UK has second best education system in Europe  – BBC

Always nice to start with some good news! A newly released global education league table by education and publishing firm Pearson, has placed the UK at number six in world rankings and second in Europe only behind Finland.  A report, and Top 20 rankings, can be found here.

Equality is still missing from apprenticeships – FE Week

The Apprenticeship equalities conference, hosted by the TUC at the end of last month highlighted disparities in gender, race and disability when it comes to the take up of apprenticeships, with little progress being made in the last 6 years.  The full details are here.

New generation of specialist colleges to plug vocational skills gap – TES

Last week Business Secretary Vince Cable announced plans for a new breed of ‘super college’ offering centres of vocational expertise  in an effort to close the gap between what education currently offers and what employers need.  The TES covers the story.

Female graduates reluctant to apply for male dominated sectors – HR Magazine

Research by the job board graduate-jobs.com has concluded that the number of female graduates applying to traditionally male sectors such as engineering, utilities and sport have shown no significant increase (and, in some cases, a decrease) over the last 10 years. The full details can be read in this article.