Search

UK schools have been surveyed in terms of examination performance and the top 1,000 schools have had their results published in a survey. Schools take part in this exercise, organized by the Financial Times, on a voluntary basis. Some schools place a higher proportion of candidates for vocational examinations and these have to be equated to the more academic Advanced Level examninations. School with fewer than ten candidates have been excluded due to the likelihood of statistical distortion.

UK schools have been surveyed and ranked according to examination performance using A-levels, the UK pre-university examination, as a guideline. Large single sex schools with a selective intake of academically able students have tended to perform well, but it is difficult to assess how much of their performance comes from initial selection. Able students will also encourage each other to perform well, reinforcing the impact of selection. Many state schools which do not use selction have performed well in this ranking.

State schools are gaining ground in a survey of the performance of schools in the United Kingdom, carried out by the Financial Times, and boarding schools have tended to perform less well than day schools. This may be due to the recession having reduced their market, thus pressurising them to become less selective. Single sex schools tend to perform well in academic terms, though may affect students' development in other ways. The survey examines 1,000 schools, and 23 publc sector schools were among the top 200 in 1993, compared with 3 public sector schools in 1992.

Potential investors should be very cautious when taking advice, as the financial services industry is becoming extremely competitive. It is very difficult to find a financial adviser who fully understands an individual's requirements, and many investors, particularly those living off their savings, have seen considerable difficulties over recent years. Those with large sums to invest shold regard tax as a very important issue, and the advantages and disadvantages of the various tax breaks available should be carefully considered.

Industry and the public sector are increasingly buying-in services, which is also referred to as outsourcing, contracting out, market testing, interim management, compulsory competitive tendering and facilities management. Traditionally, this has been restricted to non-core company activities, but it now includes some of the more basic activities of a company. Information Technology lends itself particularly well to contracting out and civil service contracts for information technology could be up to 750 million pounds sterling.

Adetailed evaluation of Chancellor Norman Lamont's March 1993 budget is presented. Tax increases on domestic power and fuel and car tax are sheduled for April 1994, but there are few changes for 1993 as the Chancellor does not wish to choke off economic recovery. The stamp duty threashold was doubled to 60,000 pounds sterling, the advance corporation tax will be phased out and a programme started for the long-term unemployed.

Charities are increasingly providing services that would formerly have been the obligation of government social services. Their donations income has not increased, however, due to the recession and public spending cuts may reduce financial support from the local authorities. The Charities Act passed in 1992 will strengthen the Charity Commissioners' powers to regulate the industry, will legally require accounts to be submitted and will increase regulations on fund raising activities.

In 1991, the Prince of Wales commissioned Sir John Fairclough to establish a working group on innovation to investigate methods of improving co-operation between academic and commercial research. Its proposals are also supported by the government, thus two new bodies, called Faraday institutes, will be set up. Because of a lack f funding, however, they run the risk of being of more use to marketing rather than innovation.

Lloyds of London, the insurance organisation, has reported losses for 1991, and Names are expected to pay losses of 1.35 billion pounds sterling for 1989. Many Names have left the syndicate and will be obliged to sell assets to meet claims. Lloyds of London wishes that the Lloyds Council will implement recommendations proposed by its taskforce which include altering the principle of unlimited liability and reviewing the system of governance.

An evaluation of Norman Lamont, the UK Chancellor's budget of March 1992 is presented. He has announced that a lower rate of taxation for the lower paid of 20% for the first 2,000 pounds sterling of taxable income will be introduced. Pensioners will have their allowance increased and the tax on new cars has been suspended to try to stimulate the industry. The government claims that the budget defecit will increase in the year 1992 to 1993. Exise duties on tobacco and leaded petrol have also been incresed.

Against expectations, 2010 has been the year when it was hard to lose money. Previous Long Views at this time of year detailed the exploits of Hindsight Capital LLC, a [...]

Are emerging market (EM) nations a better credit risk than western countries? As the FT's very own John Authers recently noted, there is now a sizeable group of institutions that [...]

We have been waiting for the bond vigilantes for two years. They are still not doing their damnedest but this week they appeared to be waking up. Vigilantes in the [...]

On the face of it, this was another awful week. The pressure on eurozone sovereign debt boiled over into a classic contagion crisis once investors decided they disliked the bail-out [...]

This year still has a month to go, but its greatest loser is already clear. This turns out to have been the year of the great chastening of the eurozone. [...]

'I can see our next problem,' the chairman of a large multinational told me the other day. 'It will be this: 'What are you going to do with your cash?'' [...]

Do we have the emerging markets all wrong? When money goes into China, Brazil and other hot destinations in the emerging world, traders call it a 'risk on' trade. Whenever [...]

Decoupling used to be a good thing. Throughout the years of the credit bubble, the belief that China and the rest of the emerging world had found a way to [...]

Was this week the watershed? Many different developments round the world suggested that it was - but left wholly unclear in which direction we are heading. In politics, the US [...]

It is easy to put a value on a company. All you need to do is foresee the future. If not, it is impossible. And that is where the problems [...]

I never enjoy writing about gold. It is not that I have anything against the metal; its importance to the financial system is undeniable. Over the past few years, gold [...]

When PD James, the English whodunit writer, turned her hand to predicting the future, she produced a terrifying read. In The Children of Men , she portrayed a future world [...]

Military analogies should be handled with care. As finance ministers from the most powerful nations prepare to meet this weekend, the talk was of a currency 'war'. What does this [...]