Congratulations to all students who received their A Level results and were given the grades they were expecting. However for a large majority of students, this hasn’t been the case.

Final exams and assessments were cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, schools and colleges were asked to send exam boards details of the grades they believe students were most likely to get if teaching, learning and exams had happened as planned and, within each subject, the order of students by performance for each grade. 
 
The exam boards have standardised this information – making adjustments to grades where needed to bring consistency to teacher judgements across all schools and colleges and to ensure the results are comparable with previous years. 
 
The Government has also announced a ‘triple-lock’ process designed to give young people added security as they receive their grades this year. The Department for Education has said that students can accept their calculated grade, but if that grade is lower than the result they achieved in their mock exam they can appeal for this to become their final recognised grade. Alternatively they can sit exams in the autumn. 
 
The Government has said that more information about how the appeals process will work be released next week.  
 
The calculated results have been released today.

Dr Nick Smith, courses director and founder of The Oxford Open Learning Trust, said: “This year’s A-level students have faced unprecedented levels of disruption and it’s a credit to them that so many have achieved the results they wanted. Today is a day for all students to be proud of their hard work.

“However, this year, even more than normal, there will be students who don’t quite get the results they hoped for. Understandably, there will be a lot of frustration, with many feeling like they didn’t get the opportunity to fully prove themselves.

“We’re here to reassure them that they needn’t worry. If students don’t quite get the A-levels they expected or needed, there are a number of options available.

“The UCAS clearing system should be your first port of call if you didn’t meet your university’s grade requirements. Many institutions will still have places available, so have a look on the UCAS website or give them a quick call to check if your course is on offer elsewhere. This year, in response to all of the disruption, many universities are holding back places for students whose schools appeal their results, so there may be even more vacancies out there.

“If your exams were cancelled this summer, you also have the option of resitting them in autumn or in 2021. Universities will take the highest grade you achieved from your original result, the resitted exams and your mock assessments earlier in the year.

“Alternatively, it might be worth considering other learning pathways, such as apprenticeships or work experience. There’s also the option of taking a gap year, which allows you to pursue other interests such as travel or charity work, depending on lockdown restrictions. 

“If you are thinking of taking a break from traditional education, it doesn’t mean you have to simply stop learning. You can still resit A-levels or even start studying for new ones whilst working. Distance learning is the most flexible way of doing this as everything you need is available online, so you can learn wherever and whenever is convenient for you.”

Last year nearly 2.4m people enrolled in higher education across the UK according to the HESA, with 56% of students opting for either provider maintained properties, private-sector halls or other rented accommodation. 

While Covid-19 may see these figures decline for the coming year, many students will remain hopeful of starting or returning to university in the coming months. Property developer StripeHomes has taken a look at the best universities for student accommodation availability and those currently in the highest demand amongst the returning student body.
  
Best student accommodation availability

When it comes to the best universities for student accommodation availability, Warwick ranks top.

Currently, the amount of student-specific accommodation available accounts for 71% of all rental properties listed online.  

Kent (67%), Dundee (59%), Swansea (58%) Newcastle and Northumbria (56%) also rank as some of the best universities in terms of the volume of student-specific accommodation as a percentage of all available rentals.

Worst student accommodation availability

In contrast, King’s College London, Imperial College London and London School of Economics and Political Science rank as the worst. Just 5% of the accommodation currently available to rent in the City of Westminster is specifically designated as student accommodation.

Queen Mary’s in Tower Hamlets (6%), the SOAS University of London (10%) and UCL also rank as some of the worst where the volume of current, available student accommodation is concerned.

Most in-demand

Where current demand for student accommodation is concerned, the University of York ranks top. Of all current student accommodation available, 73% has already been rented by those starting or returning to the university.

Student specific accommodation near the UCA in Farnham is also in high demand with 61% of stock currently listed already let agreed, with the universities of Stirling (45%), Surrey (44%), Bristol (41%), Exeter (36%), Essex (36%), Royal Holloway (35%), Nottingham (35%) and Nottingham Trent (36%) also ranking high for current student rental demand.

