Educations Hub: July 2011

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

BSc Regular Part IGovt Postgraduate College For Women Mardan

BSc Regular Part I, Govt Postgraduate College, For Women Mardan, Mardan University B.A B.S.C Part 1 Result 2011 Abdul Wali Khan University AWKU,

Mardan University B.A B.S.C Part 2 Result 2011

MARDAN: The Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU) Mardan Monday announced results of BA and BSc annual examination 2011. A total of 18,997 candidates appeared in the examination in which 7,038 were declared successful with percentage of 37%.
According to the press release issued by Controller of Examination, Sara Khatoon, of Government Postgraduate Girls College Mardan stood first in the Science Group by getting 474 marks

Mardan University B.A B.S.C Part 1 Result 2011

KU B.Com Part 1 External Annual Exam 2010

Karachi: 20 Aug: Karachi University examination department has announced result of B.Com part-I (External) Annual Examination 2010.
Candidates bearing the following Seat Numbers are hereby declared to have Passed B.COM. PART- I ( External ) Annual Examination 2010.
EXTERNAL CANDIDATES
225013 | 225014 | 225039 | 225048 | 225050
| 225060 | 225074
225080 | 225084 | 225128 | 225131 | 225183
| 225184 | 225195
225209 | 225224 | 225226 | 225228 | 225230
| 225233 | 225247
225283 | 225286 | 225320 | 225340 225379
| 225400 225451
225483 | 225500 | 225515 | 225519 | 225531
| 225545 | 225568
225578 | 225598 | 225626 | 225652 | 225694
| 225695 | 225697
225706 | 225715 | 225732 | 225734 | 225767
| 225786 | 225808
225811 225815 225844 225854 225866
225873 225876
225891 | 225900 | 225909 | 225927 | 225935
| 225959 | 225968
225969 | 225981 | 225982 | 225984 | 225986
| 226004 | 226037
226051 | 226060 | 226115 | 226122 | 226126
| 226139 | 226143
226145 | 226148 | 226179 | 226189 | 226196
| 226232 | 226243
226256 | 226257 | 226267 | 226278 | 226294
| 226311 | 226321
226326 | 226340 | 226341 | 226344 | 226357
| 226422 | 226425
226433 | 226462 226473 226476 226478
226508 226515
226517 | 226518 | 226521 | 226522 | 226534
| 226577 | 226584
226612 | 226617 | 226627 | 226671 | 226706
| 226708 | 226713
226731 | 226732 | 226736 | 226737 | 226740
| 226814 | 226820
226821 226822 226826 226829 226833
226835 226850
226871 | 226883 | 226887 | 226907 | 226911
| 226912 | 226915
226920 | 226922 | 226923 | 226925 | 226961
| 226962 | 226963
226969 | 226987 | 227001 | 227026 | 227040
| 227056 | 227061
227094 | 227115 | 227121 | 227145 | 227156
| 227160 | 227167
227168 | 227190 | 227197 | 227200 | 227204
| 227206 | 227207
227212 | 227219 | 227224 | 227232 | 227237
| 227240 | 227245
227254 | 227265 227276 227278 227282
227286 227309
227328 | 227329 | 227330 | 227343 | 227344
| 227346 | 227348
227352 | 227355 | 227357 | 227365 | 227377
| 227384 | 227394
227431 | 227436 | 227439 | 227446 | 227452
| 227474 | 227478
227489 | 227492 | 227502 | 227529 | 227538
| 227565 | 227566
227572 | 227574 | 227579 | 227580 | 227600
| 227601 | 227639
227647 | 227664 | 227673 | 227688 | 227710
| 227712 | 227715
227750 | 227758 | 227773 | 227795 227800
| 227820 227829
227852 | 227856 | 227880 | 227884 | 227890
| 227913 | 227916
227920 | 227943 | 227946 | 227952 | 227966
| 227975 | 227976
227977 | 228028 | 228031 | 228037 | 228041
| 228061 | 228068
228077 228081 228092 228093 228095
228096 228099
228119 | 228124 | 228125 | 228140 | 228172
| 228174 | 228204
228209 | 228218 | 228224 | 228228 | 228239
| 228269 | 228275
228282 | 228284 | 228292 | 228295 | 228296
| 228310 | 228314
228338 | 228340 | 228356 | 228370 | 228371
| 228415 | 228441
228449 | 228463 | 228510 | 228512 | 228514
| 228520 | 228526
228542 | 228543 | 228544 | 228548 | 228555
| 228556 | 228567
228571 | 228574 | 228584 | 228592 228594
| 228598 228599
228600 | 228602 | 228606 | 228619 | 228632
| 228652 | 228669
228676 | 228693 | 228734 | 228759 | 228764
| 228768 | 228798
228801 | 228807 | 228810 | 228816 | 228819
| 228857 | 228862
228868 228895 228898 228903 228904
228906 228909
228971 | 229013 | 229030 | 229048 | 229049
| 229052 | 229061
229071 | 229077 | 229091 | 229102 | 229124
| 229133 | 229139
229147 | 229154 | 229164 | 229171 | 229173
| 229175 | 229179
229184 | 229196 | 229202 | 229204 | 229207
| 229210 | 229235
229237 | 229239 | 229254 | 229255 | 229259
| 229264 | 229270
229276 | 229280 | 229291 | 229292 | 229293
| 229296 | 229301
229303 | 229309 229312 229315 229320
229327 229342
229343 | 229362 | 229364 | 229366 | 229368
| 229373 | 229375
229376 | 229383 | 229385 | 229387 | 229390
| 229391 | 229396
229397 | 229404 | 229416 | 229433 | 229439
| 229446 | 229471
229483 229486 229502 229503 229504
229508 229517
229524 | 229525 | 229540 | 229544 | 229548
| 229555 | 229556
229557 | 229560 | 229561 | 229563 | 229565
| 229567 | 229568
229572 | 229577 | 229581 | 229582 | 229584
| 229586 | 229589
229591 | 229596 | 229597 | 229600 | 229609
| 229616 | 229619
229633 | 229635 | 229638 | 229640 | 229644
| 229655 | 229656
229666 | 229672 | 229676 | 229680 | 229682
| 229685 | 229697
229699 | 229700 229702 229703 229714
229721 229722
229723 | 229739 | 229740 | 229741 | 229743
| 229744 | 229753
229759 | 229762 | 229763 | 229767 | 229780
| 229783 | 229788
229792 | 229796 | 229801 | 229808 | 229812
| 229816 | 229820
229821 | 229823 | 229827 | 229829 | 229835
| 229836 | 229840
229843 | 229846 | 229847 | 229848 | 229849
| 229851 | 229852
229853 | 229856 | 229857 | 229862 | 229864
| 229867 | 229868
229871 | 229873 | 229874 | 229878 229879
| 229881 229883
229884 | 229886 | 229887 | 229889 | 229892
| 229893 | 229908
229910 | 229913 | 229914 | 229916 | 229952
| 229953 | 229966
229973 229980 229982 229995 229996
229998 230010
230028 | 230036 | 230068 | 230070 | 230074
| 230089 | 230108
230113 | 230115 | 230129 | 230153 | 230158
| 230169 | 230173
230179 | 230184 | 230185 | 230188 | 230189
| 230211 | 230218
230223 | 230224 | 230238 | 230239 | 230240
| 230244 | 230247
230249 | 230257 | 230269 | 230272 | 230278
| 230282 | 230300
230321 | 230334 | 230353 | 230416 | 230438
| 230443 | 230459
230461 | 230464 | 230498 | 230499 230507
| 230517 230518
230523 | 230528 | 230534 | 230545 | 230551
| 230560 | 230570
230606 | 230609 | 230610 | 230621 | 230632
| 230635 | 230638
230641 | 230643 | 230659 | 230661 | 230682
| 230690 | 230699
230704 230710 230711 230724 230727
230762 230766
230822 | 230836 | 230844 | 230845 | 230897
| 230898 | 230916
230922 | 230929 | 230930 | 230935 | 230937
| 230946 | 230949
230953 | 230960 | 230966 | 230973 | 230978
| 230979 | 230986
230990 | 231006 | 231010 | 231011 | 231027
| 231040 | 231045
231061 | 231068 | 231071 | 231073 | 231076
| 231095 | 231100
231104 | 231107 | 231111 | 231115 | 231121
| 231127 | 231128
231155 | 231184 231190 231200 231202
231209 231212
231214 | 231223 | 231226 | 231227 | 231233
| 231234 | 231242
231244 | 231246 | 231248 | 231255 | 231257
| 231258 | 231261
231267 | 231272 | 231281 | 231282 | 231283
| 231284 | 231287
231291 231306 231311 231318 231319
231321 231324
231326 | 231332 | 231338 | 231347 | 231360
| 231363 | 231369
231374 | 231383 | 231391 | 231396 | 231401
| 231406 | 231413
231414 | 231424 | 231427 | 231428 | 231435
| 231448 | 231449
231467 | 231470 | 231478 | 231483 | 231486
