This year has been my first outside of formal education. From finishing secondary school and going to uni, I’m going to consider what lessons a dizzying year without being ‘taught’ is teaching me. ​

Transitioning to higher education entails facing academic, social, and personal challenges. Mr Sarwar Khawaja of the Oxford Business College, talks us through why building a strong support system, including college networks, is essential for success.

Anisha takes a fantastical look at how to manage deadlines. 

​September marks the start of a new academic year and as such it’s an important time for many of us. After spending months with relatively little structure over the summer, it can be difficult to get back into the flow of following a more rigid school schedule. This blog post highlights some strategies you can implement to re-establish your momentum. 

The joys of sixth form/college are numerous; there’s something undoubtedly refreshing about having the autonomy to choose what, how and (for the most part) when you study. But, with this increased independence comes responsibility and it’s important to utilise the time you have, especially if you haven’t started Y13. So, today we’re going to take a closer look at one of the biggest changes you’ll encounter while shifting from secondary to A-level education: free periods. 

​Last week, I – and probably you since you’re reading this – stepped foot into a new arena. Whether you’ve decided to take up further study, start an apprenticeship or even begin working – we're all starting a new chapter as we edge ever closer to adulthood.
 
I’m just beginning my A-levels and have also started a new sixth form. For context, I’d been at my previous school since Year 7 (That’s about 5 years!) and thought it was time for a change. It’s been an *interesting* experience – there's something about being the new kid on the block that you really can’t shake off. 

That’s it. It’s over. GCSES are gone and a long summer lies ahead. It’s time to spend hours lazing about and weekends having fun with friends. Some of us might get summer jobs or do work experience but one thing is for sure – we're all going to enjoy the break. 
However, something else also lies ahead...  

Last week, thousands of Y11s across the country sat down and opened the pages of their first exam; we’ll have to spend the next two months writing paper after paper, fiddling with calculators and trying to figure out how to use a compass for the hundredth time. As I was sitting in the exam hall I couldn't help but think: why am I doing this? We’ve all been told that GCSEs are important; they can help us get good jobs - or at least craft good applications - but how important are they really? And are they worth all that stress? ​

Since it’s March, the month of Easter, baby sheep and daffodils, I thought I’d talk about the importance of education, for women in particular. Oh, and also because of the minor detail of March being Women’s History Month and the month of International Women’s Day. Before we get going, to any guys reading this- please keep reading! Having a blog which talks mainly about women and girls in the education system concerns men as much as it does women. ​

As a student, a valuable aspect of learning that often gets overlooked is the importance of being your own teacher. After years spent in education, you should hopefully have a grasp on your interests and motivations when learning. Your likes and dislikes. This understanding of yourself and your own strengths are key to being an effective learner.

But how do we get to the point where we can say we are good at learning?

​

​Wow, what a year. I started year 11, survived remote learning AGAIN, finished my mocks and now I’m writing a blog each month for Push. I find that this time of year is perfect for reflection and thinking about new beginnings and so I’ve decided to share a few of my closing thoughts on 2021.

It goes without saying, but Covid-19 has caused a nice little disruption in students’ education and wellbeing. From school closures to exam stress, we’re left floating in a void of uncertainty. What’s next? To help clear up the confusion, we share a few tips on how you can regain control, reduce anxiety and achieve your learning goals. ​

The purpose of this article is to try and present learning in a new light – to show that learning can be a powerful and enjoyable tool for life. I’m not talking about any specific area of learning – this isn’t an argument that you should become an expert on the mating cycles of sea-slugs. 

​This may well seem like a strange concept – you might ask “why on earth would I want to love learning?” Learning is, after all, school and university, endless classes, exams and stress.  Isn’t it? 

No. 

Schools are once again open. Dust is being scraped from desks, mice are finding themselves evicted from projectors and teachers are trying to remember how to write. 

You’re going back to school, after maybe a year of learning from home (or in bubbles), separated from your teacher and your friends by a screen and the whims of the Wi-Fi. So, how on earth are you expected to concentrate? 
​
You’re not alone if it appears overwhelming. A key point to remember is that everyone is in the same situation as you. Even your teachers will be a little stunned by so much human contact. 

A group of leading educational access charities and not-for profit organisations is calling for the government to take action to ensure that young people from less advantaged backgrounds do not face additional barriers in accessing further study, training and employment opportunities, following the allocation of A-level grades this year. 

