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BY Simply Learning Tuition 27 Jan 2012 09:01
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What to study? 4 ways to find out what you love doing
There are many factors to take into consideration in order to decide what to study at university; interests, skills, entry requirements, salary expectations after graduation, etc.
The most important of all though is that you study a subject that will help you land a job that you love doing.
You will be spending most of your time at work. Many are expected to work much longer than 9am-5pm and they do!
So, it is crucial that you get a job that not only pays the bills but also you love doing it.
The big question is how do you find out what you love doing? Here are some suggestions.
1. Understand yourself better
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What do you like doing when you have free time? Do you play football, read a novel or try to find out how the radio works?
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Is there a subject at school that you really enjoy?
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What are the things that you are naturally good at? Ask friends and family (those you trust and respect) what they think your natural skills are. Their perspective might be quite useful.
2. Find information about the various jobs. There is a lot available on the internet. You can find some useful websites at www.b4iapply.com under Resources.
3. Get insights from the people you admire regarding their jobs. Ask them:
to describe you a typical day at work
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what they like about their job and what they don't
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what skills are necessary to be successful in their current job
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what they studied and why
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what they would recommend you study if you want to end up in a similar position
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what they would study with the knowledge they have now if they were able to back in time? (This is my favorite. You might be surprised by the answers! Be aware though that not everybody will be open enough to admit if they've made a mistake.)
TIP: Don't limit yourself to the experiences of your parents and their close friends. There are many exciting jobs out there worth exploring.
4. Summer jobs, internships can be also very useful. It may take some time to understand if you are like a job but it will only take you a couple of days to realize if you DON'T like it.
Keep a journal of your findings (Yes, I know it's boring but it's necessary. After two weeks you will have forgotten everything.) and review them every month.
You will see a pattern after a while.
Invest time on your research. Remember it takes longer when you don't know what you are looking for.
It's worth though figuring out what you love doing and study the subject that will help you have a career in an area you are passionate about.
Korina Karampela has an MBA from MIT Sloan and held senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry. She is currently a full-time writer and consultant on career management issues for teenagers and lives in London.
For the original version of this article and other articles on this subject, visit http://b4iapply.com/
You can also follow Korina on Twitter @b4iapply
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Summer Jobs, Internships, Korina Karampela, Find Out What You Love Doing, What To Study, Which Course For Me
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 10 Jan 2012 10:01
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We're pleased to welcome a new educational writer to our blog; Korina Karampela. Korina writes a regular blog, 'Before I apply' which many aspects of planning your application to higher education.
If you would like to read more of her posts follow the links at the end of this post.
Higher education: do the benefits outweigh the costs?
I am a firm believer in higher education. You don't only get an in-depth understanding in a specific field but you also learn many things that will be useful in a work-environment; you learn to think critically, to present your arguments in a structured way, to meet deadlines, to work in teams, to interact with people from various social and cultural backgrounds.
However, these benefits come at a price and with the expected increase in tuition fees from 2012, I can even say that they will come at a really high price. So, before you apply, you need to do your due-diligence and you need to decide whether the benefits you get outweigh the costs.
The situation reminds me of property investment. My father used to say 'Invest in property, it never loses its value.' Recent times though have shown that this statement is not entirely true. Many have seen the value of their property plummeted and they are stuck with it.
Areas to consider when you invest in property:
§ your expectations (e.g. do you want to get a good rental income or do you expect its value to appreciate and then sell it?)
§ the potential of the property you buy (e.g. is it in up-and-coming area?)
§ the financial considerations (e.g. can you afford the mortgage payments?)
Similar thinking process for higher education is needed.
Consider carefully:
§ what you want to achieve with your degree (e.g. do you want to improve your career prospects or are you simply interested in learning about a specific subject?)
§ what to study (e.g. have you chosen to study in an up-and-coming field or do you want to do a degree in an area that is already saturated?)
§ what the financial considerations are (e.g. what salary do you expect to get after graduation? If you plan to take a tuition fee loan, have you checked the small print?)
