In Ireland, new 'Inclusive Special Classes' will start in five secondary schools this September.
The goal is to offer extra support in mainstream settings to students with additional needs.
These 'inclusion bases' are really catching on...
cc @mrjlauder.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/news/2026/04...
But how long do we need to wait?
ChatGPT is almost four years old in the public domain.
The new post-CAR specifications are presumably still some way off.
Coursework has already lost its validity and reliability (having started from a very low base).
🙄
Keeping extended writing coursework in the age of ChatGPT should never be *on* the table.
Utterly absurd it hasn't been scrapped.
Yup, detection is a huge issue with GenAI tools.
Two or more ChatGPT users submitting almost identical answers to the same question is very unlikely given how LLMs work. Whether their answers might be 'similar enough' is perhaps more of a grey area.
US ed tech company Chegg has just been fined $500,000 after it broke the law in Australia by helping university students cheat on their assessments.
Will ChatGPT be next?
ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...
If the 'Experts at hand' service becomes more like an 'Experts are not available right now please hold' service then this will create immense difficulties for the Government's early intervention strategy.
It's also pretty amazing to see Yale savaging their Ivy League counterparts for 'squandering' the chance to sort out appalling practices like legacy admissions.
Too right.
In response to the collapse in trust in higher education across the US, Yale University recently announced that it would eliminate tuition fees for families earning less than $200,000 and cover the full cost of attendance for families earning less than $100,000.
Wow.
fortune.com/2026/04/15/y...
🚨NEW PODCAST🚨
If the student loan system is the problem, is a 'graduate tax' the solution?
@jonathansimons.bsky.social and @johndavidblake.bsky.social join me to explore the pros and cons of switching to an entirely new model for funding Higher Education.
Listen here: insideyoured.com
🚨NEW PODCAST🚨
If the student loan system is the problem, is a 'graduate tax' the solution?
@jonathansimons.bsky.social and @johndavidblake.bsky.social join me to explore the pros and cons of switching to an entirely new model for funding Higher Education.
Listen here: insideyoured.com
Naturally, AI is also going to be a compulsory subject in Indian schools.
No curriculum on AI will remain relevant for more than about three weeks given the current speed of development.
A school curriculum can never keep up with the pace of technological change. Pretending otherwise helps no-one.
India has introduced a new curriculum that proposes some big changes, including:
- making vocational education mandatory for students in Classes 9 (age 14) and 10 (age 15)
- a new two-level system for maths and science (with an optional 'advanced' paper)
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/ne...
In Germany, young people are increasingly rejecting apprenticeships in favour of going to university.
So German employers have started recruiting apprentices from India to be road builders, mechanics, butchers, stonemasons, bakers and more.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
All this came to light as Harvard considers placing a 20% cap on the number of A’s that can be awarded on every course, such has been the devastating impact of grade inflation on the value of their degrees.
Students are unhappy about it.
I say well done Harvard for being willing to take action.
"...course evaluation scores for instructors who’d given harder grades 'plummeted'...."
In other words, Harvard students who weren't given the grades they wanted decided to blame their lecturers.
Grade inflation can be pernicious in so many ways....
www.harvardmagazine.com/university-n...
This is a major problem. Certain high-status institutions are hoovering up students for whom they don't have space or teaching capacity.
It's not good for students, it's driving other universities to disaster and it has none of the benefits of either a planned or a "market" system.
Busy day for me with the launch of my new @hepi-news.bsky.social report on the financial sustainability of the HE sector. Read it here: bit.ly/4mBraMN
Alongside some super press coverage, I also spoke to LBC earlier today about my analysis and findings: youtu.be/iHrvr_pA2lU
Great coverage in The Guardian of my new @hepi-news.bsky.social report.
Read / download the report here: www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/a-de...
Guardian article: www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Very good piece here by Tom.
Tom is right here: big university names have been going bananas for recruitment, soft crashing the required grades and hoovering up all the money. That's not good for transparency, for schools, for A-Levels, for smaller unis, the housing market: for anyone, really.
Great piece by @helenpacker.bsky.social in @timeshighered.bsky.social about my new report on the financial risks facing the HE sector.👇
Just as the banks were banned from taking excessive risks after the 2008 global financial crisis, my new @hepi-news.bsky.social report calls for equivalent measures in Higher Education to prevent a similar crisis from developing.
Read / download the report here:
www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/a-de...
The absurd and unjustified growth in top university grades has undermined the value of a degree as well as damaging the reputation of the HE sector.
My new @hepi-news.bsky.social report explains how to unwind this concerning development:
bit.ly/4mBraMN
Cap student growth to curb ‘risky behaviour’, ministers told: UK universities prioritising ‘rapid expansion’ over sustainability threaten survival of the entire sector, new report warns
https://ow.ly/s0ce50YFzxW
Some research-intensive universities have been hoovering up students from other institutions, even if they don’t have enough accommodation to house them.
Read my new @hepi-news.bsky.social report on the financial sustainability of the HE sector:
bit.ly/4mBraMN
Huge piles of debt pose a significant risk to the sustainability of the HE sector.
Some providers have already reached borrowing levels equivalent to over 100 per cent of their annual income.
My new report with @hepi-news.bsky.social explains more:
www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/a-de...
As I say in my report, "This is undoubtedly an artificial way to conceive of academic standards
but, given the unjustified growth in top degrees in recent years plus the failure of the sector to unwind this unwarranted development, degree classification
caps are now a legitimate intervention."
The unrestrained growth of franchising (subcontracting) in HE is a major cause for concern.
One subcontractor, Global Banking School, grew its franchised provision from 2,140 students in 2019/20 to 32,110 in 2023/24.
Read my new @hepi-news.bsky.social report here:
www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/a-de...
Hi Pam, thanks for the feedback.
FWIW Harvard seems to disagree with you that my proposed approach to grading is bonkers, given the damage caused by grade inflation....
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Over the last decade, Canterbury Christ Church University has almost tripled in size while Arden University has grown by over 3,000%.
My new @hepi-news.bsky.social report on how to curb excessive risk-taking in the HE sector is out now:
www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/a-de...