| 231496 | 231499
231522 | 231557 | 231565 | 231625 | 231633
| 231648 | 231660
231664 | 231684 | 231707 | 231711 | 231725
| 231731 | 231740
231760 | 231762 231770 231771 231785
231789 231803
231804 | 231806 | 231818 | 231821 | 231835
| 231843 | 231844
231855 | 231857 | 231870 | 231877 | 231891
| 231896 | 231898
231902 | 231905 | 231906 | 231908 | 231916
| 231921 | 231923
231925 | 231949 | 231959 | 231973 | 231993
| 232000 | 232007
232014 | 232016 | 232026 | 232032 | 232052
| 232065 | 232075
232079 | 232082 | 232083 | 232087 | 232092
| 232093 | 232100
232106 | 232108 | 232113 | 232114 232116
| 232117 232121
232163 | 232167 | 232173 | 232222 | 232278
| 232283 | 232324
232345 | 232385 | 232429 | 232434 | 232446
| 232448 | 232453
232461 232465 232497 232557 232562
232574 232576
232583 | 232598 | 232601 | 232603 | 232604
| 232615 | 232640
232649 | 232661 | 232678 | 232682 | 232695
| 232703 | 232722
232742 | 235002 | 235005 | 235007 | 235011
| 235013 | 235018
235019 | 235026 | 235037 | 235038 | 235044
| 235046 | 235047
235048 | 235049 | 235053 | 235054 | 235060
| 235061 | 236003
236004 | 236005 | 236006 | 236007 | 236008
| 236011 | 236014
236024 | 236026 | 236029 | 236036 236039
| 236042 236045
236049 | 236053 | 236055 | 236081 | 236105
| 236123 | 236130
236145 | 236152 | 236166 | 236703 | 236723
| 236727 | 236731
236732 | 236735 | 236738 | 236744 | 236746
| 236749 | 236750
236752 237415 237418 237423 237435
237436 237451
237453 | 237454 | XXX | XXX | XXX
| XXX | XXX
225388, 225449, 228907, 228910, 228911, 228912, 228913, 228914, 228915, 228916,
228917, 228918, 228919, 228920, 228921,
228922, 228923, 228924, 228925, 228926, 228927, 228928, 228929, 228930, 228931,
228932, 228933, 228934, 228936, 228937,
228938, 228939, 228942, 228943, 228944, 228945, 228947, 228948, 228949, 228950,
228951, 228952, 228953, 228954, 228955,
228956, 228957, 228958, 228959, 228960, 228961, 228962, 228963, 228964, 228965,
228966, 228967, 228968, 228969, 228970,
228981, 228982, 228983, 228984, 228985, 228986, 228987, 228988, 228989, 228990,
228991, 228992, 228993, 228994, 228995,
228996, 228998, 228999, 229000, 229003, 229004, 229005, 229006, 229007, 229008,
229009, 229010, 229011, 229016, 229017,
229019, 229020, 229021, 229022, 229023, 229026, 229027, 229028, 229029, 229031,
229033, 229034, 229035, 229036, 229038,
229039, 229040, 229041, 229042, 229043, 229511, 231929, 231930, 231931, 231932,
231933, 231934, 231935, 231936, 231937,
231938, 231939, 231940, 231941, 231942, 231945, 231946, 231950, 231952, 231953,
231954, 231956, 231957, 231958, 231960,
231962, 231963, 231964, 231965, 231966, 231967, 231968, 231969, 231970, 231971,
231972, 231974, 231975, 231976, 231978,
231979, 231980, 231981, 231982, 231983, 231984, 231985, 231986, 231989, 231990,
231991, 232189, 232194, 232195, 232196,
232197, 232198, 232199, 232200, 232201, 232203, 232208, 232209, 232211, 232213,
232215, 232216, 232217, 232218, 232219,
232220, 232221, 232225, 232226, 232227, 232230, 232231, 232232, 232233, 232234,
232236, 232237, 232238, 232239, 232241,
232244, 232245, 232249, 232250, 232251, 232252, 232253, 232254, 232255, 232256,
232257, 232258, 232259, 232260, 232261,
232262, 232263, 232264, 232286, 232287, 232288, 232289, 232290, 232291, 232292,
232293, 232294, 232295, 232296, 232300,
232301, 232302, 232303, 232304, 232305, 232306, 232307, 232308, 232309, 232310,
232313, 232319, 232320, 232321, 232325,
232326, 232327, 232328, 232329, 232330, 232331, 232332, 232333, 232334, 232335,
232336, 232337, 232338, 232340, 232341,
232342, 232343, 232344, 232347, 232348, 232349, 232351, 232355, 232356, 232357,
232358, 232360, 232361, 232362, 232363,
232364, 232365, 232366, 232367, 232368, 232369, 232370, 232373, 232377, 232378,
232379, 232380, 232381, 232391, 232392,
232393, 232394, 232395, 232396, 232397, 232398, 232399, 232400, 232401, 232402,
232403, 232404, 232405, 232406, 232407,
232408, 232409, 232410, 232411, 232412, 232413, 232414, 232415, 232416, 232417,
232419, 232420, 232421, 232422, 232423,
232424, 232425, 232426, 232427, 232428, 232435, 232436, 232437, 232438, 232439,
232440, 232441, 232450, 232451, 232454,
232455, 232456, 232457, 232458, 232460, 232462, 232463, 232466, 232468, 232469,
232470, 232471, 232472, 232473, 232474,
232475, 232476, 232478, 232479, 232480, 232481, 232487, 232489, 232490, 232495,
232496, 232498, 232499, 232500, 232501,
232506, 232507, 232508, 232509, 232510, 232517, 232518, 232519, 232520, 232521,
232522, 232523, 232524, 232525, 232526,
232528, 232529, 232530, 232531, 232532, 232534, 232535, 232536, 232537, 232538,
232539, 232540, 232542, 232543, 232544,
232545, 232546, 232547, 232561, 232563, 232565, 232566, 232568, 232570, 232572,
232577, 232578, 232581, 232582, 232585,
232586, 232587, 232588, 232589, 232590, 232591, 232594, 232595, 232607, 232608,
232609, 232610, 232611, 232612, 232613,
232617, 232618, 232619, 232621, 232622, 232624, 232625, 232627, 232628, 232629,
232631, 232632, 232633, 232635, 232636,
232637, 232638, 232639, 232641, 232642, 232643, 232648, 232651, 232652, 232653,
232654, 232655, 232656, 232658, 232663,
232664, 232665, 232668, 232670, 232671, 232672, 232673, 232674, 232679, 232680,
232681, 232683, 232684, 232686, 232687,
232688, 232689, 232690, 232691, 232692, 232693, 232694, 232697, 232698, 232699,
232700, 232701, 232702, 232704, 232705,
232707, 232708, 232709, 232711, 232712, 232713, 232714, 232715, 232718, 232719,
232721, 232723, 232724, 232725, 232726,
232727, 232730, 232732, 232733, 232734, 232735, 232737, 232738, 232739, 232740,
232744, 232745, 232746, 232749, 232751,
232752, 232753, 232754, 232755, 232758, 232759, 232760, 232761, 236034, 236068,
236069, 236070, 236074, 236075, 236076,
236077, 236078, 236079, 236080, 236084, 236085, 236086, 236087, 236088, 236093,
236094, 236095, 236096, 236097, 236098,
236099, 236100, 236101, 236102, 236103, 236108, 236109, 236111, 236112, 236113,
236114, 236115, 236119, 236120, 236121,
236124, 236125, 236128, 236129, 236131, 236132, 236134, 236136, 236137, 236140,
236142, 236148, 236149, 236150, 236153,
236154, 236156, 236157, 236159, 236161, 236163, 236164, 236165, 236167, 236740,
236741, 236742, 236745, 236747, 236748,
236753, 236754, 236755, 236756, 236757, 236758, 236759, 236760, 236761, 236762,
236764, 236765, 236766, 236768, 236771,
236772, 236774, 236776, 236777, 236779, 236782, 236783, 236784, 236786, 236788,
236789, 236791, 236792, 236793, 236794,
237426, 237427, 237428, 237432, 237433, 237437, 237438, 237439, 237440, 237441,
237442, 237443, 237444, 237445, 237446,
237447, 237449, 237452, 237458.
225336, 225393, 225414, 225897, 225955, 225962, 225970, 227201, 227202, 227209,
227214, 227215, 227223, 227228, 227246,
227252, 227259, 227268, 227269, 227274, 227294, 227295, 227303, 227310, 227312,
227319, 227325, 227347, 227354, 227360,
227362, 227370, 227376, 227382, 227386, 227391, 228226, 228238, 228278, 228293,
228309, 228319, 228366, 228377, 228392,
228400, 228781, 228836, 228941, 229103, 229109, 229111, 229114, 229120, 229125,
229135, 229145, 229165, 229183, 229197,
231621, 231713, 231756, 231772, 232549.
STATISTICS OF THE RESULT
APPLIED APPEARD PASSED FAILED PASS PERCENTAGE
8137 7483 949 6534 12.68 %

