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Schools' ranking based on Oxbridge intake?!?

Miroslav's picture

Apparently the U.K. government now wants to rank secondary schools according to the number of students they send to Oxford and Cambridge. (Read here: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6109263) This is a ridiculous measure that will not provide any useful indicators of schools' performance. First of all, the ranks won't take into consideration how many students are "accepted" to Oxbridge, just how many ultimately enroll, which means students' preferences are going to be more emphasized than the preparation they received in school. And anyways, why the focus on Oxbridge? There are other great schools in the U.K. that can demonstrate strong preparation by a school equally well. Some people don't apply to Oxbridge because they prefer larger city settings, even if they have all the conditions to get in. And other British students prefer going abroad and studying at top-notch universities such as the Ivy League. The ranks won't take any of these factors into consideration. Oh, and I haven't mentioned the obvious socioeconomic implications of the potential stats. I really hope the government backs down from this one.

What can we do about the London riots?

Anonymous's picture

The video shows Asyraf Haziq sitting dazed and bleeding on a London pavement.

From our blog:   London Riots Spread from Tottenham

                     London Riots Spread across other UK Cities         

Riots Focus Turns to Manchester and Birmingham 

London is currently experiencing some turbulent times with wide-spread rioting and looting happening within it's social and economically deprived communities.

Whether you are living in London or elsewhere in the UK, what do you think can be done to restore law and order?

Trending on Twitter

Fox News Twitter Hacked

Andy's picture

Fox News' Twitter account was hacked yesterday, revealing that Barack Obama had been assassinated. The pranksters wrote:

"@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead,"

With our latest news increasingly coming from Twitter this has sparked a debate about accountability and anonymity on the social networking site. What do you think? A harmless, light-hearted prank or something more sinister? 

What do you think about 'Paperless Schools'?

Anonymous's picture

In a recent news story it was reported that South Korea has unveiled plans to make all classroom materials digital by 2015, is this the path education should be taking? Will paper be eventually phased out?

Android phones VS iPhones

Anonymous's picture

Samsung is rumoured to be bringing out the next generation Google Android phone in September, the same time that the iPhone 5 is due for release.

I always end up having discussions with my friends over which platform is better, I support Android Cool.

  • What phone do you use? 
  • Why did you you choose it?
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