Higher education has many benefits and these benefits come at a price. As with any other investment, you need to do your due-diligence before you make the decision whether higher education is for you or not. And remember, you don't necessarily need to have a degree in order to become successful. Think of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.
Korina Karampela has an MBA from MIT Sloan and held senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry. She is currently a full-time writer and consultant on career management issues for teenagers and lives in London.
For the original version of this article and other articles on this subject, visit http://beforeiapply.com/
You can also follow Korina on Twitter @BeforeIapply
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What To Study, Beforeiapply, Higher Education Benefits, Higher Education
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 03 Jan 2012 02:01
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"The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence"
Taken from The Atlantic newspaper, 2/1/12
Everyone agrees the United States needs to improve its education system dramatically, but how? One of the hottest trends in education reform lately is looking at the stunning success of the West's reigning education superpower, Finland. Trouble is, when it comes to the lessons that Finnish schools have to offer, most of the discussion seems to be missing the point.
The small Nordic country of Finland used to be known -- if it was known for anything at all -- as the home of Nokia, the mobile phone giant. But lately Finland has been attracting attention on global surveys of quality of life -- Newsweek ranked it number one last year -- and Finland's national education system has been receiving particular praise, because in recent years Finnish students have been turning in some of the highest test scores in the world.
Finland's schools owe their newfound fame primarily to one study: the PISA survey, conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey compares 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science. Finland has ranked at or near the top in all three competencies on every survey since 2000, neck and neck with superachievers such as South Korea and Singapore. In the most recent survey in 2009 Finland slipped slightly, with students in Shanghai, China, taking the best scores, but the Finns are still near the very top. Throughout the same period, the PISA performance of the United States has been middling, at best.
Compared with the stereotype of the East Asian model -- long hours of exhaustive cramming and rote memorization -- Finland's success is especially intriguing because Finnish schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play. All this has led to a continuous stream of foreign delegations making the pilgrimage to Finland to visit schools and talk with the nation's education experts, and constant coverage in the worldwide media marveling at the Finnish miracle.
So there was considerable interest in a recent visit to the U.S. by one of the leading Finnish authorities on education reform, Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of Education's Center for International Mobility and author of the new book Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? Earlier this month, Sahlberg stopped by the Dwight School in New York City to speak with educators and students, and his visit received national media attention and generated much discussion.
And yet it wasn't clear that Sahlberg's message was actually getting through. As Sahlberg put it to me later, there are certain things nobody in America really wants to talk about.
* * *
During the afternoon that Sahlberg spent at the Dwight School, a photographer from the New York Times jockeyed for position with Dan Rather's TV crew as Sahlberg participated in a roundtable chat with students. The subsequent article in the Times about the event would focus on Finland as an "intriguing school-reform model."
Yet one of the most significant things Sahlberg said passed practically unnoticed. "Oh," he mentioned at one point, "and there are no private schools in Finland."
This notion may seem difficult for an American to digest, but it's true. Only a small number of independent schools exist in Finland, and even they are all publicly financed. None is allowed to charge tuition fees. There are no private universities, either. This means that practically every person in Finland attends public school, whether for pre-K or a Ph.D.
The irony of Sahlberg's making this comment during a talk at the Dwight School seemed obvious. Like many of America's best schools, Dwight is a private institution that costs high-school students upward of $35,000 a year to attend -- not to mention that Dwight, in particular, is run for profit, an increasing trend in the U.S. Yet no one in the room commented on Sahlberg's statement. I found this surprising. Sahlberg himself did not.
Sahlberg knows what Americans like to talk about when it comes to education, because he's become their go-to guy in Finland. The son of two teachers, he grew up in a Finnish school. He taught mathematics and physics in a junior high school in Helsinki, worked his way through a variety of positions in the Finnish Ministry of Education, and spent years as an education expert at the OECD, the World Bank, and other international organizations.
Now, in addition to his other duties, Sahlberg hosts about a hundred visits a year by foreign educators, including many Americans, who want to know the secret of Finland's success. Sahlberg's new book is partly an attempt to help answer the questions he always gets asked.