PU begins probe into another plagiarism case

LAHORE, Aug 23: The Punjab University administration has identified a case of plagiarism involving a couple.
The couple — Prof Dr Zaid Mahmood of Punjab Universitys Institute of Chemistry and his wife Associate Professor Dr Syeda Rubina Gilani of University of Engineering and Technology’s Chemistry Department — produced two research papers containing material from three research papers already published in international journals.

Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has formed a three-member committee headed by Punjab Director Public Instruction (Colleges) Dr Jalil Tariq to probe the alleged plagiarism case and fix the responsibility. The committee has Lahore College for Women University Chemistry Department Chairperson Prof Dr Bushra Khan and Punjab University Additional Registrar Prof Dr Aurangzeb Alamgir as members.

The committee has been given documents, which say Prof Mahmood (principal author) and Dr Gilani (co-author) produced research papers titled “Synthesis and Characterisation of E-Bonded Phenyle-Palladium Complexes with Triphenylantimony Ligands” and “Synthesis and Characterisation of Allyl Complexes of Molybdenum with Schiff Base Ligands” and published these in the Pakistan Journal of Scientific Research in 2002.

However, it has been reported that the first paper was plagiarised from two research papers “Substitution reactions of trans …” and “Carbon-antimony bond fission in reactions of triphenylantimony with palladium(II)…” published in Polyhedron and Journal of Organometallic Chemistry in November 1998 and May 1996, respectively. These papers were published by Ayfer Mentes, Ramond D.W. Kemmitt, John Fawcett and David R. Russel.

Reports say the second paper was plagiarised from a research paper titled “Allyl complexes of molybdenum with
Schiff base ligands. The crystal structures of…” published in Journal of Organometallic Chemistry in 2002 by the same authors.

The complaints submitted to the PU vice-chancellor say “as far as the concepts of these papers are concerned, they are 100 per cent similar. As far as data and results/paper material is concerned, it is approximately more than 80 per cent copied”. In the first paper the complaint says, “Mr and Mrs Mahmood have tried to change the language of the discussion”. In the second paper, the complaint says: “Even the discussion has been copied. If we go into the detail of these papers, the original work of both papers has been copied 100 per cent.”

Probe committee convener Dr Jalil Tariq said the committee held a meeting and reviewed the ‘plagiarised’ research papers.

He said the papers were almost 80 per cent plagiarised. He said the committee’s maiden meeting decided to send a notice to Prof Mahmood and seek a written reply from him. He said his office had received Prof Mahmood’s written reply. He said the committee had found another research paper of Prof Mahmood plagiarised. He said the UET administration would take up the case against Prof Mahmood’s wife.

Prof Mahmood said the university had initiated the plagiarism case against him to malign him. He said there were clear instructions from the Higher Education Commission that no plagiarism case should be initiated involving research papers published before 2007.

Prof Mahmood said the research papers in question had zero impact and he did not claim any promotion on the basis of these papers. “Currently, I am serving as professor under the Tenure Track System and my all research papers were scanned by the HEC before offering me the TTS post,” he said.Dawn.

CAP Committee 2011 placement forms

Karachi, Aug 22: The deadline for selling and submitting of placement forms for admission in six faculties, including Pre-Engineering, Pre-Medical, Computer Science, Commerce, Humanities, and Home Economics in 132 government colleges (67 male and 65 female) and 24 Higher Secondary Schools (12 male and 12 female), have been extended to August 25, the Chairman, Centralised Admission Policy (CAP) Committee-2011, Professor Dr Nasir Ansar said.

The brochure is available against a payment of Rs60 and available at 41 branches of the Allied Bank Limited in 18 towns of the city, he further said.

As many as 100015 seats are available in six different faculties, including Pre-Engineering, Pre-Medical, Computer Science, Commerce, Humanities, and Home Economics. Meanwhile, the number of seats could be increased in the colleges, if there is any need in this regard, he added.

The deadline has been extended owing to the unavoidable unusual circumstances in the city, officials at education department said. Students are encouraged to apply at earliest, they added. The news.

Successful lecturers to get offer letters on August 24

KARACHI: Offer letters to the successful lecturers (male and female), who appeared in the examination of Sindh Public Service Commission, will be given on August 24 instead of the initially announced date of August 22, said a spokesman of the Education Department in a handout issued here Saturday. The decision to delay the distribution of letters has been taken in view of Youm-e-Ali (AS) processions to be taken out on August 22. However, the time and venue will remain the same. ppi

PVTC-qualified youth get business tools

LAHORE:Continuation its entrepreneurship program aimed at empowering young people to use their technical skills for self-employment, Jazba Foundation on Monday provided tools to 45 young men and woman to start their businesses. The tools provision ceremony was held at a local club. Donors, Punjab Vocational Training Council(PVTC) Chairman Faisal Ijaz Khan, Jazba team members including Lt-Gen Khalid Maqboo (retd) attended the ceremony at a local club where business tools were provided to 45 individuals who have completed their diplomas from the PVTC in refrigeration, dressmaking, plumbing, electricity, and artificial insemination.The news.

Karachi SSC suppl exam forms

KARACHI, Aug 23: The registration/permission forms for Class IX, X and combined supplementary examination-2011 (both private and regular candidates) can be submitted up to Sept 10 without a late fee, according to an announcement made by the Board of Secondary Education Karachi on Monday.
BSEK secretary Hoor Mazhar said that the last date with a late fee was Sept 30.
The forms could be obtained from the designated banks’ counters at the board office, she added.—APP.

Synchrotron shines in audit

The Australian Synchrotron in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. Funding for the facility beyond June next year is uncertain. Picture: Mike Keating. Source: HWT Image Library

THE Melbourne-based synchrotron, a facility that offers scientists a powerful light source for research, has achieved pretty much what it was supposed to, according to Victoria's auditor-general Des Pearson.

Reviewing public sector investment in biotechnology, Mr Pearson's report says the synchrotron has "achieved benefits in line with the original expectations of the government".

Victoria put $207.2 million into the Clayton facility and the federal government has contributed $115m, but funding beyond June next year is uncertain.

A project championed by former premier John Brumby, the synchrotron was given an unusual corporate structure and has no commonwealth representation on the board. The facility went through a crisis of governance in 2009-10.

Synchrotron director Keith Nugent said the auditor-general's "reasonably positive" report, tabled earlier this month, should help the facility make its case for more money.

"We have delivered on the expectations for us; that is important for ongoing funding," Professor Nugent said. He understood federal-state talks about the future of the synchrotron were "proceeding productively".

Before the facility opened in 2007, Australian researchers had to take their projects overseas.

The brilliant light of a synchrotron is captured by a series of beamlines, which are designed to allow myriad experiments in fields such as physics, medicine and biology.

Mr Pearson's report endorses the view that the synchrotron is a world-class facility and represents good value for money. However, it says the facility needs to better articulate and measure the benefits it delivers.

Its original objectives included being "a national icon of leading- edge science, of pivotal importance within the research structure of Australia".

It also was supposed to "boost economic development by increasing opportunities for innovation and commercialisation, and encouraging the clustering of research-based industries".

Professor Nugent said despite the uncertain outlook, the turnover in scientific staff at the synchrotron had been very low. "I think they believe in the future of the facility," he said. "Morale is high and the scientific activity is world-leading."

Research results raise concerns

Frank Larkins at the University of Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis Source: The Australian

LESS than one-third of universities were at world standard in some of the disciplines evaluated in the recent audit of research quality.

But analyst Frank Larkins's crunching of Excellence in Research for Australia results also revealed , in six of the 25 disciplines, 80 per cent of universities were world standard or above, and in 18 disciplines 50 per cent were at or above world standard.

"The areas that would worry us most are those [in] social sciences because that's where we have education, economics, cultural studies, commerce management and tourism," Professor Larkins said.

Professor Larkins said if the world benchmarks against which these below par performances were judged were sound, it was a worrying outcome, given the significant amount of undergraduate teaching in them.

Professor Larkins acknowledged the magnitude of the task of assessing research across 25 disciplines and many more fields for all universities, but was critical of the Australian Research Council's failure to publish world benchmarks against which the research was measured.

In an article in the LH Martin Institute newsletter today, he argues this has compromised the federal government's audit of research quality.

But ARC chief executive Margaret Sheil said a copy of the data was kept in the office of every deputy vice-chancellor, research, in the country. "We used citation benchmarks from [bibliometrics company] Scopus, but to publish them would have cost us extra money," Professor Sheil said.

She also said the benchmarks were not the only piece of information considered by the research evaluation committees but, had the ARC released them, people would "not [have looked] at anything else".

As such, the strategy not to publish was part of maintaining the integrity of the ERA process. Further, citation benchmarks were not used in every discipline and, where they were, they were moderated by expert panels.

Professor Larkins estimates the costs of the ERA process so far to be $100 million, including outlays from the government, universities - staff time and infrastructure - consultants and software development.

Results from the first round of the ERA audit were published in January, with research evaluated on a scale ranging from five - well above world standard - to one, well below world standard.

Scandal deters visa seekers

Covert photo of operators of the exam fraud, from left, Abdul Kader, Keith Low and Pritesh Shah. Source: Supplied

SEVERAL former international students have left Australia or abandoned claims for permanent residency following exposure of fraud at Curtin University's English language test centre.

The HES understands about 20-50 permanent residency cases, almost all involving former students, are under investigation by the federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Nine people, including a former Curtin employee, have been sentenced for bribery offences related to a trade in fake English test results at the Perth centre.

To secure permanent residency as a skilled migrant, former overseas students needed not only their Australian qualification but minimum scores on the International English Language Testing System.

Anyone using a false test result was "essentially stealing a visa place" from others with genuine results, a senior DIAC official told the anti-corruption inquiry into the Curtin centre earlier this year.

DIAC can cancel a visa already granted or refuse an application for a visa if the person has supplied fraudulent information.

Out of fairness the department gives notice before it takes action. Given notice, several people have left the country or withdrawn their PR applications, the HES understands.

Earlier this month, Curtin employee Keith Low was sentenced to two years in prison for 15 counts of accepting bribery over a 10-month period in 2009-10.

The court was told that for many of those counts, involving falsified results, the original paper results for the listening and reading sections of the test could not be found by the IELTS headquarters at Cambridge University in Britain.

Under the IELTS, those papers should have been sent to Cambridge, but theBritish test centre did not notice test papers were missing until August last year, when it notified Curtin of suspect test results.

"The fact there were missing tests was one of the factors that alerted IELTS to possible irregularities at Curtin and triggered our inquiry," a spokesperson for Cambridge said.

Following the scandal, Curtin closed its centre and held the last IELTS test on August 13.

Education broker IDP, which owns the IELTS business in Australia, is stepping in to open its first directly run test centre in Perth.

IDP will use the same Curtin test venue.

