Sean Coughlan
@seanjcoughlan
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BBC News royal correspondent. Award winner. Formerly BBC education corr; Guardian finance; Times book reviewer. Books on Titanic and history of sleep.
London
Joined March 2011
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Boris Johnson, who faced a mixed reception at St Paul's, is given this New Testament reading: “Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable … think about these things.”
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King meeting a Ghanaian community group outside Luton town hall
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For all those who have suffered the annoying bus from Luton airport parkway station, there’s going to be a shuttle to the airport. King Charles giving it a test drive.
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Royal visit to Luton carrying on with close up, meet the people walkabout
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My last day on the education patch. Moving to be a royal correspondent and to cover more general stories. Education is at the heart of the hopes and dreams of families, so a huge thanks to all I've worked with over the years. You're making a difference every day.
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Whatever the views about Harry and Meghan, people are authentically fascinated by them. Already almost two million readers of story about their coronation decision published a few hours ago. They are news rocket fuel.
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This is the Conservative advert on Facebook on school spending, with the BBC logo and pic used on news story. But with a different headline.... The only reference to the £14bn figure in the story is from the head of stats saying it's not a correct figure to use.
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School reopening story in full: Some schools will reopen on June 1st, some probably won't. Some parents will send their children in, some probably won't. There are different opinions on safety among teachers, doctors and scientists. None of these views mean these are bad people.
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Electoral Commission warns almost a third of 18-24 year olds not yet registered to vote. And a quarter 25-34 year olds not registered. Lots of missing voters out there who still have time to register and have their voice heard.
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Homelessness project specifically helps young people in work and training. About one in five people using foodbanks are in working families.
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Not the most glamorous royal gift, but one of the most practical. King Charles’s donation of 800 freezers and fridges last year has had a big impact for food banks and food charities, such as the
@felixprojectuk
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Universities UK has given no-deal briefing to ministers. Researchers cut off from funding and international partnerships. £2.4bn from EU students in UK. £390m per year from Erasmus student spending. Maybe they should have just sent an emoji of The Scream.
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Prince Harry's book. Tender and often bonkers.
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“Diversity is what makes us strong,”says Prince William about the Windrush generation, in language echoing the Queen’s that “diversity is indeed a strength”.
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The cost of open days is putting off the disadvantaged - University applications 'dictated by train fares'
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Cheese consumption in the UK increased by 48% during the lockdown, the dairy industry is saying today. Feta accompli.
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Lots of university stories will run this week. But what gets overlooked is how the demand for university keeps rising, regardless of cost, lack of contact hours or the negativity of culture wars. It's a deep-rooted aspirational trend, often driven by the hopes of families.
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For anyone who remembers seeing people behind the Berlin Wall, still seems extraordinary to have reached a point where the “free movement of people” is held up as something to be stamped out - Brexit: Theresa May's 'letter to the nation' in full
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More people reading this story about the Queen at the moment than about warnings of WW3. Never underestimate the interest.
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A-level and BTec stories will be full of percentages today and wider agendas. But 100% of praise for everyone getting results after two years like no others.
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HMK-pop meets K-pop. King goes to the ‘Korea Town’ that is New Malden. Pic’s don’t always show it but he really does come alive with the crowd. Can’t think of a politician who would do that now.
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A student could "pass" at GCSE, but have the wrong type of pass, and not even be able to apply to some universities.
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BBC News - Why shouldn't I be autistic and a student? The determination of a student with autism to go to university. But it’s far from easy.
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@CocaCola_GB
@RakSuMusic
Why can't you say "Christmas" rather than the vapid sounding "holidays"?
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Very interesting joint statement from Univ of Kent on the strike - from Kent VC and the local UCU. Calls for a new independent valuation of pension and warns that dispute is threatening whole HE sector. Piles on pressure and makes UUK's non-negotiable lines look like crumbling.
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White working class boys are still among the least likely to go to university.
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Good luck to everyone getting results today, including my daughter. You’re all more than numbers, percentages and quotes. So apologies in advance if it seems that way.
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Another university open day weekend with daughter. I can spot the tribe now. Grizzled parent and teenager at train station, tote bags from last campus they visited. And the parent is like a fast forward version of the teenager in 30 yrs time.
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Two new sets of stats: First class degrees awarded by universities rise from 15% to 29%, criticised by DFE and
@DamianHinds
as "unfair" and grade inflation. Good and outstanding schools go up from 66% to 85% and it's the govt's biggest boast in education.
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When you look at the places doing really badly, Blackpool, Rotherham, Knowsley, Hartlepool, Portsmouth, Kent, you can see the big ungrasped nettle is the white working class being left behind. BBC News - Disadvantaged pupils 'stuck 18 months behind'
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Really awful to hear about Richard Garner's death - and lots of friends sharing memories. His journalism was treated with respect by ministers and teachers alike - as he treated them alike. He showed you could be a good journalist and good person too.
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Daughter taking her university finals today, not exactly in way she expected. Bedroom as an exam hall. Good luck to them all!
