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Girls are outscoring boys in almost every subject at almost every stage of education, yet men continue to take the top jobs. Boys are more likely to take physics than girls, while more girls take English than boys. Boys and girls also approach exams differently, with boys considering questions in isolation and girls setting things in context.

Efforts to support gifted and talented pupils are discussed. Gifted pupils are considered to have ability in one or more curriculum subjects, while talented pupils have ability in creative arts or sports. The government has earmarked UKPd20 million for investment in an academy for very able children over a four year period.

State-backed religious schools have been a part of the educational system since the 1902 Education Act. The author looks at faith schools and the part they play in education in detail.

This article examines the admissions process of Oxford and Cambridge universities in the United Kingdom, focusing on how elite institutions balance exclusivity with social equity. Topics include the role of exam scores in the admissions process, and efforts to increase the number of women and minority students.

This article examines UK government policy towards special needs students, focusing on the legislative definition of 'special needs' and the financing of programs for these students. Topics include the professional assessment of children, special needs provisions in the UK Education Act of 1993, and the political aspects concerning the structure of the special needs system.

The Music For Youth/TES Schools Prom will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on 03 November 2003. This will be the 28th annual prom, a 3-day culmination of a year's musical preparation by pupils and teachers. Around 3,000 young musicians will participate this year, playing before 5,000 people.

The Excellence In Cities programme aims to boost teacher expectations and pupils' aspirations, and has been successful in many areas. The programme has invested millions of UK Pounds in preventing misbehaviour, and is currently helping 1,300 maintained secondary schools in 58 LEAs, and 750 primary schools.

Parents of children with moderate learning difficulties are mobilising to prevent the ongoing closure of special schools as a result of the emerging trend towards educating special needs children alongside their peers. However, many special needs children have already been expelled from mainstream schools or would find such schools unsuitable for them.

Sandringham school in St Albans, UK, is allowing its students to interview potential teachers. The school's student council plays an active part in the day-to-day running of the school, including participating in the teacher interview process. The school's approach to school democracy is one of 25 ideas which could become the future for the education sector.

This article examines the controversy over revised standards for the A-level academic achievement test in the UK, and how these new guidelines have impacted the grades of many students. Topics include how the new marking scheme has lessed pupil and teacher morale.

Coteford Infant School in the London borough of Hillingdon has made a special effort to make itself accessible to handicapped students. The success of its venture is reviewed.

A small area in the southeast of England with 39 grammar schools is the largest expanse of selective education remaining in Britain that would be abolished in 2004. The evidence for the schools' continued existence on educational grounds is being examined as the Labour Government is under increasing pressure to abolish them.

The Schools Prom, UK schools music festival, involves 30 youth, scvhool and county groupsat the Royal Albert Hall, London, on three consecutive nights. The styles of music are as varied as carnival and brass bands.

UK mainstream schools are seeing the number of physically disabled children admitted rise. However, the inclusion of these children may well be cancelled out by the number of children being excluded from schools for behavioural reasons.

Help has always been available for children who are gifted flautists or high-flying mathematicians, and chance has played as much a part as talent for inner-urban children. The Excellence in Cities project aims to shorten the odds by setting up a programme to identify and support students with talent.

Alison Thomason has just returned to the UK after spending two years as a geography teacher at the Colegio Anglo Colombiano in Bogota, Colombia. Thomason talks about her experiences, both positive and negative.

Advice is given to new teachers looking to make an impact in their new jobs, in particular those who have to follow in the footsteps of a popular or successful teacher. The main piece of advice which can be offered to new teachers in such a situation is 'just be yourself'.

The Charles Dickens Primary School in Southwark has been asked to help stage an ambitious community building experiment. The school is participating in a time bank, a cash-free transaction network which allows pupils and parents to exchange their labour and time for the equivalent energy and time of others. For instance, Urdu lessons are exchanged for decorating and painting, while hours spent listening to children read can be exchanged for the same number of hours gardening or baby sitting. A total of six school-based time banks were created in the UK last term, through an initiative sponsored by the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Bishop Challoner School, Birmingham, often comes top of the National Schools Judo Championship, and became a specialist sports academy in 2000. The school is now, with the aid of GBP10,000 of backing from the Barclays New Futures Education fund, planning to set up a disability sports forum.

Ecton Brook middle school in Northampton is one of the schools being closed under a UKPd100 mil Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to restructure the town's schools. This will result in the town's 75 schools being whittled down to 59. Most work will be completed by 2004, with all middle schools abolished and replaced with a 2-tier system of primary and secondary schools. The council decided to act after being faced with crumbling building stock, a UKPd14 mil backlog of repairs and disappointing academic results.

Brenda Bignold, director of education in Northamptonshire, has launched a UKPd100 mil revamp of schools in Northampton. This will involve closing some old schools and opening new ones, forcing scores of teachers to re-apply for jobs. The move is designed to improve achievement in the county. Although children enter the county's schools scoring above the national average, they leave school doing no better than the national average. The UKPd100 mil scheme is a private finance initiative (PFI), funding specialist schools, a new Church of England school and new city academy.

Ministers are slowly realising they must tackle the link between poverty and acedemic attainment as the literacy and numeracy plans of the government falter. It is expected that ministers will seek better teaching methods instead of wider solutions which may mean involvement in pupil intakes, engaging in community regeneration or limiting parental choice.

The number of students being expelled from schools is on the rise. Currently, there is debate on what to do with these students, whether they should be allowed to return. According to the United Kingdom's Secretary of State, inappropriate behavior that can result in expulsion include, sexual misconduct, carrying an offensive weapon, supply of an illegal drug and serious or threatened violence.

A party of 12 students from the UK travelled to Venezuela and undertook a month's travel in the Andes which had been organised with World Challenge Expeditions. They benefited on a personal level from their experience but variations in fitness levels proved to be a problem. World Challenge organised expeditions for approximately 60 schools in 1996. The students make their own itineraries, while the company provides equipment, including a communications link, training, leadership, and insurance. Students normally undertake a work project, in perhaps health or education, as part of the trip.

Final grades on primary school tests will not be determined until the raw data has been examined, according to the UK School Curriculum and Assessment Authority. The announcement adds further fuel to critics of the government's decision to publish the results in league tables, although the tests have not been finalized. The National Assn of Head Teachers has called upon primary-school governors to refuse to provide test results to the government. The SCAA maintains that the step is needed to calibrate the test with previous tests, but others suspect that the results could be manipulated for political purposes.