The HES understands some other IELTS test centres in Perth are not happy about IDP's entry to the market.

IDP's IELTS director John Belleville said: "Obviously the fewer the centres, the more student numbers they'll get themselves. But we're not adding an additional centre to Perth, we're replacing one that's closing down.

"In that sense, not much has changed."

New polytechnic seen as job threat

Stephen Parker, vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra. Source: The Australian

THE University of Canberra council has been given the go-ahead for the establishment of a polytechnic from next year, sparking fears it will "cannibalise" the diplomas offered by potential merger partner Canberra Institute of Technology.

The National Tertiary Education Union also fears that jobs at both institutions could be lost as teaching load is shifted into the lower-cost polytechnic. It believes the teaching staff of the polytechnic probably won't be covered by either the NTEU or the Australian Education Union.

Those fears were stoked when the UC council this month set aside extra money for potential redundancies next year.

But UC vice-chancellor Professor Stephen Parker said the provision for redundancies in the middle of next year was foreshadowed in the 2009 union agreement and was unconnected to any merger with CIT.

The university plans to promote the 2012 polytechnic courses at its open day on Saturday, including diplomas in communications, accounting, information technology and business informatics that match similar courses run by CIT.

"If I were at CIT and engaged in any of those programs I'd be worried," NTEU branch president at UC Craig Applegate said, adding the polytechnic could also lead to job losses at the university. "The whole point of it is to spend less per student."

Professor Parker said even if the CIT merger went ahead, the university would still continue with its own polytechnic, "which handles the overlap between diploma and associate degrees.

"We don't expect major intakes into UC Poly until 2013," he said.

CIT chief executive Adrian Marron said while the polytechnic would increase competition for CIT, he noted that his diplomas had a more vocational emphasis and could sit alongside the UC diplomas in a merger.

The ACT government is considering a merger of CIT and UC after a report by Denise Bradley recommended they combine as a dual-sector university.

The NTEU believes the polytechnic is a cost-cutting exercise to shift some first-year and eventually second-year teaching into the lower-cost polytechnic where diplomas will count as credit to a degree.

Unease over trimmed tutorials

University of Adelaide. Source: AdelaideNow

STAFF and students at the University of Adelaide have raised concerns about a move to cut back the number of tutorials a semester and replace them with extra time for one-on-one consultations.

Students say they fear losing valuable teaching time, while casual staff are concerned they will lose paid work hours. Both staff and students are sceptical of management suggestions that the changes will enhance student learning, believing instead the changes are driven by cost cutting.

At a meeting of about 200 students yesterday, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) Pascale Quester and dean Nick Harvey tried to allay concerns.

"The students weren't convinced by the arguments because it was clear they believe tutorials are the most valuable part of the learning experience in the bachelor of arts," National Tertiary Education Union branch president Rod Crewther told the HES after the meeting.

The meeting had been organised by student union president Raffaele Piccolo following an inundation of queries from worried students.

Mr Piccolo said students weren't convinced the extra one-on-one sessions could substitute for the interactive learning nature of tutorials. He said there was also concern that if too many students availed themselves of the session, tutors might be able to offer them only a few minutes each. Under the changes, which Professor Harvey described as a trial, the number of tutorials a semester has been cut from 12 to 10. The changes have affected three schools: social sciences, history and politics, and humanities. . Professor Harvey said tutors would be paid for the extra consultation.

But faculty staff said the real motivation was the need to find savings after the new pay deal entitled casual staff to be paid separately for marking.

Ahead of yesterday's meeting, Professor Harvey told the HES he expected the one-on-one time would be made available when primary assessment tasks were due.

"The idea isn't to drop away the time but to use that time more effectively," he said.

Asked whether the changes were driven by cost pressures, Professor Harvey said that was only a "very small part" of the decision.

Professor Quester said the changes were part of a university-wide policy of "transformation" to focus on how students learned.

She said it was about challenging the "sacred model" of having two lectures and one tutorial a week.

She said there would be variation of the model according todifferent disciplines, but it was generally about providing more collaborative learning opportunities and adapting to the online learning habits of students.

"There is a much bigger menu than just students sitting in a room being talked at by a lecturer," she said.

"This isn't a cost-cutting exercise."

Sandstones draw so-so teaching scores

AUSTRALIA'S sandstone universities receive lukewarm ratings for the quality of their teaching, despite being the institutions of choice for top school students.

In the latest edition of the Good Universities Guide, each of the Group of Eight institutions received the highest five-star rating for student demand.

But no Go8 rated above average on teaching quality, with only the University of Western Australia attracting three stars in this category. Five Go8s scored two stars, one received one star and one failed to provide data.

And while Go8 appointments are prized by academics, only three Go8s - UWA, Australian National University and University of NSW - attracted the top rating for the qualifications of their staff. The highly fancied universities of Sydney and Melbourne achieved two stars each in this category.

Melbourne also scored two stars for teaching quality and one star for overall satisfaction. But it received five stars for graduate starting salaries and four for graduate outcomes.

Deputy vice-chancellor Pip Pattison said top students were hard markers who rated themselves as harshly as their universities. But he said employers' views were the real test.

"As they begin looking for work, the graduates recognise there is more to learn, hence the mismatch between employer confidence [and their satisfaction ratings]."

Tertiary education expert Leesa Wheelahan from the LH Martin Institute at Melbourne University said teaching quality was also affected by universities' self-views, with policy settings reinforcing research as the main game. "There's more money for equity than there has been in the past, but it's still dwarfed by research."

She said Go8 universities had better-prepared students and didn't face the same teaching pressures as newer universities or TAFE. "Generally speaking, TAFEs are better teachers," she said. "They provide more supportive pedagogy in more personalised environments."

The guide reveals a limited correlation between equity and pathways.

Of the 12 institutions that gained the highest possible five-star rating for admitting TAFE students, only four were in the top group for equity.

Officials cancel 159 visas at airport

MORE than 150 overseas students returning to Australia in the last financial year were intercepted by immigration authorities at the airport over visa breaches and put on a plane home within 72 hours.

Indians were the largest group (55) with student visas cancelled at the airport, followed by Chinese (37). And of the 470,221 people who arrived on a student visa, almost 9000 were questioned by immigration officials.

The figures were released by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship following an application by the HES under Freedom of Information legislation.

In 2010-11, the most common breach leading to cancellation of a student visa at the airport was failure to maintain an enrolment or no longer attending classes. Of the 159 with visas cancelled, 151 were sent home within 72 hours. Most had vocational education visas (84) or higher education visas (66).

Migration agent Jonathan Granger said although 159 cancellations was a small number, DIAC's message would be quickly and widely spread through social media used by students.

However, Federation of Indian Students of Australia spokesman Gautam Gupta said the airport crackdowns were "perceived to be retribution because students protested" against attacks on Indian students in 2009.

Monash University's Chris Nyland, who has written about the plight of international students, said students planning to go overseas should be able to get a document from their institution showing there were no problems of the kind that could get their visa cancelled. "It would say you have permission to leave and you are in good standing at the university," he said.

Mr Granger described the interceptions as part of "a cat and mouse game" between DIAC and offshore agents.

A few years ago, when cookery and hairdressing were easy routes to permanent residency, Indian agents packaged these vocational courses with higher education, making it easier to secure a visa. However, there was never any intention to go on to the higher education course and some of these students were believed to be among those caught at airports, he said.

If they were allowed back in the country, they could get bridging visas with full work rights and pursue skilled migration, adding to DIAC's backlog.

In February, when the HES reported the airport crack-down, immigration lawyer Michael Jones said students had no right to independent review of a visa cancellation unless they could get back into the country. He said appeals against visa cancellations had a high success rate because private colleges often had unreliable records.

"How is the student supposed to prove that [kind of objection to a cancellation] in the 10 minutes the student is given at the airport?" he said.

However, a DIAC official said: "Visa cancellations at the border are conducted under strict natural justice rules. Officers will weigh all relevant factors for and against the cancellation."

Mr Gupta said a student stepping off a long flight, with no legal representation and sometimes poor English, could not get natural justice in a short interview.

Role of fees in elite research

Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Source: Supplied

AMERICAN institutions continue to dominate Shanghai rankings, led the small news item in The Chronicle of Higher Education last week. It reported that Harvard remained in first place and that all but two of the top 10 institutions were in the US.

At 127 words, the Chronicle's coverage of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities appeared to be complete.

Certainly, if looking at the top 10, the story is barely newsworthy. Nothing has changed since 2003. But beyond that, the ARWU reveals a more interesting tale of fortunes won and lost.

Since 2003, the greatest volatility in rankings has been in the US and China. Ironically, the performances of these countries reveal an important lesson Australian universities already know but are in danger of losing. Fundamental to our research success has been a delicately balanced policy tango between research funding and international students.

The US continues to be the world's powerhouse for research, with the number of universities in the world's top 200 remaining constant since 2003, at about 90. But at the same time there has been a substantial slide in the average performance of all US universities in the 201-500 world rank, with 19 disappearing from the top 500 places altogether. In particular, the research performance of well-established public universities in smaller and middle-sized American states has become less competitive.

On the other hand, China's performance has been meteoric. Almost every US university that dropped off the list has been replaced by a Chinese institution, such that 23 mainland Chinese research universities now make the top 500, up from only nine in 2003. Tsinghua University leads the Chinese pack in the 151-200 world rank.

During this time, Australia boosted its ARWU representation from 13 universities to 19. With four universities in the top 100, or 19 in the top 500, Australia is home to roughly 4 per cent of the best research universities on the planet. Not bad for a country that boasts only a 1.2 per cent share of global gross domestic product and a 0.3 per cent share of global population.

