The Guardian – Concern Over ‘Attainment Gap’ As GCSEs Return To Pre-Covid Levels
The Guardian leads on concerns about GCSE results and the wide variation in exam grades between certain parts of the UK. The paper discusses the gap between the north and south as exam results “return to pre-Covid levels”.
The paper also covers the public sector unions expectations over pay, saying Rachel Reeves has ruled out giving them a “blank cheque”.
Unions to press Labour for ‘pay restoration’ deals for public sector
Unions are to push the government for “pay restoration” deals that would award above-inflation pay rises to public sector workers who have suffered a decade of real-term salary cuts.
Members gathering for the Trades Union Congress’s annual meeting next month are due to vote on a motion that calls for pay restoration to be “a key feature of our campaigning with the new government”, the final agenda for the event shows.
The current holder of the TUC’s revolving presidency, the Fire Brigades Union boss Matt Wrack, told the Financial Times – which first reported details of the campaign – that he expected delegates to back the demand.
The PCS union, which is championing the motion, said it aimed to make up for the fact that pay levels had actually fallen an average of 1.5% a year since 2011.
However, it is likely to fuel attacks on Labour from the Conservatives, who have accused Keir Starmer of being “played by union paymasters” after a series of pay deals to settle long-running disputes with striking workers including junior doctors and train drivers.
England’s GCSE results show ingrained social and regional inequality post-Covid
As the tide of exam results affected by Covid recedes, it reveals stark social and regional inequalities in GCSE performances across England that are barely changed or worse than before the pandemic struck.
Those receiving their GCSE results this week were in their first year of secondary school when the pandemic began in early 2020, with that year and the next hugely disrupted as a result.
Ofqual and the Department for Education have reset their clocks to pre-pandemic grades, but the echoes remain among the results achieved by those from disadvantaged families, and especially those pupils who were unable to gain the grade 4 minimum in English and maths and must now resit those subjects while they remain in education for the next two years.
Regionally, London continues to outperform the rest of the country, and the north-east still has the lowest level of top grades, though there was a minimal closing of the gap between the two. More worrying, all regions recorded a fall in the rates getting grade 4 or above. The West Midlands, which had the lowest rate in 2023, has fallen the most.
Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
If you are someone who reads every perspective of a story, here is a news summary of all of today’s front pages from today’s newspapers; summarised in a 2-minute read
Editorial 23 August 2024.
A new Alzheimer’s drug has been “blocked for use on NHS” and the BBC has sacked one of its presenters – these are the top stories on Friday’s front pages.
The papers react to news that the new drug will not be available on the NHS due to costs with most papers reacting with shock and outrage. The drug was deemed efficient at slowing Alzheimer’s disease.
News that the BBC has sacked presenter Jermaine Jenas after complaints were made over ‘inappropriate behaviour’ makes the front page of the tabloids – and a common sidebar article for the broadsheets.
Elsewhere, several of the papers lead on other domestic topics including ongoing discussions around the recent GCSE results, ongoing disputes over public sector pay, Britain’s overcrowded prisons and other issues facing the government.