises, or required them to be handed in at the start of the day, pupils’ chances of getting five good GCSEs increased by an average of two per cent.“The improvement was even more marked for lower-achieving pupils. Results among pupils in the bottom quarter of achievement improved twice as much as the average.”The group, which included Harborough MP Neil O’Brien and Chichester MP Gillian Keegan, has urged the Department for Education to give clear guidance to schools about the evidence on attainment.A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Headteachers already, of course, have the power to ban mobile phones in schools and we support their right to do so. “We know that 95 per cent of schools already impose some kind of restriction on mobile phones use during the school day, with a substantial number banning them from the school premises altogether.”Read More: Compare providers and find the best deals with our Mobile Phone Deals page More