But how do we ensure this is not our zenith?

In all three countries, funding for scientific research increased at least 50 per cent during the past eight years. Yet only China's ARWU performance is explained by this funding boost because Chinese policy distributes a significant proportion of research investment directly to the 39 leading universities across the sector.

In the US, however, research funding during this time became increasingly concentrated in the top research universities and more diluted at the bottom. In Australia, generous funding injections in the 2000s had to make up for several years of decreases in the 1990s.

Of course, it takes less research funding for a university to move into the top 500 than it does to move from 400 to 200, or from 20 to 10. But there's more to the story than just funding.

Despite government policy that does not concentrate funding in an elite few institutions, from 1992 to 2008 the Group of Eight universities increased their share of Australian Research Council funding from 66.9 per cent to almost 70 per cent.

A second federal policy is needed to explain Australia's ARWU performance. The opening up of our borders to international students two decades ago has allowed Australian universities, especially non-Go8 universities, to exploit these lucrative overseas export markets and cross-fund indigenous research programs.

In contrast, American public universities have not had the luxury of making up for significant losses in state government funding with overseas students. These US institutions have been further hamstrung by having to become volume education businesses for local students just to make up for state government revenue shortfalls. With all academic hands required on deck to teach, research performance at many US public universities, particularly in the 201-500 world rank, is suffering.

This is a policy crossroad that Australia could face with deregulation of load and degree attainment targets.

With its strong science and technology focus, the ARWU is arguably the most important global league table for comparing the 21st-century relevance of universities. Not only does ARWU measure improvements in quality of life - from better drugs to new technologies - but also in solving big global challenges such as food, energy, water, and global growth.

The research success of almost all Australian universities reaching the ARWU top 500 has been dependent on the de facto policy coupling of increased research funding and international student fee revenue.

For the first time Australia has three technology universities in the world's top 500: Swinburne University of Technology, University Technology, Sydney and Curtin University. This is a remarkable outcome and an important signpost for the 21st-century trajectory of Australian research.

Many US state governments from New York to California have listened to their public universities on the benefits of the Australian policy setting and are starting to welcome international undergraduate students by the thousands, helping to cross-subsidise research programs.

To maintain Australia's research momentum, our ailing international student market must be revived to ensure the successful Australian policy tango does not misstep.

Sean Gallagher is a research associate in American higher education and chief operating officer at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Future of Australian studies in doubt

Melbourne University is to stop teaching Australian studies to undergraduates due to lack of interest. Source: Supplied

Falling student interest in Australian history at Melbourne University has prompted a review to recommend it scrap its Australian Studies programme for undergraduates.

The review by four international historians also called on the school of history to redesign its Australian curriculum to go beyond the "national narrative".

"It is the view of the panel that Australian history subjects need to be designed that will attract a broader range of students,'' it said.

"Subjects which connect this country to the region and the world are more likely to draw numbers of non-arts students than those centred on the national narrative.''

The review instead advocated subjects such as Australian environmental history, which it said connects Aboriginal, economic and cultural history, and historical geography.

Under the recommendations, the university's Australian Centre, which currently houses the Australian studies program, would be refocused on research and postgraduate teaching.

Melbourne University is to stop teaching Australian studies to undergraduates due to lack of interest.

Excess staff would be relocated or offered voluntary redundancies. The review stressed there were already large numbers of Australian historians teaching at the university amid "limited'' demand from students.

The review of Melbourne's School of Historical and Philosophical Studies found that the share of student load for history in general within the arts faculty has fallen from almost 12 per cent in 2007 to less than 9 per cent last year.

The undergraduate full time load in history has fallen 18 per cent to 448 students, while numbers at the Australian Centre have dropped 24 per cent to 68.

The review said interest in Australian Studies was falling at other universities as students see as irrelevant and focus on vocational subjects. It said there was a similar lack of interest at secondary school.

The review criticised the school for not doing more to create attractive courses that appeal to non-arts students as part of the university's new Melbourne Model. Under the model students undertake broader studies beyond their chosen faculty before studying the professions at postgraduate level.

Head of school Trevor Burnard said the school was committed to teaching Australian history but that the challenge was to make it, and history in general, more interesting and relevant to students. "

There isn't as much demand for a certain type of Australian history as there used to be,'' he said.

Professor Burnard said the review's recommendations would be examined by a committee that will report back in November.

Student round-table issues

VISA processing emerged as a key concern of students as well as institutions at this week's international student round table in Canberra.

Council of International Students Australia president Arfa Noor said the recommendations from the roundtable fell into five categories: visa issues, student experience, student welfare, social inclusion and living costs. Visa regulation was top of the list, with students concerned about language testing and work rights.

"We're concerned about the automatic cancellation that comes with a breach of the 20-hour [work] limit," Ms Noor said. She said the round table would recommend an averaging of the 20-hour limit, possibly to 80 hours across 28 days.

Students' recommendations are to be released soon by Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans.

Four A-level students vying for each university place

The wait for a university place continues for many students. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Up to four students are competing for each place to start university this autumn, official statistics show.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said, as of midnight, 189,267 applicants had not found a place and were eligible to be in clearing.

Clearing is where students who fail to meet their university offers are matched with vacant courses.

Last year, 47,000 applicants secured places in clearing. David Willetts, the universities minister, has said this could fall to 40,000 this year.

However, Ucas estimates that half of all students eligible to be in clearing may not have good enough grades to win any place.

Some 425,487 students have been accepted on to courses – up 10,416 on this time last year.

A further 61,737 are waiting for a university to decide whether to offer them a place or are appealing against their grades.

Mary Curnock Cook, chief executive of Ucas, said on Friday that students with good grades should apply again next year. "You don't have the agonising wait until August. You will have an unconditional offer, which you may well have before Christmas."

There were more than 684,000 applicants this year, a 1.3% rise on last year.

After A-levels: school-leavers look forward to new opportunities

Onyinye Akpenyi has received her A-level results and hopes to apply to do medicine next year. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Most people would thank their teachers or parents for a haul of two A*s and two As at A-level, but when Ony Akpenyi was awarded those results for chemistry, psychology, maths and biology last Thursday, she thanked Britain. The 18-year-old Harlow College student only moved to the UK from Nigeria two years ago, and says she didn't do at all well at school until she arrived here.

"Being a young person in the UK is amazing," says Ony. "I struggled at school in Nigeria, not because I was stupid but because there's no help. Teachers there don't encourage you to get good grades, as they do here. There are no libraries or free computers. Students just have to work by themselves.

"My dad and mum didn't go to uni, and the school system when I came to England was completely different to anything I'd seen in the past. I was really shy and nervous, and a lot of what I studied was completely new, but my teachers were so supportive. They gave me extra work, and different textbooks. They showed me articles and websites with more questions and helped me get old exam papers."

Ony didn't apply to university before A-levels "because I thought I might fail my exams". But her dream is to be a doctor, and she is now tackling the UKcat and Bmat medical school aptitude tests. The teenager is planning to learn Spanish and Chinese in her gap year, and also hopes to find a part-time job in a care home. This autumn, she plans to apply to Cambridge, King's College London, and Newcastle and Manchester universities. But despite her stellar results, Ony says: "I still don't feel that confident. I spent the whole morning of results day on [online student forum] The Student Room, and there are loads of people getting good results, and loads planning to apply for medicine."

It is, the teenager adds, "a bit depressing to be in Britain right now, when young people have been destroying their own communities. They don't realise how good they have it. When I came here I took everything I could get – the books at the library, the internet, all free – I couldn't believe it. I don't understand why young people complain. They just don't realise how amazing Britain is."

Although Matthew Simmons reached the grades his teachers predicted – A in government & politics, B in business studies and C in history – he missed his university offers. The 18-year-old's heart was set on studying politics and economics at either Sussex or Kent, and both the firm and insurance offers he accepted demanded higher grades. "I'd always thought I would exceed my predicted grades," says the student at All Saints Catholic school & technology college in Dagenham. "But the morning of results day, I woke up at 4am in sweats. I checked Ucas at six, and learned that I'd missed my AAB offer to read politics and economics at Sussex University."

The Ucas page didn't say anything about Matthew's ABB offer from Kent University, his insurance. But after a nerve-wracking journey to school, he learned he had missed that too. Matthew phoned Kent and was told to enter Clearing. Once he was had done so and was armed with a Clearing number, he phoned Kent back to ask about a place on its politics and international relations course. "Luckily, I recognised the name of the tutor on the phone – we'd met and talked about the different modules at the open day. I knew all about the course, and she offered me a place. It was, says Matthew, "a rollercoaster day — but it ended on an up".

His career ambition is to go into politics, "not be a politician, but to work for a thinktank or as a civil servant. I realised at school that you have to work hard to get anywhere, life's not just going to come to you. Now I hope uni will give me new opportunities to do well in the future."

Tanya Spence Kelly achieved ABC in her A-levels in photography, business and media, which she took at Gower College, Swansea. She didn't apply to university and is unsure about what she'll do in the next few years. "I had no idea what career path to pursue when I had to choose A-levels," says Tanya, who is 18. "I tried to seek advice from teachers and careers advisers, but no one was very helpful.

"My mum and dad didn't go, and I feel like people without a family history of going to university do miss out on advice. But I don't think uni is crucial. My parents didn't even finish school, but now own a really successful road-marking business."

Tanya was pleased with her A-level results, but admits: "They didn't mean as much to me as to everyone else – they were worried about missing their grades for uni, but it didn't matter to me.

