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Fear over reading levels among poor
Despite two centuries of change, many poor communities are still facing the same literacy problems experienced in Victorian times, Nick Gibb said today.

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More children 'not toilet trained' by school age
Rising numbers of children are starting school without having been toilet trained, a survey suggests.

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Headteachers fear exodus after inspector's attack
Headteachers warned of an exodus from the profession last night after England's new chief schools inspector claimed 5,000 of them were not up to scratch.

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Every pupil should read Dickens, says minister... (but he's too hard, says the author's biographer)
The Schools minister Nick Gibb has great expectations of Britain's 11-year-olds, singling out Charles Dickens' classic as one of the books all children should read before they leave primary school. But on the eve of Dickens' 200th birthday, his biographer has warned that young readers do not have the attention-span to appreciate his work.

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Top universities warned over places for 'disadvantaged' students
Top universities in England were warned yesterday they face having to slash their fees if they fail to recruit more students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Don't reward teachers indiscriminately says Ofsted head
Teachers should be refused pay rises if they cannot inspire their pupils and improve their performance, the chief inspector of schools said yesterday.

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Sixth-form teachers to go on strike
Sixth-form teachers are to stage a walkout in a row over cuts to funding and pay, a union announced today.

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Government shake-up for vocational qualifications
Just 70 vocational qualifications will count towards a school's GCSE performance in league tables in future - a cut from more than 3,000 under the current system.

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Two teaching unions accept pension reforms
Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers have voted to back the Government's revised pensions deal. Some 91.6 per cent of ATL members voted in favour of the deal, thrashed out after a one-day strike in November with six other teaching unions.

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Teenagers turn their backs on a university education
Universities have suffered the steepest fall in applications since records began, with the total number of students seeking places this autumn plummeting by 8.7 per cent as the true impact of tuition fee increases is felt.

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University applications down 8.7 per cent
The number of UK students applying to start university this autumn - the first year of the tuition fee hike - has fallen by nearly 9 per cent.

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Teaching union accepts controversial pension reforms
A teaching union has decided to accept the Government's controversial pension reforms, it was announced today.

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Party over: student life is serious business
It used to be about daytime TV, being carried home from bad nightclubs, and halls of residence awash with half-eaten pot noodles and stolen traffic cones, but for the new breed of university student weighed down with the pressures of inflated tuition fees, it's all about business. Today final student application figures are being released by the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) and are expected to show record falls in student numbers.

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Party over: Student life is serious business
It used to be about daytime TV, being carried home from bad nightclubs, and halls of residence awash with half-eaten pot noodles and stolen traffic cones, but for the new breed of university student weighed down with the pressures of inflated tuition fees, it's all about business. Today final student application figures are being released by the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) and are expected to show record falls in student numbers.
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Home Office and business department do battle over overseas students
Government ambitions to dramatically expand the number of private colleges risk being defeated by an overzealous Home Office crackdown on immigration.

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Party days are over for students
The class of 2012 will no longer consist of "hard partying" students looking for a "laid-back" course.

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School's failure over pervert teacher
A teacher was able to film himself abusing young girls in his classroom because the school's bosses failed to act on his increasingly sexual behaviour, a serious case review has revealed.

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School failed to act over pervert teacher
A teacher was able to film himself abusing young girls in his classroom because the school's bosses failed to act on his increasingly sexual behaviour, an independent report revealed today.

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New tables reveal how disadvantaged pupils fall behind
The stark gap between the performance of disadvantaged pupils and their classmates from better off backgrounds is exposed in school league tables for the first time today.

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Gordon Brown calls for Global Fund for Education
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has called for the creation of a worldwide fund to combat a "hidden and silent emergency in education".