We recognise that the circumstances surrounding this year’s A-levels made any ideal outcome impossible, but it is clear that – in a significant number of cases – individual students have been left with their future plans in disarray. What’s more concerning is that many of these students are from the least advantaged backgrounds. These are the young people who already face the biggest barriers in accessing higher education; barriers that have been compounded during lockdown. Every hour, we are encountering more young people whose plans for university, apprenticeships or jobs have been seriously affected because they were statistical exceptions.

We note that Ofqual's Technical Report details that the A/A* attainment gap between FSM and non-FSM students increased from 6.1% in 2019 to 7.1% in 2020, reversing progress made the prior year. Furthermore, independent schools saw a 4.7 percentage point increase in A/A* grades compared to just 0.3pp at Sixth Form/FE/Tertiary colleges.

As coalitions, working collaboratively to tackle educational inequality, our priority is to focus on how we, and the government, can best support young people. We call upon the government to ensure that no student, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, has their opportunity of work, training or study compromised by being graded unfairly by an algorithm.

We urge the government to do this by:

• Replacing calculated grades with centre assessment grades (CAGs) for all students where it doesn't result in a decrease in grade awarded. This removes the bias that currently favours those in small subject cohorts, who already receive an unadjusted CAG. If calculated grades are not replaced with CAGs, we recommend publishing CAGs alongside the grades awarded. To allow universities and employers to better interpret the grades awarded, a flag should show if their awarded grade was based on a CAG (due to small cohort size) or calculated grade. 
• Waiving appeal fees and developing a fast-track appeals process, so that young people can get a quick and smooth resolution to their grade concerns. This includes making sure that appeals can be made easily by those who no longer have the support of an assessment centre.
• Providing young people who choose to take autumn examinations with access to the academic support needed to succeed. Protecting young people from financial challenges during this time, by ensuring that they can access full social security benefits, at least until the exam results are published. 
• Removing the university student number cap, which is a structural barrier to less-advantaged applicants, and has hindered the flexibility of higher education institutions in recent days. Government should support the use of contextualised admissions processes which have played a vital role in fair treatment of the most impacted students. 

​
Signatories
Nathan Samson, CEO, The Access Project, [email protected]
Anne-Marie Canning MBE, CEO, The Brilliant Club, [email protected]
Laura Gray, CEO, Brightside, [email protected]
Sam Holmes, CEO, Causeway Education, [email protected]
Maria Neophytou, Interim CEO, Impetus-PEF, [email protected]
Rachel Carr OBE, CEO, IntoUniversity, [email protected]
Johnny Rich, CEO, Push, [email protected]
John Craven, CEO, upReach, [email protected]
Rae Tooth, CEO, Villiers Park Education Trust, [email protected].
 
Sam Butters and Gina Cicerone, Co-CEOs, Fair Education Alliance, [email protected].

On social media: #coalitionforfairness

Let me tell you about my GCSE and A Level experience…
 
I was a straight-A student. I am firmly in the "was" corner as opposed to the "am" corner. For any student reading this, stop right now and say out-loud either way “I am a 1-9 student” or “I am a BBB student” and “I was a 1-9 student” or “I was a BBB student”, with the grades you are personally predicted. Now, honestly: how does hearing yourself say each version make you feel? I know how deeply personal and long-lasting grades can feel. They are lodged in the mindset, and some believe they define who you are as a youngster or as a unique individual later in life. I look back with a "phew" in my mind: a (retrospective) fondness for the stress I went through when I was 15/16 and 17/18 years' old, and the rewards that ultimately reflected both learning experiences. I know a lot of people in the "am" corner when they talk about their grades from years past. They are usually the ones that can’t let go, and most haven’t gone on to fulfil their true potential. People either do or don’t associate their current selves to their GCSE or A Level / B tech grades

Whilst basing your grades on the work you’d done up until 20th March might not seem fair as you didn't get Easter to hand in any great work based on past papers (naturally people improve the closer to the exams it gets), getting your teachers to take responsibility for your final grade does take away the potential pitfall of the exam itself…and we mustn't forget how many students' nerves get the better of them on the day.

​A "winner takes all" approach doesn't work for every student. I’d say it doesn’t work for most and isn’t a healthy way to grade long-term effort and progress, and it certainly isn’t reflective of the working environment most people will find themselves in, where every single day, the realities of the job (and keeping it) is the grade