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Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice
@CovidJusticeUK
say they're appalled how the Sue Gray report has become a "circus" with Met's intervention. Spokeswoman who lost her husband who served in the police said: "It’s incredibly painful and they have let families like mine down."
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Fascinating poll on teachers' voting intentions. LibDems ahead of Labour, Greens ahead of Tories. Shows Labour not cutting through on education - and how the Tory position is increasingly not middle class or graduate.
Latest political polling of teachers on
@TeacherTapp
app.
Surprised that ‘don’t know’ isn’t higher to be honest.
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Came across this travel feature I wrote for The Times 20 years ago, when Eurostars were going from Waterloo. Daughter's now 21. All those years.
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1,700 students having to self-isolate at Manchester Met University. UCU leader says outbreaks are the predictable outcome of bringing back students, rather than scapegoating them.
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Full Fact pointing out that Facebook ad for Conservatives on school spending appears to have re-written headline on my BBC story to claim funding up by £14bn, rather than £7.1bn as we actually reported. via
@FullFact
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If Ofqual can show which type of school got an increase in A*s and A grades - independent schools up by 5% - they must have similar school type info for who took the hit on the 40% decreases. And by levels of disadvantage and region?
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'Little extras' - the Budget's nod to the existence of schools, pupils and parents - looks like it has badly backfired. Heads, school leaders, furious that they've been patronised as well as had bigger funding claims turned down.
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Daughter off to upper sixth for new term and last year of school. Five minutes ago I was walking her up to the nursery.
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What a decent thing to do.
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One of the most interesting HE stats I've seen for ages was tucked away in a report on attitudes towards universities (HEPI/UPP last wk) - 53% of people in social class DE have never been inside a university. Massive issue and must affect so many other decisions and suspicions.
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Another spectacular stat from the DFE figures on university entry is the success of schools in London. 49% of free school meal pupils in inner London go on to university by the age of 19 - that's higher than non-FSM pupils anywhere outside London.
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Stephen King quits Facebook over its political advertising. Can see why when a
@facebook
advert for the Conservatives used one of my articles without any permission and changed the headline. Despite issue being widely raised, still no apology from
@fbnewsroom
I'm quitting Facebook. Not comfortable with the flood of false information that's allowed in its political advertising, nor am I confident in its ability to protect its users' privacy. Follow me (and Molly, aka The Thing of Evil) on Twitter, if you like.
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Shocking that it's not shocking. Biggest primary school academy trust in England to set up food banks in all its schools: Primary schools give free food to hungry families
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Not insignificant. UK will pay to join Horizon Europe, the European Commission's research network, with associate status. UK universities will be keen, this EFTA-style arrangement gives access to slice of £85bn funding and remain part of big international research partnerships.
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As a parent of an A-level pupil, with all the revision notes and hard work piled up around her, there are going to be a lot of confused and upset youngsters. All the leavers' dos and proms up in the air. And suddenly all the goodbyes to say and she's leaving school in two days.
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Sounds like announcement on A-levels imminent. Nothing confirmed but could be switching to teachers’ grades (centre assessment grades). Will be relieved students and political fall out. But also practical knock-ons, like ditching university number controls to allow more places.
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DFE's own chief scientific adviser says has not assessed safety guidance given to schools, so can't say what evidence it's based on. And casts doubt on whether virus likely to spread less among children. Not sure where this leaves opening debate.
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Can you be an independent regulator of universities while being a paid adviser of a firm in a dispute with one of those universities?
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I'd never noticed how much aircraft noise there is above south London until it stopped. So much silence. It's like the countryside out there. Quite literally, as up the road someone has a cockerel which is seizing its big chance.
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At least plain packaging on fag packets will give political parties more room to plan the fine detail of their policies.
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Angela Rayner on Marr also highlights one of many trapdoors with charging lower fees for humanities and arts. If economy needs more scientists and engineers, why create a barrier and disincentive with higher fees.
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My memory of George Alagiah was in the classroom rather than the newsroom. We were at the same school in Southsea in the 1970s. Always grace under pressure. And can’t have been easy in that time of skinheads and bus-stop violence.
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BBC News - University is Pompey's top summer signing. The university and football club share a city, but what else?
@officialpompey
and
@portsmouthuni
want to work on education and health and the city's well-being.
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Daughter is 21 years old today. I know everyone says where did the years go, but where did the years go.
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Huge audience interest in education stories at moment. More than 2m on university story yesterday. Saw that premier league football claiming its biggest UK TV audience with 5.7m at weekend. That's less than read a single story on u-turn over primary schools going back.
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A small point, but a resignation letter that gets the name of the department wrong. It's Department for Education, not Department of Education.
With great sadness I must resign from government.
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Pressed by
@halfon4harlowMP
, DFE's chief scientific adviser says choice of years to go back to school was not a decision of the department's. And so cannot provide the scientific evidence.
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I get the feeling of a great collective sense of tiredness this week. Like we've all hit a wall in a marathon. People have had months of working long hours at home or in work, looking after children, worrying about older relatives, keeping things going. Need a collective pause.
