School and college leavers wake up to A-level results
Pre-pandemic grading standards for A-levels in Wales and Northern Ireland returned in 2024, following England's return to normal grading for GCSEs in 2023.
Education leaders have warned of persistent and stark divides in A-level results between different regions, largely due to the legacy of the pandemic and long-standing socio-economic factors.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson stated the government will not 'stand by and accept the entrenched inequalities' that blight the life chances of many young people.
Many students will use their results to confirm university places, with a record number of 18-year-olds potentially securing their first-choice university, and thousands of clearing places available.
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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
White pupils are the least likely group to get into a top university - with just one in 10 expected to land a spot
White pupils are the least likely group to get into a top university for the third year running, analysis suggests. Official data from the Department for Education (DfE) shows only 11.7 per cent of white pupils are attending the highest-ranking third of universities by age 19. This compares with 12.1 per cent of black pupils, 15.5 per cent of those who are mixed race and 18.6 per cent of Asians. The underperformance of white students is partly driven by British pupils from low-income families – one of the lowest-achieving sub-categories. Only 3 per cent of these pupils made it into 'high-tariff' universities – defined as the top for entry requirements. It comes after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson pledged last week to make raising standards for white working-class pupils a priority. She said it was a 'national disgrace' that so many were 'written off' at school and failed to achieve their potential in exams. Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said: 'It is striking how well young people from the ethnic minorities do in education in this country. The underperformance of white students is partly driven by British pupils from low-income families – one of the lowest-achieving sub-categories. Only 3 per cent of these pupils made it into 'high-tariff' universities – defined as the top for entry requirements (file image) 'Some of those who were born abroad come from countries where if you don't earn, you don't eat. 'They understand the crucial role that education plays in living the good life, whereas young people in this country have grown used to being supported by the state.' The rate of entering university was also lower for British-born pupils than for those who had a migrant background. Entry for native English-speakers was 42.8 per cent, while for those whose first language is not English it was 60.9 per cent. Professor Smithers said the data suggested universities were welcoming to ethnic minorities, following claims from some campaigners that they are institutionally racist. He added: 'The myth of university racism comes from the US and has been taken up by sociology departments in this country, which can become training grounds for activists who spend their years on campus seeking out every small sign that can be interpreted as racism.' The rate of entering university was also lower for British-born pupils than for those who had a migrant background. Entry for native English-speakers was 42.8 per cent, while for those whose first language is not English it was 60.9 per cent A DfE spokesman said: 'This Government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university – regardless of their background. 'We know baked-in inequalities remain in our education system, which is why universities must do more to expand opportunity and improve outcomes for disadvantaged students.' The analysis of 2023/24 data – the latest available – covers pupils who attended English state schools, not those in private schools or Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Rank unfairness of UK today means Starmer's Two Tier Kier nickname has stuck – but here's how he can shed it
FOR those enraged at growing evidence of 'two-tier' Britain, the acquittal of Ricky Jones last week was just the latest depressing example. Here was a Labour councillor being cleared of encouraging violent disorder despite calling for far-right protesters to have their throats slit. 3 3 Reform and the Tories seized on the case as yet another blinding display of courtroom double standards. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wasted no time laying the travesty squarely at the feet of Sir Keir Starmer. In a tweet viewed more than two million times, he said 'as far as I can see, this Labour Government seems to be quite happy with two-tier justice'. Cue howls of anger from online liberals, who breathlessly crowed that not only was he disrespecting the decision of a jury, he was unfairly meting out blame to ministers. 'You ought to know this has nothing to do with them', retorted the arch-Conservative wet Dominic Grieve. 'That is the hallmark of a rabble rouser.' Rank unfairness But people are roused. In fact, they are bloody furious about what they perceive to be rampant 'two-tierism'. The refrain thundered into the political lexicon like a bullet train in the tinderbox aftermath of last year's Southport riots. In that sticky, angry summer, there was a feeling the clunking fist of the British state was being disproportionately brought down upon a certain kind of protester. For a public that routinely watches paedophiles walk free, the case of Lucy Connolly — slung in the slammer for a disgraceful but quite clearly stupid tweet — became a lightning rod. Even now, her 31-month jail sentence is the yardstick held up against some of the more mind-boggling outcomes from our judiciary. 