From his point of view, Americans are consistently obsessed with certain questions: How can you keep track of students' performance if you don't test them constantly? How can you improve teaching if you have no accountability for bad teachers or merit pay for good teachers? How do you foster competition and engage the private sector? How do you provide school choice?
The answers Finland provides seem to run counter to just about everything America's school reformers are trying to do.
For starters, Finland has no standardized tests. The only exception is what's called the National Matriculation Exam, which everyone takes at the end of a voluntary upper-secondary school, roughly the equivalent of American high school.
Instead, the public school system's teachers are trained to assess children in classrooms using independent tests they create themselves. All children receive a report card at the end of each semester, but these reports are based on individualized grading by each teacher. Periodically, the Ministry of Education tracks national progress by testing a few sample groups across a range of different schools.
As for accountability of teachers and administrators, Sahlberg shrugs. "There's no word for accountability in Finnish," he later told an audience at the Teachers College of Columbia University. "Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted."
For Sahlberg what matters is that in Finland all teachers and administrators are given prestige, decent pay, and a lot of responsibility. A master's degree is required to enter the profession, and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional schools in the country. If a teacher is bad, it is the principal's responsibility to notice and deal with it.
And while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable. In his book Sahlberg quotes a line from Finnish writer named Samuli Puronen: "Real winners do not compete." It's hard to think of a more un-American idea, but when it comes to education, Finland's success shows that the Finnish attitude might have merits. There are no lists of best schools or teachers in Finland. The main driver of education policy is not competition between teachers and between schools, but cooperation.
Finally, in Finland, school choice is noticeably not a priority, nor is engaging the private sector at all. Which brings us back to the silence after Sahlberg's comment at the Dwight School that schools like Dwight don't exist in Finland.
"Here in America," Sahlberg said at the Teachers College, "parents can choose to take their kids to private schools. It's the same idea of a marketplace that applies to, say, shops. Schools are a shop and parents can buy what ever they want. In Finland parents can also choose. But the options are all the same."
Herein lay the real shocker. As Sahlberg continued, his core message emerged, whether or not anyone in his American audience heard it.
Decades ago, when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence. It was equity.
* * *
Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.
In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.
In fact, since academic excellence wasn't a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland's students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland -- unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway -- was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity.
That this point is almost always ignored or brushed aside in the U.S. seems especially poignant at the moment, after the financial crisis and Occupy Wall Street movement have brought the problems of inequality in America into such sharp focus. The chasm between those who can afford $35,000 in tuition per child per year -- or even just the price of a house in a good public school district -- and the other "99 percent" is painfully plain to see.
* * *
Pasi Sahlberg goes out of his way to emphasize that his book Finnish Lessons is not meant as a how-to guide for fixing the education systems of other countries. All countries are different, and as many Americans point out, Finland is a small nation with a much more homogeneous population than the United States.
Yet Sahlberg doesn't think that questions of size or homogeneity should give Americans reason to dismiss the Finnish example. Finland is a relatively homogeneous country -- as of 2010, just 4.6 percent of Finnish residents had been born in another country, compared with 12.7 percent in the United States. But the number of foreign-born residents in Finland doubled during the decade leading up to 2010, and the country didn't lose its edge in education. Immigrants tended to concentrate in certain areas, causing some schools to become much more mixed than others, yet there has not been much change in the remarkable lack of variation between Finnish schools in the PISA surveys across the same period.
Samuel Abrams, a visiting scholar at Columbia University's Teachers College, has addressed the effects of size and homogeneity on a nation's education performance by comparing Finland with another Nordic country: Norway. Like Finland, Norway is small and not especially diverse overall, but unlike Finland it has taken an approach to education that is more American than Finnish. The result? Mediocre performance in the PISA survey. Educational policy, Abrams suggests, is probably more important to the success of a country's school system than the nation's size or ethnic makeup.
Indeed, Finland's population of 5.4 million can be compared to many an American state -- after all, most American education is managed at the state level. According to the Migration Policy Institute, a research organization in Washington, there were 18 states in the U.S. in 2010 with an identical or significantly smaller percentage of foreign-born residents than Finland.