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On teachers' pay, IFS says 60% of teachers won't get the 3.5% pay rise, which will mean 60% will get 1.5% or 2%, which is another real-terms pay cut.
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On young graduate pay (to age 30), median pay was £24,000 in 2008 - just to keep pace with inflation, should have risen to £31,460 in 2018. But is £25,500. Significant real-terms drop in spending power.
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Daughter off to university for her third year. It will be her first full uni year not disrupted by Covid. The last A-level year was cut short too. That young generation has really missed so much.
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You take one day offf... and there’s a plan to end social distancing in schools, the shadow ed secretary gets sacked and for half the day the broadband died. And it’s not even six o’clock.
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Teachers' pay: IFS analysis says 60% of teachers will get below-inflation rise of 2% or 1.5%.
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@nickhillman
I've always thought the claim 'too many graduates for graduate jobs available' was a good argument for creating more graduate jobs rather than cutting number of graduates. If we want a high-skill, high-income economy, that means more graduate level people and jobs?
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Off to daughter's graduation. Proud parents lining up for the photos that will go on walls and mantelpieces. The official last rites at the end of childhood. Lucky it's such a cool day for the suit and tie.
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@schooltruth
@CityCorpHeath
There’s a real thing with people treating public spaces as if they were private places and everyone else is invisible. As if we’d forgotten how to share a public place.
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On universities in SAGE notes from Sept 21: "Students in quarantine (or self-isolation if tested positive or contact traced) require substantial support from their institution during the period. Failing to provide support will lead to distress, poor adherence and loss of trust."
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The Queen’s birthplace was demolished by property developers, not wartime air-raids as often claimed, and the site is now mostly under a boring corporate entrance, rather than a Chinese restaurant, shows a dig around the archives.
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Platinum Jubilee souvenirs being sold with a 'slight typo' that would have made Del Boy proud.
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Sir Anthony Seldon stepping down as vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham in the autumn. He is a one-man think tank and ideas fountain. He really brought a lot of useful questioning to the university sector.
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17 May confirmed as return date for face-to-face teaching for all remaining university students in England.
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Serious speech from the King, arguing for moderation and tolerance against a culture of shouty, extremist angriness. He also references his own malfunctioning fountain pen angst.
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This also shows the great untapped treasure trove of local libraries and their collections. Wakefield Library is a great example. The 200-year-old diary that's rewriting gay history
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In complaints about value for money at university, the actual topic that comes up again and again in emails from the audience is about student accommodation. Often parents feeling ripped off and no one taking oversight of how it operates.
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"To restrict access to university, and to try to divert people into vocational courses, would be a bizarre piece of totalitarian economics." Reading great essay from Boris Johnson from 2006, taking on "saloon bar" claims that "what we need is fewer graduates, and more plumbers".
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@michelledonelan
Fair points and thanks for responding. But at the moment universities can't tell potential applicants how they will be taught or how accommodation will work, but they can say how much it will cost, which is full price. And that seems a bit the wrong way round.
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These latest DFE stats on entry rates to higher education really show what a red herring it is attacking a 50% target. 26% for pupils on free school meals, 13% for white working class boys, 85% for those taking A-levels in independent schools.
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ThIs should be a story every day of the year really. Third of world's poorest girls denied access to school
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This could have been the future. A TV with built-in cassette, record player and radio, in a Scarborough vintage shop. Take that Netflix.
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@HeleneBismarck
It was my story. Still waiting for an explanation and an apology from either of them.
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A quarter of children under the age of five are living in poverty, according to a video about Kate's visit to a Christmas project for struggling families. What's really changed is that most children in poverty are now in working families.
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Remarkable to be inside Westminster Abbey to see history being made.
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Seaside towns show how improving health also depends on housing, job security and education. Blackpool low life expectancy almost exactly mirrors its areas of low quality housing.
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On Conservative manifesto for education, what's remarkable compared with previous elections is the sheer absence of detail, beyond the school cash already announced. "We will create more great schools" could mean anything. Rules nothing in or out. A blank cheque or a blank sheet.
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Great turn out for Richard Garner’s funeral yesterday. Awful sense of loss, as he should have had a lot more years ahead of him, but some fine tributes and speeches from his friends, family, education’s great and the good, and the scattered tribes of journalism.
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London is mobbed with people again. Haven’t seen it so busy for a long time.
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There's another big call over the Harry and Meghan story. How do you pluralise Sussex? It seems to mean throwing in an extra e and going for Sussexes. But then following the old ODWE rule on possessives for names ending in s, we get to see a Sussexes's. Wild times.
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In A-level chaos, Ofqual has published more rules over appeals. But not sure whether this is about a second chance for students or a second chance for ministers. Head teachers' leader Geoff Barton warns of a "government in disarray".
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Already getting contacted by parents angry about randomness of mock exams being used to decide A-level results. What about places that had locked down before they'd even taken mocks? Or schools that use tough grades in mocks as a scare tactic?
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Walkabout by King Charles in Luton. No mention of Eric Morecambe
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BBC News - Government climbdown over forced academies plan in England
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Still the most read story this morning. We're all human, fall in and fall out, and people are full of contradictions.
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