'Two-tier' justice savaged by Kemi Badenoch who blasts 'extraordinary' decision to spare Huw Edwards You can argue the toss over how much blame ministers should shoulder for policing and court decisions. We have an independent judiciary but it is of course Parliament that makes our laws and ministers who make the political weather. Rightly or wrongly, Starmer is the man at the sharp end of the criticism. And much more dangerously for him, allegations of two-tier standards have now stretched well beyond the orbit of crime and seeped into every cranny of public life. It has become a byword for the rank unfairness voters see in modern day Britain. Charges of two-tierism are so common I'd eat my notebook if it is not the 2025 Oxford word of the year. For voters who feel they are being taken for a ride, they now see two-tierism everywhere they look Of all the unfortunate nicknames bestowed upon our Prime Minister, none has stuck quite so solidly as Two Tier Keir. For voters who feel they are being taken for a ride, they now see two-tierism everywhere they look. Ordinary British families struggling to pay the rent watch in fury as undocumented illegal migrants waltz into hotels for free bed and board. Law-abiding citizens paying full whack for council services and leisure activities read revelations in The Sun about small-boat migrants getting discounts. Millions of workers setting their alarm clocks for crack of dawn see an ever-growing number of their countrymen and women signing on for welfare with zero requirements to look for work. Taxpayers squeezed more than ever wonder where the improvement in public services is to show for it. Passengers paying hefty Tube fares rattle with rage as guards turn a blind eye to entitled oiks bumping the barriers. And just last week, we saw Birmingham council tear down St George flags from lamp-posts while turning a blind eye to Palestinian ones. Two-tierism is more than just a buzzword — it captures the mood of a nation fed up with a system they increasingly feel is not on their side. The PM's political enemies are alive to just how damaging the Two Tier Keir narrative has become. Consider how just last year those who brandished allegations of two-tierism were dismissed as cranks and nutjobs, whereas now these are mainstream complaints. Even when Starmer was shoving Netflix show Adolescence down our throats, but neglected to watch a documentary about grooming gangs, he was accused of 'two-tier telly'. How does Sir Keir neutralise these attacks and restore the faith of a nation that loves rules and loathes unfairness? Winning the trust of voters always starts by showing them you get it. Starmer will never himself use the T-word — a refrain adopted mainly by the political Right. And it is unlikely this former lawyer will start openly criticising his old profession, although it is a good first step that he has pledged new legislation to stop dinghy-chasing lawyers weaponising European human-rights laws. Kick up backside Expect him to start wrapping himself up in the language of 'fairness' over the next few months, though, as he tries to show he does in fact get it. He tweeted yesterday: 'I will do what it takes to uphold the law and ensure fairness for the British people. 'If someone doesn't have the right to be in this country, we won't allow them to stay.' Which is all well and good, but the rhetoric has to be matched by results. Whitehall departments have been given a kick up the backside to deliver positive stories about this Government to sell. At a recent summer bash, No10 chiefs told Cabinet aides that the Health, Treasury and Environment departments had churned out the most 'top of the grid' stories — a pointed reminder to slackers to up their game. Stopping the boats, closing hotels, driving living standards, going after genuine criminals and getting more people into work — voters don't ask the world of their politicians, they just want the basics done right so they can get on in life. Sir Keir needs to restore that uniquely British sense of fairness — or it could all end in tiers. NEVER wrestle with a pig – you both get dirty but the pig likes it. I fear Sir Keir Starmer's latest mud-slinging campaign against Nigel Farage could see him end up on the wrong end of that old political slogan. 3 New Labour attack ads claim the Reform leader 'wants to make it easier to share revenge porn online' and would 'put women and girls at risk'. Another one attempts to portray him as best mates with social media misogynist Andrew Tate. It all comes shortly after ministers lampooned Farage, right, as 'on the side' of modern day Jimmy Saviles. Politics can be a dirty business and sometimes it pays dividends to go below the belt. But if the gloves are off, the PM should not be surprised if he now gets hit back twice as hard. And Reform are hardly the sort who will pull their punches. I suspect the real reason Labour has ratcheted up the criticism is that nothing else is sticking to Teflon Nige, or knocking him off his perch atop the polls. A No10 insider recently told me their attempts to undermine the costs of Farage's policies were futile. They said: 'We are so far out from a general election that nobody cares about whether the sums add up. It's all vibes.'
Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Telegraph
Corbyn was wrong to ‘capitulate' over anti-Semitism, says Sultana
Jeremy Corbyn 'capitulated' over anti-Semitism as Labour leader, the co-founder of his new political party has claimed. Zarah Sultana, who launched a new hard-Left movement with Mr Corbyn last month, said he was wrong to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. The definition includes the examples of holding Jews responsible for the actions of Israel and comparing its policy to that of the Nazis. On Sunday night, the Board of Deputies of British Jews accused Ms Sultana of a 'grave insult' to the Jewish community and questioned her 'wider commitment' to anti-racism. Labour initially refused to accept the IHRA wording under Mr Corbyn, whose five-year leadership of the party was repeatedly dogged by complaints of anti-Semitism. Following a backlash, it eventually incorporated all 11 examples in the IHRA definition in 2018, including a line warning against claiming the existence of Israel as a state was a 'racist endeavour'. In an interview with The New Left Review, Ms Sultana was asked how Mr Corbyn's time in charge of Labour from 2015 to 2020 should be adapted for the present day. She replied: 'I think we're in a very different political moment. We have to build on the strengths of Corbynism – its energy, mass appeal and bold policy platform – and we also have to recognise its limitations. 'It capitulated to the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which famously equates it with anti-Zionism and which even its lead author Kenneth Stern has now publicly criticised.' Andrew Gilbert, the vice-president of the Board of Deputies, said: 'The IHRA definition has been adopted by the government and public institutions in this country and around the world, and is supported by the overwhelming majority of British Jews as it is clear and measured in defining anti-Semitism. 'Calling the recognition of the IHRA definition of antisemitism a 'capitulation' is a grave insult. Labour's real betrayal under Corbyn was unlawfully harassing and discriminating against Jews. 'Those who seek to delegitimise and mis-define the IHRA definition in this way prove themselves to be no friend to the Jewish community and also all into question their wider commitment to anti-racism, the wellbeing of the Jewish community and social cohesion.' A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism added: 'If Jews do not have the right to define the hatred that targets them, then who does? Does Zarah Sultana think that it should be herself?' Alex Hearn, the director of Labour Against Antisemitism, said: 'Zarah Sultana has fundamentally misrepresented the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. It is unsurprising that she opposes it, given her history. 'There should be no place in a mainstream political party for the likes of Ms Sultana, and it is surprising that the Labour Party tolerated her for so long. 'Hopefully she will remain on the fringes of politics for the remainder of her career, which is where her extremist views belong.' In the same interview, Ms Sultana referred to Israel as a 'genocidal apartheid state' and said Sir Keir Starmer should have stopped arms sales to the country long ago. A Labour source said: 'The electorate has twice made their view clear about a Jeremy Corbyn-led party. 'Keir Starmer's Labour Party rightly tore anti-Semitism out at its roots. Corbyn almost led the Party to extinction. We're not going back.' Sir Keir faced a backlash over his refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, which broke out after Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis on Oct 7 2023. Labour has shed significant amounts of support among Muslim and Left-wing voters at every election since the start of the conflict. Launching their party last month with the temporary name of 'Your Party', Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana made clear pro-Palestinian activism would be a central part of its policy platform. They said: 'We believe in the radical idea that all human life has equal value. That is why we defend the right to protest for Palestine. 'That is why we demand an end to all arms sales to Israel. And that is why we will carry on campaigning for the only path to peace: a free and independent Palestine.' Ms Sultana's remarks came as she also claimed her and Mr Corbyn's new party was currently too much of a 'boys' club'. She is currently the only female MP out of the six independents who will eventually represent the new party in the Commons. Alongside Mr Corbyn, the others are Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, all of whom were elected on a pro-Gaza ticket at the general election last year. Ms Sultana insisted that the new organisation 'can't just be led by MPs', adding: 'Right now there are six of us MPs in the Independent Alliance, five of whom are men. 'This shouldn't be what our party looks like going forward, so the committee that's organising the conference should be gender balanced as well as racially and regionally diverse, all with an equal stake and voting rights. Anything less would be a boys' club.' Later in the interview, Ms Sultana expressed her hope that her new party would represent 'a politics of fun and joy'. 'One of the best parts of Corbynism was the rallies and the music and the performances,' she said. 'We need to get that back.'