What's more, despite their many differences, Finland and the U.S. have an educational goal in common. When Finnish policymakers decided to reform the country's education system in the 1970s, they did so because they realized that to be competitive, Finland couldn't rely on manufacturing or its scant natural resources and instead had to invest in a knowledge-based economy.
With America's manufacturing industries now in decline, the goal of educational policy in the U.S. -- as articulated by most everyone from President Obama on down -- is to preserve American competitiveness by doing the same thing. Finland's experience suggests that to win at that game, a country has to prepare not just some of its population well, but all of its population well, for the new economy. To possess some of the best schools in the world might still not be good enough if there are children being left behind.
Is that an impossible goal? Sahlberg says that while his book isn't meant to be a how-to manual, it is meant to be a "pamphlet of hope."
"When President Kennedy was making his appeal for advancing American science and technology by putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's, many said it couldn't be done," Sahlberg said during his visit to New York. "But he had a dream. Just like Martin Luther King a few years later had a dream. Those dreams came true. Finland's dream was that we want to have a good public education for every child regardless of where they go to school or what kind of families they come from, and many even in Finland said it couldn't be done."
Clearly, many were wrong. It is possible to create equality. And perhaps even more important -- as a challenge to the American way of thinking about education reform -- Finland's experience shows that it is possible to achieve excellence by focusing not on competition, but on cooperation, and not on choice, but on equity.
The problem facing education in America isn't the ethnic diversity of the population but the economic inequality of society, and this is precisely the problem that Finnish education reform addressed. More equity at home might just be what America needs to be more competitive abroad.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/can-americas-schools-be-like-finlands/250564/
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Exams
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 27 Sep 2011 09:09
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Polo and Private Tuition in Argentina.
Turning a child’s dream into a parent’s dream!
London. 26th September 2011
We have launched a new course for students who want to play polo and at the same time, improve their academics. This is a unique experience to stay at an estancia close to the heart of polo county (one hour from Buenos Aries) accompanied by a private tutor from one of England’s leading tutorial agencies.
Katie Haigh from Simply Learning Tuition explains more, “The course is for boys and girls, aged from 13 years and upwards who need to focus on their studies but would benefit from time spent in a healthy environment. They will live a healthy outdoor life, learning to ride horses and play polo (or if they’re already experienced, improving) under the supervision of a qualified academic tutor and a professional polo instructor. This is something for everyone; a friendly, safe and professional environment where parents can be assured that their children are learning what they need to excel at school, or fly through their exams - at the same time as having one of the most rewarding holidays of their life.”
Tomas Morixe, from Palomino Polo adds, “Life on the estancia is hard work and down to earth, the perfect antidote to television, video games and the other distractions of city life. On the estancia students take part in all the work with horses and help the gauchos prepare the evening asado. It really helps them connect with life and improves their confidence.”
The course includes a minimum of 4 hours private tuition each day –the optimum amount to improve academic confidence and results quickly. For the rest of the day, students take riding lessons, stick and ball each day and play practice games (4 chukkas) or competitive tournaments. There are regular trips into Buenos Aries to visit local sites of cultural, historical and political historic.
Asked what inspired the polo tuition program, Katie said, “it’s the perfect mirror to our company ethos: the idea is to give children something that is hard work, but also an incredible learning experience, with memories that will last a lifetime and for parents, the knowledge that they have done the very best to prepare their children for forthcoming exams. It also tackles the problem that academic difficulties often have roots in other areas.”
For more information about the polo program, please call Simply Learning Tuition on 0207 350 1981, or email katie@simplylearningtuition.co.uk
About Simply Learning Tuition
Simply Learning Tuition provides private tutors and bespoke educational support that is tailored to the needs of your child: based on his or her personality, emotional development and academic aspirations. Recommended by the Good Schools Guide, they provide tutors to work all over the world at all levels of learning, from pre-school to 11+, Common Entrance, GCSE, A-level, IB and beyond. Each tutor is a specialist in the subjects to be covered but also teaches broader study skills that give your child the ability to learn independently. To find out more please visit: www.simplylearningtuition.co.uk
Contact Details:
Simply Learning Tuition,Studio F7 Battersea Studios,80 Silverthorne Road, London,SW8 3HE
enquiries@simplylearningtuition.co.uk
www.simplylearningtuition.co.uk
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Incredible Learning Experience
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 11 Aug 2011 04:08
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With charges of up to £60 for an hour’s lesson, embarking on a course of Private Tuition is not an investment to be undertaken lightly. We offer guidance on how to find the right tutor, what to expect from them and what you can do to add value to their work.