I think Britain over-emphasises formal education. I do so many things outside of school, like volunteering for a youth club, and running my own photography business taking pictures at weddings and for modelling portfolios, but everyone just talks about A-levels and uni. If I was to go to uni it would mean building up loads of debt with no guarantee of a job. And most people I know who've been through uni go into jobs that don't need the degree. My dad employs a photography graduate, and now all he does is paint roads. I'm going to apply for jobs in call centres and hope to work my way up."

On results day Olivia Davies was woken up by her beeping phone announcing an email that read, "Welcome to the University of Liverpool", her first choice.

"I realised I'd got my grades, and then I saw I'd received my fresher welcome pack in the post, so I was really excited even before going to school," she says.

The 18-year-old, who studied at St Julie's Catholic high in Liverpool and achieved two As and a B in geography, art and English language, applied to study geography because she wanted to travel. So it's ironic that her new uni is just 10 minutes down the road from her Merseyside home.

"I applied to Liverpool because I loved the sound of the course there, but I still want to get the full uni experience, so I'm going to live in halls," she explains. Six of Olivia's cousins have also attended universities in Liverpool, so she is following a family tradition.

The teenager looks back at school happily. "I think the education system rewards those who work hard," she says. "This idea that came from the riots, that there are no opportunities for kids, is wrong. I don't think it matters what school you go to. Like me, all of my cousins who have gone to uni didn't go to private schools and they've done really well. I'm excited for the future. I'm sure there will be lots of opportunities with a geography degree."

Like Olivia, Jade Callender learned that her grades were good enough to meet her Bath Spa university offer before opening the crucial envelope. "I woke up about eight and rushed to get to school," the 18-year-old Marine Academy Plymouth student explains. "And when I got there, the teacher said, 'Congratulations, Jade', so I knew I couldn't have done badly! That made it a lot easier to open the envelope. I found I'd got a C in English literature A-level and a double distinction in performing arts Btec."

That was more than enough for Jade's conditional offer for a degree in performing arts. Her career ambition is to be an actress, but Jade believes there's too much pressure on students to obsess about their careers. "There's a huge emphasis in schools on making a good impression to employers even from a young age," she says. "I took part in 'stocks and shares', a business group arranged by school, just because it would look good on my CV, not because I wanted to do it. I think stressing the importance of finding a job all the time can stop pupils finding out what they really want to do in life."

Anger at cut in careers advice for young people

The face-to-face service is being removed at the point at which young people most need advice on their future options. Photograph: Janine Wiedel Photolibrary/Alamy

As pupils get their GCSE results on Thursday, many will be worried about what to do next . With figures out last week showing youth unemployment reaching more than 20%, the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance and a large hike in tuition fees, now, more than ever, young people need good-quality advice on their options. But experts have warned that careers advice for under-19s risks being decimated.

Under proposed reforms to careers guidance, a new national service is due to launch next April, which would see teenagers no longer entitled to any face-to-face careers guidance. Instead they will be pointed to a website or told to call a helpline. The duty to provide face-to-face advice will be transferred to schools, though they are to get none of the £203m central funding that pays for the existing service.

The government had appointed an advisory group on what was then called the All-Age Careers Service, but on 20 July, abruptly and without consultation, it was reconstituted as the National Careers Service Advisory Group with a reduced remit. The group is so angry about the unilateral decision that all 20 considered resigning en masse.

"It will not be an all-age careers service," says Steve Higginbotham, president of the Institute of Career Guidance. "It is a rebranded Next Step service for adults plus an all-age telephone advice line and website. The group's expertise was not used in any meaningful way and officials did their best to avoid answering difficult questions when they clearly knew almost from the outset that the government's intentions were not what had originally been stated."

Vulnerable young people will suffer most from the withdrawal of the service, says Dame Ruth Silver, chair of the Careers Profession Task Force, who also sits on the advisory group. "It will further deepen deprivation, because some people come from families who have never worked; the ones who need it most are those who don't have successful adults in their lives."

Schools will not be put under any statutory obligation to ensure the professionalism or impartiality of whatever careers advice they manage to scrabble together the money to buy in, says Paul Chubb, director of Careers England.

"Schools buying in careers services has not worked in the two countries that have tried it – the Netherlands and New Zealand – and they had access to funding which heads here won't have," Chubb says.

Higginbotham agrees. "We are particularly concerned that access to professional careers advice will be a postcode lottery dependent on the resources and priorities placed on it by schools," he says. "The duty on schools to enable access to independent, impartial career guidance has been undermined by the DfE, which has stated that this could be discharged by schools enabling access for their pupils to the national telephone advice line and website."

Even if some heads do find the cash, anyone who leaves school at 16 will have no opportunity for a face-to-face conversation about their career or training needs until the age of 19, when they become eligible to access the adult service.

Kieran Gordon, chief executive of Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership, says this means that young people won't be able to develop a trusting relationship with a skilled professional who can guide them while understanding their family circumstances and any personal barriers. They risk "drifting … or trying something that's not suitable, getting frustrated, and having their confidence knocked, so they drop out. It's wasteful, and a tremendous disinvestment in young people's lives."

"It is just wrong to deny young people access to this type of guidance," Chubb says. "I am very seriously concerned that this is being overlooked and underplanned."

A spokesman for the DfE says: "We make no apologies for giving schools responsibility for providing independent, impartial careers advice. They know their students best, so it's right they should decide what provision is right and have complete control over their budgets to buy in the face-to-face support pupils need."

• This article was amended on 23 August 2011. The orginal attributed the quote in the penultimate paragraph to Kieran Gordon. This has been corrected.

Untangling the Web Education

It's the first day of school and you're set for a new academic year: you've got all your supplies jammed into your new school rucksack: the pens and notebooks, coloured pencils and stapler, three-ring binders and textbooks.

Now add your laptop or tablet, a wifi connection, a list of usernames and passwords, account details for blogging platforms, social networks, photo sharing sites, cloud-based research resources, collaboration tools and digital 3D learning environments.

That's one heavy bag.

The Web is the ultimate distributed network of information, so how has it transformed the learning process in the last twenty years? For this fortnight's Untangling the Web, I'm dissecting the beating heart of today's education system to discover how people are using the web in classrooms, at home and in libraries, from nursery to university, and whether it's helping or hindering the education process.

It's an enormous topic, with many vested interests. I'll be focussing on pedagogical theories, online education enablers, novel learning techniques and approaches that the web affords rather than focussing on the following themes (which demand their own columns):

- games and learning
- education regulation and policy
- key stages and Internet safety/citizenship
- disinformation
- specific classroom technologies

Do you have a digital education story to share? Add your comments below, or send an email to aleks.krotoski.freelance@guardian.co.uk. You can also tweet me @aleksk.

How did our five students do in their A-levels?

On results day the Ucas website crashed, so it was the post that brought Christopher Howarth the news that he had his place at Cambridge. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Christopher Howarth, 17, achieved A*AA in English literature, Latin and chemistry A-levels at Haberdashers' Aske's boys' school. He is off to study classics at Trinity College, Cambridge. "I tried to check Ucas as soon as I woke up, but found the website had crashed under the load of people logging in, which was enormously frustrating," says Christopher. "Then the post came with a welcoming letter from Trinity, so I knew I'd got in. I thought it was pretty funny that the post came before the website went live again."

Now he is off on holiday to Switzerland to sing with a group of choir friends, then will be packing for Cambridge. "As I received a choral scholarship, I'm going up two weeks early to rehearse with the choir" he says. "I can't wait."

Danielle Fox, 17, got a C in her photography AS. She gets the results of her BTec subsidiary diploma in art and design next year. "I thought I'd done better," says Danielle, who is going into year 13 at Plymouth Marine academy. "I was hoping for at least a B. I'm going to talk to my teachers to see if it's worth retaking one of the AS modules, but if not I'll just have to work hard for my A2. Thursday was an anxious day. I was fine until I got to school, but as they handed out the results I got nervous."

The sixth-former has been online researching unis this summer. "I'm still hoping to apply for Japanese studies, and my top choices are Sheffield and Leeds universities," she says.

"I've realised that I'll have to retake my French GCSE this summer to get my E up to a C to get on the course, but it'll be worth the extra work."

Josh Kay, 18, achieved AABD in his A-levels in English literature and language, sociology, history, and German at Stourport school in Worcestershire.

"Phew," was Josh's reaction when he got to school and discovered he'd met the conditions of his offer to read international relations and politics at Manchester University. The sixth-former had also accepted an offer from the Dutch university Maastricht, but preferred Manchester. "The course exactly matches what I want to do, and the university is ranked higher than Maastricht. Manchester graduates also have really good career prospects," he says.

Zowie Pearce, 19, achieved an A* in communications and culture and a C in English literature and language in her A-levels at Cornwall College. She already has A-levels in sociology, psychology and photography.

"My C was two marks off a B, which is really annoying," says Zowie, who was working at her part-time job in a local cinema on results day. The teenager had to fit study for her exams alongside hospital visits and stays, as she has cystic fibrosis and diabetes, but is off to read English at Bath Spa University, and says she is very excited.

Sam Jacobs, 17, received As in English literature and geography, and Bs in chemistry and biology in the AS-levels he took at JFS, a mixed comprehensive in Harrow.

"I went to school quite early to get my envelope," says Sam. "Before opening it I had an overwhelming feeling of nerves, but I was quite satisfied with my results. My A in English literature was a total surprise – I came out of the exam room thinking I hadn't done particularly well." Sam, who is 17, wants to apply to study medicine at university. Next year, he says, "I know that with hard work and determination I can achieve better marks in biology and chemistry. I've enjoyed my courses and am looking forward to continuing with them this year."

