Competition watchdog to probe Carlsberg-Marston’s tie-up August 19, 2020 The competition watchdog today said it has opened a probe into a proposed £780m tie-up between beer giants Carlsberg and Marston’s. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was considering whether the deal would create a relevant merger situation and damage competition. In May the two companies announced plans to combine their brewing businesses [...]
A-levels: pupils in England to receive predicted grades after major U-turn August 17, 2020 Pupils in England will receive teacher predicted grades for their A-level results after a major government U-turn. Teacher predicted grades will also be used for the upcoming GCSE results. Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for young people who were unable to take their exams. “We worked with Ofqual [...]
GCSE results in Northern Ireland to be based on predicted grades August 17, 2020 Pupils in Northern Ireland will receive teacher predicted grades for their GCSEs, the education minister said. Ahead of the publication of GCSE results on Thursday education minister Peter Weir said that “exceptional circumstances” meant that pupils would receive predicted grades as their final mark. “Having received advice from CCEA and listened to the concerns of [...]
University is still the safest bet to a good life August 14, 2020 Every year without fail, school leavers and their parents have to hear the boasting, masquerading as reassurance, of some of society’s success stories. Here’s Jeremy Clarkson: “I got a C and 2 Us and I’m currently building a large house with far reaching views of the Cotswolds.” Lord Sugar goes further: “University is a waste [...]
Labour call for government U-turn on A-levels ‘fiasco’ August 14, 2020 The Labour Party has called today for the government to scrap its system for allocating A-level results after thousands of students’ results were downgraded by the statistical model used to moderate grades. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “The unprecedented and chaotic circumstances created by the UK government’s mishandling of education during recent months mean [...]
Getting young people back to school in September is critical to their health August 14, 2020 Being at school is good for health. Even now, in the middle of a pandemic, schools can be important for wellbeing by keeping a sense of normality. Yet the parents, students and teachers weighing up the risks on how safe classrooms will be for young people in September might not be aware of the strong [...]
The City View: Euan Blair on why apprenticeships are key to unlocking talent August 14, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by Euan Blair, co-founder of tech firm Whitehat which matches apprentices with employers including Facebook, Morgan Stanley and other blue chip giants. Euan is on a mission to change the way people think about apprenticeships and to provide opportunities for disadvantaged young people [...]
The cold blast of popular opinion: ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s takes on the home secretary August 13, 2020 It was a young political journalist who summed up one of the oddest political storms of the summer so far when she tweeted on Wednesday: “Who had ‘MP argues with ice cream company’ on their 2020 bingo card?” In case you missed it, the story in brief: Priti Patel, the home secretary, has been making [...]
Brits optimistic about returning to work despite safety concerns August 13, 2020 British workers are largely optimistic about returning to the office, though concerns remain over whether employers will put the right safety measures in place. Just under half of UK employees said they felt positive about going back to work, while less than one in five said they felt negative, according to a new survey. The [...]
Our university sector was broken long before Covid-19 August 13, 2020 UK higher education has reached a dead end. In the short term, the Covid-19 pandemic has created a huge hole in the current income of institutions, amounting to several billion pounds. In the longer term, Covid will probably result in a sustained decline in several sources of university income, above all fees from overseas students. [...]