A quick internet search will reveal several listings for bespoke Private Tuition companies: all promising great things. Headlines on glossy websites remind you of the state of play: “over half of the children in London have received extra tuition” and, “it’s all about inspiring young minds”. There is no doubt that private tuition is a valuable resource - children are under increasing pressure to fight for their place in a competitive world - but shouldn’t a decent school be able to prepare them adequately?
Unlike schools, the tuition market is almost entirely unregulated. In most cases, tuition companies are reluctant to provide concrete data about their effectiveness (perhaps this isn’t surprising; the peculiarities of an individual child’s progression make comparison difficult.) Parents are left to rely on word of mouth or potentially subjective client testimonials from the company’s website.
However, by adopting a pragmatic and common sense approach, there are several ways to help ensure that your experience with a private tutor is as good as the promise.
To begin with, you will need to find a tutor whom your child really enjoys working with. Private Tuition is all about building effective communication and strong trust and the foundation of this is a friendly, enthusiastic tutor who inspires your child.
As well as the academic essentials, the best tutors will pass on essential life skills: including motivation, time management, organization and self-confidence. They will help your children to see beyond their immediate frustrations, giving them the tools they need to succeed in exams and beyond. With school and university entry becoming increasingly competitive, a holistic approach that tackles all aspects of the child’s education is essential.
All tutors should be specialists in their subject. It could be Common Entrance, 11 plus, 7 plus, GCSE, the International Baccalaureate or help with Oxbridge Applications, UCAS Applications or A Levels. However, just because someone has high grades, it does not follow that they can teach others. Additionally, they need to be able to teach children how to learn independently – rather than just spoon-feeding them. In time, this will lead children to naturally generate their own motivation.
One fact that tutors don’t readily admit is that they occasionally feel as though they are ‘faking it’. They are paid to teach - something they often have no formal qualification to do – mostly by parents who are perfectly able to do so themselves but who are too busy at work, or simply didn’t study the particular subject the child needs help with. It is partly this fear factor that makes tutors empathise with the child so well – but also the fact that they are generous, optimistic people with a refreshing lack of arrogance, stuffy titles or staff rooms to fall back on. They simply have to deliver or they will be dismissed.
One of the best ways to find a good tutor is by word of mouth – if your friend knows someone who taught their children wonderfully then you should definitely investigate. However, there is no guarantee that the relationship will be as effective with your child. Also, what is your friend’s benchmark? Have they used several tutors before? What do you do if your friends don’t have (or don’t admit to having) tutors?
This is the point at which you may want to call a tuition agency. Time and resources are precious and agencies and tutors work quickly. They save time and ultimately, they probably save you money. Good agencies have a ‘fit-factor’ that provides quality control both in the selection of a tutor and their ongoing management. They offer a completely bespoke service and look after everything for you – from advice on schools and universities, right down to travel arrangements. They are also accountable – providing professionally vetted tutors who keep regular diaries so that you can monitor your child’s progress. They (should) also pay the tutor’s tax and NIC and act as their ‘employer’ so that you aren’t liable for anything that goes wrong (check the small print here – many agencies treat their tutors as ‘self employed’ – this gives them a tax advantage, increases their profit margin and passes the buck to you/the tutor if anything does go wrong).
What can you do to help your tutor deliver better results? If you have chosen your tutor correctly, then in theory, you shouldn’t have to do anything! However, there are plenty of past papers, reading lists and exercises you can help your children work through. Your child’s tutor will leave behind a selection of things you can work on together.
Please feel free to call the team at Simply Learning Tuition for more information or to arrange a consultation to discuss any aspect of your child’s education. 0207 350 1981.