Scotland's university fees 'discriminatory', says lawyer

Freshers' initiations at St Andrews University. English, Welsh and Northern Irish students face more expensive fees than Scottish and EU students. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

Scotland is breaking the law by charging students from elsewhere in the UK for university degrees while undergraduates from Scotland and the EU get their education free, according to a leading human rights lawyer.

Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland are currently charged between £1,820 and £2,895 per year to study for a Scottish university degree – a sum that could increase to up to £9,000 from next year.

But under EU rules, students coming to Scotland from other European countries cannot be charged tuition fees because they have to be treated in the same way as Scottish students.

If fees go up to £9,000, then the 22,500 UK undergraduates studying in Scotland will pay a total of £36,000 more than Scottish students and those from the EU.

"This is a vision of an elitist society dressed up in the language of the big society," said Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers. "The fees system in the UK is deeply discriminatory. This goes to the heart of everything I hold dear."

Shiner, currently gathering support from students with the intention of taking class action against the Scottish government, believes that the current system is the result of ministers having "misinterpreted the law".

He maintains the Scottish fees system contravenes article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and could also be in breach of the Equality Act, implemented last year.

"There is no defence for this discrimination," he said. "It's a matter the courts will have to decide and, in important cases like these, they can move very quickly."

The Scottish government has defended the current system. A spokeswoman said: "We are clear that the proposals set out [to allow Scottish universities to set fees for English, Welsh and Northern Irish students up to £9,000] are lawful. Tuition fee arrangements are based on "ordinary domicile" not nationality."

She added: "In an ideal world, no students would pay fees. Our main priority has to be to protect opportunities for Scottish students to study at Scottish institutions by maintaining free education north of the border."

But Shiner disagrees: "The argument about domicile and nationality doesn't hold water. If being Welsh, English, Irish or Scottish is not a matter of national origin then it makes a nonsense of the establishment of parliaments in each place."

Scotland's education secretary, Mike Russell, is also seeking to close the loophole that sees nearly 16,000 EU students attend Scottish education establishments, costing the taxpayer £75m a year. It is, he said, a funding loophole that is "no longer tenable".

"We cannot allow Scotland to no longer be the best option and instead be known as the cheap option," he said. "We also must protect places for Scottish students."

Jennifer Watts, founder of campaign group Make Uni Fees Equal, said: "English students have to pay thousands of pounds to get a university education. Yet Scottish students get theirs for free. How is this discrimination allowed in the United Kingdom? It is only fair that either we all pay or no one pays."

From 2012, only international students from outside the EU will pay more to study in Scotland as there is no cap on what UK universities can charge them. Most institutions charge international students around £20,000 a year.

Druid leader King Arthur loses legal fight over Stonehenge remains

King Arthur Pendragon after losing the latest leg of his battle to have ancient human remains returned to Stonehenge. Photograph: Ray Tang/Rex Features

A druid leader who claims to be the incarnation of a legendary British king has suffered defeat in the latest legal skirmish of his long-running battle over the removal of ancient remains from Stonehenge.

King Arthur Pendragon appeared at the high court in London to argue that the "royal" remains should be returned to their age-old resting place in Wiltshire.

Pendragon, a 57-year-old former soldier and biker who changed his name by deed poll, wanted the high court to give permission for a judicial review of the government's decision to allow the remains to be taken away for analysis.

But Mr Justice Wyn Williams refused King Arthur, ruling there was insufficient evidence to show the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had acted unreasonably.

Outside court Pendragon, who styles himself as battle chieftain of the Council of British Druid Orders and "titular head and chosen chief" of the Loyal Arthurian Warband druid order, remained defiant.

Wearing white flowing robes, he called for a day of action on Monday to draw attention to the cause.

He said: "Even though on this occasion my appeal has been dismissed I am still very much hopeful that I can win in the future. "I wasn't asking for the bones to be put back straight away, I simply wanted confirmation that they will be returned to the site as soon as possible." He said druids felt the remains were "guardians" of the site.

The judge heard that the cremated remains of more than 40 bodies – thought to be at least 5,000 years old – were removed from a burial site at Stonehenge in 2008 , with ministers giving researchers from Sheffield University permission to keep the bones until 2015.

Pendragon, who represented himself, said the bones were remains of members of the "royal line" or "priest caste" who could have been the "founding fathers of this great nation".

He told the judge he feared the remains would never be returned, but moved to a museum, adding that the MoJ had "unreasonably" failed to take account of his views. The MoJ denied the allegation.

Researchers say their work on the remains is yielding "fascinating insights" into the history of the site.

After the decision English Heritage, which manages the site, said the scientists wanted to keep the remains until 2015 so full analysis could be carried out. "Otherwise we will lose an opportunity to learn more about this important site," a spokesman added.

A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: "Research on the cremated bones is beginning to yield fascinating insights about the people of Stonehenge.

"Due to the large number of remains and the fact many of them were mixed together by archaeologists in the 1920s, study of them has been difficult and time consuming. However, we will now be able to apply new scientific techniques, developed only in the last few years, to find out more about who these people were.

"Human remains are an important part of our shared past and they should be treated with respect. The benefit of the research is balanced with any ethical concerns that may be caused by excavations."

Cribsheet 23.10.11

Good grades don't equal good values. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA

Back at my desk on a grey drizzly London morning still grinning inanely and wearing mad earrings after a weekend of Welsh sunshine and lovely music - thank you Green Man.

As we turn our attention to GCSEs - results are coming out on Thursday - Estelle Morris produces a thoughtful piece on the value of good grades in the context of recent urban unrest:

"There are no GCSEs in values, no league table for citizenship. This summer's exam results don't tell us which pupils will make the most responsible citizens or the best parents. These skills aren't easily measured or weighed, and we don't have a marks system that charts individual progress. As a result, we have often given the impression that they are not as important as those things we can measure.
It must not be either/or. Academic achievement gives young people the confidence and the choices that help them to realise they have a stake in society and we must be wary about returning to a time when 'being a nice kid' was an excuse for academic underachievement. Yet leaving school with just a clutch of good GCSEs cannot count as a rounded education."

Alan Smithers (@profsmithers) reckons one in four GCSE entries could be awarded an A grade this year, and one in 12 an A* - and we all know what that's going to lead to accusations of.

Louise Tickle has been talking to schools about how they plan to tackle the topic of the recent violence with their pupils at the start of term - and has elicited some pretty frank responses. Here's the head of All Saints Catholic school and technology college, Barking and Dagenham:

"Ours is a very successful school, but there's a strong gang culture in Barking and Dagenham, and I know that some of my kids will have been involved in what happened. I will reiterate that this is absolutely unacceptable. There are a number of parents - about 3-4% - who are in total denial of what their child would do, and do not understand the realities of their child's growing up in a different country and culture from their own. If I heard that a pupil of mine had been involved? I would tell the police."

• Children are now far more likely to read emails and websites than comics, according to a National Literacy Trust survey of more than 18,000 eight to 17-year-olds. One in 10 children claimed to have read 10 books in the last month, but 13% had not read any at all. And boys were nearly twice as likely to say they never read than girls.

• While Ucas tells us that there are four students chasing every place in clearing, Lucy Tobin (@lucytobin) talks to some of those who got their A-level grades last week about their plans for the future. If you're interested in number breakdowns, consult the Guardian datablog, which has analysed official scores by type of school and pupil gender.

If you want advice about starting university - from how to budget to what to wear - take a look at The Fresher. If you need to know how to deal with Student Finance England, check out the online chat we hosted with a representative yesterday. And Charlie Brooker offers his personal tip to those who didn't get the grades they were hoping for - just lie when you fill in job application forms.

• There's a row brewing over Scottish university fees. Scots pay nothing, EU students pay nothing, but students from other parts of the UK have to cough up thousands of pounds a year if they wish to attend a Scottish university. Now leading human rights lawyer Phil Shiner is girding his loins to mount a legal challenge against the Scottish government.

A Guardian editorial opines:

"The financial schism on Scottish campuses will widen to a chasm, with unknown consequences. For one thing, English students bearing chequebooks might appear rather attractive to cash-strapped institutions far over Hadrian's Wall. For another, the EU's bar on intra-state differences being applied between member states could stoke English ire. It means English students will pick up their bills while watching Germans and Poles enjoy a Scottish-style waiver."

• With figures out last week showing youth unemployment reaching more than 20%, the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance and a large hike in tuition fees, young people need decent careers advice more than ever. But, as Louise Tickle (@louisetickle) reports, it's a service under siege. A new national service is due to launch next April - but teenagers will no longer be entitled to any face-to-face careers guidance. Instead they will be pointed to a website or told to call a helpline. The duty to provide personal advice will be transferred to schools, though they are to get none of the £203m central funding that pays for the existing service.

A live chat today: Weighing up your options? Wondering if university is the best way to boost your job prospects? Join out discussion about the career value of a degree.

• Just when you thought we'd escaped a silly season this year, there's an awful lot of talk about girls' skirts this morning. Here's the Independent's version:

"A school concerned about rising hemlines has become the latest to ban girls from wearing skirts. Northgate High School in Ipswich has removed skirts from its approved uniform list to stop students coming to lessons in "inappropriate attire". It is the third school in the town to introduce such a ban."

• The Telegraph says official league tables could show the proportion of teenagers that state secondary schools and sixth-form colleges send to Britain's top two universities each year. The move is intended to reveal which schools push children the furthest and prepare them best for the rigorous Oxbridge applications process.

Shadow education sec Andy Burnham (@andyburnhammp) says:

"There is a dangerous elitism driving the government's education policy. Michael Gove has a plan for some children and some schools, but not all of them.
"He seems to want to judge an entire school system around the requirements of Oxbridge."

