Signs and wonders: Better CEIAG
2022-03-18
What is CEIAG and how does know what it is help us improve it?
Why do we undervalue careers advisers?
2021-10-16
We’ve all heard – or told – tales about how some careers advisor “told me to be a [insert laughably inappropriate career]”, but people who are helped by careers advice tend never to mention it. Why? Can it be true that careers advice is so wide of the mark? Of course not.
Vocational qualifications: don’t turn off the tap to make T
2021-07-14
Not a single person has taken a T-level yet and there are still no solutions to finding enough employer support, but DfE thinks we should axe all alternatives.
What’s really wrong with the NSS?
2021-04-19
Drawing on my piece for HEPI, I explain why the National Student Survey shouldn’t change and why – and how – it should.
Invention, engineering and creativity
2021-04-16
Prince Philip said, “everything that wasn’t invented by God is invented by an engineer”. Was he right or did he do a disservice to engineers and artists?
University admissions: what’s the real problem?
2021-03-21
Data presented by UCAS’s Chief Executive Clare Marchant shows starkly the correlation between clearing and drop-out…
The long Covid of careers
2020-10-27
The long Covid of careers: What’s the equivalent of hand-washing and mask-wearing for young people’s careers
Should uni be an aspiration – or a ‘failsafe’?
2019-10-16
In my last blog post, I mentioned that I’d got into a correspondence with teacher and author Matt Pinkett about whether young people – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – should aspire to university. Matt suggested that perhaps young people should set their sights on the career they want and, if they can’t make serious progress towards it as they leave school, then they should consider university as a back-up – a ‘failsafe’, as he called it. After our previous discussions, he asked what I thought about this. This was my response (with a few edits to make it a blog more than a emailRead More →
Is it worth going to uni if you’re from a poor family?
2019-10-15
Back in August, a teacher drew my attention to the following tweet and asked if I might be able to answer it: Can anybody point me to research regarding outcomes in later life for disadvantaged students who go to university vs. disadvantaged students who don’t? https://t.co/BiYatOdKMh — Mr Pink (@Positivteacha) August 1, 2019 The tweet was from Matt Pinkett (@PositivTeacha), teacher, blogger and author of Boys don’t try? Rethinking masculinity in schools. My thread of tweets in response sparked a correspondence between us and, in the end, Matt was kind enough to say I had challenged his whole perspective. He suggested others might be interestedRead More →
Rancour, rankings and the rankness of TEF
2019-04-08
Which is the best university? It’s a seductive question to ask, but that doesn’t mean there’s a sensible answer. League tables, aka rankings, is the nonsensical answer you’re likely to get.