Simply Learning Tuition is a bespoke tuition agency providing expert home tuition in London and residential home tuition in the rest of the UK and overseas.
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Oxbridge Application, Ucas Application, Tutors In London, Tuition Agency, International Baccalaureate, Gcse, A Levels, Common Entrance, 7 Plus, 11 Plus, Specialist Tutors, Teaching Children To Learn Independently, Tuition Companies, Private Tuition, Private Tutor, How To Find The Right Tutor,
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 19 Jul 2011 09:07
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NEW IB SURVIVAL HANDBOOK!!
We are delighted to introduce the IB Survival Handbook, co-written by one of our IB Specialist Tutors, Alex McInnes-Ostruch. We think this is an excellent guide that can really help students to understand the intracices of the IB. Alex has been teaching the IB with Simply Learning Tuition for several years.
If you would like to read a free sample chapter, please email katie@simplylearningtuition.co.uk.
The complete book can be bought from www.ibsurvivalhandbook.com. for 19 Euros.
International Baccalaureate Tutors
The IB is a specialist exam that we like very much. Taught properly it can be a broad and versatile step towards degree-level education because it maintains a grasp on both sciences and humanities. However, there is a downside with students occasionally being treated like undergraduates: left to their own devices and expected to be fully self-sufficient in the management of their work.
We offer help with all aspects of IB: specific subject areas (at both Standard and Higher level) time management, preparing for TOK and other essays as well as guidance with the Creative and Active parts of the syllabus.
We'd be delighted to answer your questions on 0207 350 1981, or you can fill in the enquiry form next to this page and we will contact you.
"We were recommended a tutor, James Booth, who was brilliant. He engaged our 18 year old son, and got the 7 out of 7 result, for Higher Level IB Maths that he wanted, which his teachers at school had failed to do (he got 4 out of 7 at school). A huge achievement and we were delighted."
Posted by Jenny Gormley at 12:02 on 26-Jan-2011
"I would like to thoroughly recommend Tanveer to anyone doing I.B Maths. He really helped my son. Thank you" Rosemary, TN15
"I just wish to confirm my appreciation for Erkan's work with andrea. He is very professional and understands very well what andrea needs. I only hope that he will be able to assist andrea at the same level until the ib exam."
Many thanks, Roberta, Chelsea
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International Baccalaureate Tutors, Time Management, Preparing For Tok, Ib Help, Ib Survival Handbook, Ib Tutor, Int Bacc, International Baccalaureate, Tuition, Ib
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 08 Jul 2011 01:07
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Just five schools in England sent more pupils to Oxford and Cambridge over three years than nearly 2,000 others combined, researchers have found.
The Sutton Trust charity has published, for the first time, school-by-school data on entry to higher education.
BBC analysis of the data shows private schools often get more pupils into selective universities than state schools with similar results do.
Universities called for more freedom in offering places to bright state pupils.
The Sutton Trust has combined individual schools' A-level results with data from the university admissions body Ucas.
Its table shows, by individual school, what percentage of pupils went forward into higher education in general, and what percentage went to a list of 30 universities the charity considers "highly selective".
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
A bright student is a bright student is a bright student... it doesn't matter what their school or educational background is, the interview will allow us to pull that out”
Mike Nicholson
Director of undergraduate admissions, Oxford University
Four independent schools - Eton, Westminster, St Paul's Boys and St Paul's Girls - and state-funded Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, together sent 946 pupils to Oxford and Cambridge between 2007 and 2009.
By contrast, 2,000 lower-performing schools combined sent a total of 927 students to the two elite universities, the Sutton Trust found.
Many of these schools sent no pupils at all, or on average fewer than one per year.
The BBC used the data to compare schools with similar average A-level points against each other, and found that the figures suggested a gap remained between independent and state schools' university admissions.
For example, among schools where pupils achieved an average of 801-850 A-level points each (900 is equivalent to three A grades), 26% of the comprehensive school pupils went on to the selective universities, compared with 45% of the independent school pupils.