• The rise in take-up of traditional science subjects seen in A levels is set to be repeated at the GCSE level this week, says the Independent. Experts predict that more teenagers have opted for physics, chemistry and biology - reversing an earlier trend towards taking a combined science GCSE.

• The Mail Online has the story of a father who is planning to sue a private school because his son failed to achieve the three A grades teachers had predicted. Roger Webster says the £11,000-year Silcoates School in Wakefield failed to guide him properly on his geography coursework.

• Great guest posting on the Creative Education blog (@creativeedu) about why text speak should be taught in class. It makes lots of good points, including this one:

"By teaching SMS text speak in schools the students can apply it to other classes as well by using it as a shorthand note-taking skill. Unlike formal note-taking which can take too long and lead to missed notes, SMS can help students effectively take notes at a speed close to the verbal communication of their teachers."

Thinking about doing a PhD?

This seminar will provide independent advice and information on framing a research proposal, the process and pitfalls of a research degree and career prospects.

9 September, London.

Making the most of media opportunities to enhance your school's profile

Whether it's sharing good news or handling a crisis, headteachers and school management teams need to be able to handle the media in all of its forms. This one-day seminar in association with the NAHT is essential for new and aspiring heads as well as established school leaders who wish to update their knowledge. It includes a session on social media.

20 September, London.

Using social media to enhance the student experience

As tuition fees rise, so too do student expectations. Social media is an effective, low-cost way to manage this challenge. This seminar will explore newly conceived best practice, techniques and strategy for all higher education staff: academic, communications, recruitment, marketing and strategy.

22 September, London.

Life after a PhD

Whether it's getting published, convincing an employer that you have transferable skills, or securing an academic post, you need to be fully prepared to achieve your goals. This course will help you identify career opportunities for those with research skills and specialist knowledge.

28 September, London.

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How will schools tackle the subject of the riots?

The recent violence will be a major topic for debate at the start of the new school year. Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

We have three themes already that shape our work as a school and we'll be building on these in September in our response. First, the idea that with rights come responsibilities, and this starts with our very youngest children. Second, having a partner school in Sierra Leone means that our children have a sense of real poverty and hardship, and we'll use this to reflect on the difference between wants and needs.

Third, we'll discuss: "If you want to change something, what do you do?" Of course children need to learn self-discipline, respect for the law and a sense of others, but they must also be supported to build self-confidence to influence and change their own lives in a constructive way. They must have the confidence, too, that they will be heard.

Our school is well placed to respond. We are a proper inner-city comprehensive – both socially and ethnically – and, as a result, our community cohesion is excellent. Building on this is core to our work: children need to feel a sense of belonging and pride in their community. I worry that so many of this government's education policies are creating more, not less, social class division.

The first day of term we'll have an assembly where I lay down a marker for the rest of the year. This time, I've got the evidence to show why this kind of behaviour is what we are determined to keep out of school.

Ours is a very successful school, but there's a strong gang culture in Barking and Dagenham, and I know that some of my kids will have been involved in what happened. I will reiterate that this is absolutely unacceptable. There are a number of parents – about 3%-4% – who are in total denial of what their child would do, and do not understand the realities of their child's growing up in a different country and culture from their own. If I heard that a pupil of mine had been involved? I would tell the police.

The riots in Bristol were part of the wider national picture, and we will be responding by addressing the key messages that have come from the unrest. There has been considerable speculation over the cause of these disturbances. Young people and their supposed lack of values have undoubtedly been the focus of blame.

City Academy students had nothing to do with the riots, they stayed away, so we will continue to expound the high moral standards and expectations here.

We will use the unrest as a cause for debate in our citizenship lessons and "learning families", where we can tackle head-on the issues arising from the troubles. Our community team will also be actively involved in working with community partners and feeding back any issues that may arise as a result of the demonstrations.

At our start-of-term assembly, particularly for the older students, I'll be explaining that I found the behaviour we saw in Gloucester and around the country not only abhorrent, but also insulting to young people because it was not the majority of that age group who took part.

Most of the young people who did riot were using the excuse that they had limited opportunities, often because they underperformed at school and disrupted lessons for teachers and fellow pupils. That's not something I'll tolerate. Nobody has a right to deprive other people of their future.

We'll follow up with discussions about how pupils feel about what's happened in their city during the unrest, and what they're experiencing more widely as members of a society where it's clear to me that there's a deeper problem than just the riots, terrible as they were. There are some young people in the 16 to 24 age bracket who've got A-levels but can't get a place at university, or have a degree and aren't able to get a job, and my fear is that their reactions to this state of affairs could badly affect the fabric of society.

Talented young people are finding it difficult to get a start, and there has to be a national programme where they are given hope.

Top scientists advise recent graduates to seek work abroad

The best research opportunities for new graduates may be in countries like Singapore and the US. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Science graduates should scale back their hopes of finding work in the UK and cast their net wider, according to two of the UK's most influential scientists.

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Prof Keith Campbell said decreasing levels of funding for British research meant would-be scientists should think globally when hunting for employment.

The pair made their comments on Sunday at an Edinburgh International Book Festival debate on the future of science.

Campbell was among the team of Edinburgh-based scientists who produced Dolly, the world's first cloned sheep, in 1996. Bell Burnell is credited with revolutionising astronomy when she discovered the first pulsar as a PhD student at Cambridge University. Asked what they would do if they had newly graduated this summer, neither said they would stay in the UK. "With funding at the moment, getting a job in biological sciences is very difficult. Getting a postdoctoral position is very difficult, and getting one that is well funded to do research is very difficult in this country," said Campbell. "At the moment I think the research opportunities are in other places because of the basic economics of this country."

Campbell said he continues to carry out research on sheep, but funding holds him back. The sheep he bought to create Dolly cost him £1.50 each in 1996, he said. The same sheep would now cost £100.

"If I have 50 sheep for six months with housing, it costs me £85,000 and that's without staff," he added. "Research is not cheap. In Singapore not only can you do the research but you get paid a salary too. Being able to eat is quite useful."

"I'm not trying to put people off," he added. "You've got to love what you do and work 16 hours a day."

The science jobs market is tougher for women, said Bell Burnell, who has previously said she struggled to gain respect in a male-dominated field even after she had her 'Eureka moment'.

"I think a spell abroad for anybody is incredibly useful. It gives you a great sense of perspective and you see other ways of doing things," she said.

"For a young woman you probably have to go abroad while you're young and before you get attached to somebody and a family. Or, as I did, you go abroad about 50 when your family's left home.

"I positively encourage time abroad to anybody. It's worth taking the time to suss out which countries in the world are well funded for your subject and look for opportunities there."

Angela Saini, a science journalist and author of Geek Nation: How Indian Science is Taking Over the World, said graduates should "certainly not think locally".

"There are exciting opportunities all over the world. India and China may have a domestic demand at the moment but certainly Singapore and the US are good," she said. "We are globalised graduates now and I would certainly not think locally when thinking about getting a job. Just go anywhere you can to get research opportunities."

As the riots show, exam results aren't everything

Youths gather in the centre of West Bromwich in the aftermath of the riots. Photograph: Andrew Fox

In previous years, it has been possible to predict the education debate that would absorb the public during the summer months. July and August are exam results months, and the publication of Sats, as well as GCSE and A-level results have always triggered an annual soul searching about standards.

This year, the results are just as important and will again partly determine the life choices of many young people. Yet this month's riots have guaranteed that this summer's education discussions will go far beyond the comparability of exam standards over time.

As the nation strives to answer pretty fundamental questions, all institutions will be scrutinised – schools perhaps more than most. And, given events, it is right to ask the education service to do more. I've no doubt the debate will revisit some of the issues that have long troubled us: the dilemma over exclusions, engaging the disaffected and tackling underachievement, all of which can contribute to solving the current crisis.

However, other concerns are also on the public agenda – citizenship, morality, how to instil a sense of personal and civic purpose in our children and young people. This is not new. Making sure young people develop these skills and attitudes has always been the mark of a decent society and a successful education system; but the evidence before our eyes tells us that we are not getting it right.

We have to acknowledge this shortfall, but we must also recall the successes – not to hide failure but to remind ourselves what is possible.

It is easy to agree about the importance of teaching citizenship and values, but it belongs to an area of learning that we've struggled to develop the language to discuss. There are no GCSEs in values or a league table for citizenship. This summer's exam results don't tell us which pupils will make the most responsible citizens or the best parents. These skills aren't easily measured or weighed, and we don't have a marks system that charts individual progress. As a result, we have often given the impression that they are not as important as those things we can measure.

It must not be either/or. Academic achievement gives young people the confidence and the choices that help them to realise they have a stake in society and we must be wary about returning to a time when "being a nice kid" was an excuse for academic underachievement. Yet leaving school with just a clutch of good GCSEs cannot count as a rounded education.

For some children, schools are the most stable and disciplined part of their lives. It is the only place where their day has structure and where their ambition is nurtured. For many who come from chaotic homes – both poor and rich – schools provide stability and make all the difference to children's lives.

Schools taking on some of the responsibilities of families might be second best, but this is the way it is for some children – and the development of schools as bases for a range of professional services must continue to be supported.

There's a lot of talk about teachers having lost their authority to maintain discipline. I'm not persuaded that the legal position is any different from what it has always been, but what has changed – and what can most undermine teachers' authority – is a lack of support from parents. This, more than anything, can make it difficult to maintain discipline and set standards.

Education is a major engine of social change, and inevitably much will be asked of it in the months to come. Academic success must continue to be a top priority, but our definition of a "good education" needs to be substantially revisited. It is a task long overdue.

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