Continue reading the main story
BBC ANALYSIS IN FULL
DownloadBBC comparison of schools with similar A-level points scores, using data from Sutton Trust report[628kb]
And for schools with 851-900 A-Level points per student, 50% of independent school pupils got places at the selective universities, while only 32% of comprehensive pupils did.
Sutton Trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl said "stark inequalities" in university entrance were driven primarily by the exam results.
Independent and selective state schools tend to dominate the highest A-level grade scores.
But he added that the data "reveals that university chances can vary dramatically for schools with similar average grades".
The Trust also noted that pupils from high attaining independent schools put in more applications to highly selective universities than comprehensive school peers with similar grades.
'Subjects are key'
However, the Russell Group, which represents 20 leading universities, said it was concerned that the Sutton Trust report failed to explain fully the reasons behind the gap.
Universities say A-level subject choice is often a factor in place offers
It said a simple A-level point score does not show what subjects were taken, nor exactly what grades were achieved.
Professor Anna Vignoles of the Institute of Education has researched the issue.
She also notes that students with good grades may still not have studied the required subjects for certain courses.
And she adds that a points average might camouflage wide grade variation within an individual school.
But even so, there is still some disparity in acceptances between independent and state schools with similar grades which could not be explained away, she said.
"In our research, not all of that gap disappears even when you account for subject and choice at A-level."
Mike Nicholson, director of undergraduate admissions at Oxford, said that the university targeted state schools which had little or no history of sending pupils there.
In recent years, state school applications had risen, he added.
During the selection process, the university now flags up candidates with excellent results who are from disadvantaged backgrounds - whether from an under-achieving school, a postcode indicating deprivation, or time spent in the care system.
Such candidates may be fast-tracked to interview.
"A bright student is a bright student is a bright student... it doesn't matter what their school or educational background is, the interview will allow us to pull that out," said Mr Nicholson.
'Damning indictment'
Universities UK, the vice-chancellors' umbrella body, called on the government to demonstrate a "strong will and commitment" in backing the use of such information - sometimes called "contextual data" - about deprived students' backgrounds, in university admissions processes.
In its recent White Paper, the government outlined plans to allow universities to offer as many places as they want to students with AAB grades at A-level.
These must "explicitly allow universities to use contextual data in the admissions process", said UUK president Professor Sir Steve Smith.
"However, we must make sure that efforts to increase the participation rate of disadvantaged students isn't focused solely on a handful of the most competitive courses and universities," he added.
The University and College Union said the report showed that an expansion of places for students with AAB grades "would most likely be filled by students from the most privileged backgrounds".
"This government's higher education policy seems driven by a desire to reserve places at some institutions for the most privileged," said UCU general secretary Sally Hunt.
But the Schools Minister Nick Gibb said the report was a "damning indictment" of "Labour's failure to improve social mobility".
"Despite all their promises, they left hundreds of thousands of children with little to no chance of getting to the best universities," he said.
Mr Gibb said the government was tackling the problem by improving schools and targeting funding at the poorest pupils.
But critics, including Labour, argue that the government's decision to allow universities to charge up to £9,000 per year in tuition fees is likely to put off students from deprived backgrounds.
The fees are paid up front by the government in the form of a loan, which is then paid back after the student graduates and is earning above £21,000 a year.
The Office of Fair Access is due next week to publish the "access agreements" under which universities wanting to charge higher fees commit to targets for recruiting disadvantaged students.
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 23 May 2011 10:05
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This article is taken from the US newspaper, The Huffington Post (Alex Mallory, 11th May 2011) but we thought it might be of interest to families in the UK.
"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime."
"Every so often I receive a phone call from wary parents who have been wrestling with the consequences of private tutoring. Their concern is that tutoring is, at best, a band-aid and, at worst, a crutch that encourages dependence and academic atrophy. In one extreme instance, the mother of a high school sophomore who suffered a low grade in biology paid me -- not to tutor her son -- but, instead, to pitch the benefits of professional academic help to her husband. Convinced that private tutoring is a "slippery slope," the father was certain that a biology tutor would only teach his son that if he made a mess, someone would be there to clean it up and, moreover, this mindset would metastasize into other areas of his son's life. Not everyone is as paranoid, but similar thoughts prevail in the minds of many parents when considering private tutoring.
For most families, it is difficult to have an honest and productive discussion about performance at school. There are usually many layers of misunderstanding and psychological subterfuge. Students are often far more concerned about their intelligence, drive, motivation, and grades than they are willing to admit. In part, it is because they realize how important their performance is to their parents. Adapting a self-handicapping strategy -- not studying, forgetting important study materials at school, or feigning lack of concern -- can function as protective padding; if the student manages to do well without working hard -- great, but if they do poorly, they can blame it on lack of interest or lack of effort. In this situation, the right tutor can break this common counterproductive psychological strategy. They are outside the parent-student loop of antagonism, well positioned to force their students to admit to a poor understanding of material or insufficient preparation. Their one-on-one relationship consistently leads to better performance on assessments and the turnaround is not short-lived either. Students internalize the experience as a link between proper preparation and the feelings of increased self-worth and overall confidence that accompanies receiving a good grade. Consequently, tutoring lends itself to improved attitude and increased effort.
There are other students who do, in fact, try hard and diligently prepare, but are still unsuccessful in achieving the results they want. In such cases, the issue is typically poor self-evaluation. A student can easily closely follow study guidelines and still be unprepared for an exam. Good test taking requires more than rote memorization so the best tutors help their students to accurately evaluate the sufficiency and depth of their own understanding. They force their students to use the basics as a foundation upon which to respond to more sophisticated ideas and questions. They develop their student's ability to make up and answer potential questions on examinations. They teach their students to form connections between different units of material in the same course and understand why a teacher is stressing a particular concept or equation. Clearly, these are not always innate or obvious skills, but, fortunately, they can be taught and perfected by a professional.
"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime."
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 25 Jan 2011 08:01
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The key to effective tuition is to find a tutor that your child really enjoys working with. Private Tuition is all about communication and trust and good tutors will have these qualities in abundance. Many parents ask us to supply London tutors who have very specific skillsets: experience with entrance exams for a particular school, familiarity with a particular exam board or an official teaching certification such as the PGCE. Although we have no hesitation in supplying these tutors, in some cases the tutor with this skill set is not necessarily the tutor who will be the best match for your child. Personality, age and attitude are often more important. Some children like a formal approach, others prefer to leave their teachers at school and learn from someone they can relate to more easily.
As well as the academic essentials, the best tutor will pass on essential life skills: including motivation, time management, organization and self-confidence. They help your children to see beyond their immediate frustrations, giving them the tools they need to succeed in exams and beyond. With school and university entry becoming increasingly competitive, a holistic approach that tackles all aspects of the child’s education is essential.
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The Right Tutor, London Tutors, Best Tutor, Tuition, Private Tuition, Good Tutor, Essential Life Skills, Succeed In Exams, Effective Tuition
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 12 Jan 2011 02:01
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We are planning several new programs for 2010, including a repeat of our highly successful Simply Creative Art Workshop. Later in the year, we will be running polo tutorials in Argentina, combining learning a thrilling sport with private tuition: intensive revision and cultural immersion, all supervised by one of our highly experienced tutors.
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17 Jan 2011 01:01
BY FRANK "When do the polo/school tutorials start - they sound really good?"
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BY Simply Learning Tuition 12 Jan 2011 02:01
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Simply Learning Tuition’s look back at 2010 dispels some common misconceptions about Private Tuition.
According to the press, many parents last year were still wary of admitting that they use a private tutor. The thought of being seen to be ‘spoon feeding’ or pushing their children is a constant worry. At Simply Learning Tuition, we can say this is rarely the reason for employing a tutor. In 2010 only about10% - 15% of our clients were pushing an already high-flying child to do even better. What is actually happening, is that 50%- 60% of our clients are trying to deal with children who’ve fallen behind – either because of problems at school or with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. About 20% are behavioural or developmental problems – essentially the children do not want to learn. Our tutors’ role is therefore often to mentor and encourage the child as well as to address the academic issues. As a result of this, we’ve developed a mentoring program to support tutorials, so far the results have been really positive.
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