Managing Director of StripeHomes, James Forrester, commented:

“Investing in student accommodation can be a smart move as the ever-revolving carousel of tenant demand for student-specific properties can ensure a constant stream of rental income.

Many students will have completed their current year in an online capacity, but going to university is a physical life experience that is unlikely to be replaced by the trend of remote working currently sweeping many workplaces.

Even in the current climate, there remains a strong demand for student accommodation surrounding universities all over the nation, presenting a great opportunity for property investors and developers to step up and provide these much-needed homes.

At StripeHomes, this is something we’ve continued to prioritise with an eye on the long-term, as should always be the case with any property investment and development.
Providing excellent student accommodation is something we do very well in Newcastle and the surrounding areas, so it’s great to see both Newcastle and Northumbria rank so highly where the level of available student accommodation is concerned." 

Funding has now been allocated for 580 building projects at academies, sixth form colleges and voluntary aided schools in England to transform facilities and improve school buildings.

The funding will be used to repair and upgrade school facilities and create modern, fit-for-purpose spaces that meet schools’ needs. It also allows for a small number of expansion projects to increase school capacity.

Projects range from the upgrading of boilers to new green, energy-efficient models, to the complete refurbishment of a classroom block with brand new facilities. The works can begin as soon as schools are ready, and the majority should be completed this financial year.

The funding comes from the £560 million announced by the Prime Minister last month to help the nation bounce back from the pandemic, investing in schools to help teachers deliver a world-class education and create jobs. The government is also bringing forward £200 million for FE colleges this year, as part of plans for £1.5 billion of investment over five years to transform the FE college estate.

The Prime Minister’s transformative new ten-year school rebuilding programme also starts this year, supported by over £1 billion in funding for the first 50 projects. This investment will be targeted at school buildings in the worst condition across England – including substantial investment in the North and the Midlands – as part of the Prime Minister’s plan to level up opportunity for all.
 
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “As we work towards all children returning to school in September, this investment in our school and college buildings helps create modern environments that lend themselves to great teaching, making sure every child has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

“We have worked at great speed to release this additional £560 million of condition funding to schools for projects this year to kick-start the economy and transform the buildings so vital for excellent teaching. We have now allocated over £2 billion this year to improve the condition of our school buildings, paving the way for our new transformative ten-year school building programme starting later this year with over £1 billion funding for the first wave of 50 schools.”

Brendan Tapping, CEO, Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust said: “We are delighted that we have been granted the funding to build six additional teaching spaces, as well as increase the size of our dining room.

“The improvements to our building will greatly enhance the experience of our students, not least because we will be able to build the new facilities to the most modern standards.

“With our plans coming together to enable all children to return to school in September, it is great to be able to look to the future and know we will have the space and facilities we need to give all our children the education they deserve.” 

The 580 building projects are supported by over £180 million in funding distributed through the Department’s Condition Improvement Fund. They have been selected based on bids submitted to the fund for the main funding round earlier this year.

The remainder of the £560 million is being provided to local authorities, larger multi-academy trusts and large voluntary aided school bodies to spend on improving the condition of their schools. This additional funding comes on top of over £1.4 billion already allocated in 2020-21 to improve the condition of the school estate.

Over £1 billion is being invested to fund the first 50 projects of the new, ten-year school rebuilding programme, starting later this year. These projects will be confirmed in the autumn, and construction on the first sites will begin from September 2021.

As the first major school rebuilding programme to be launched since 2014, these building projects will be more environmentally-friendly and employ the latest construction methods – creating highly skilled jobs and providing a boost for the construction sector.

Anthony Mmesoma Madu, an 11-year old boy from Nigeria whose video of him ballet dancing in the rain went viral on the Internet, has been handpicked by a prestigious dance school in New York City to receive a full scholarship.

Madu is one of 12 students mentored by Daniel Ajala Owoseni, a dance instructor and founder of the Leap of Dance Academy, a dance school in Lagos, Nigeria. Owoseni is teaching children for free and hopes to “change stereotypes around ballet dance.”

Most recently, Madu posted a video of himself showing off his ballet skills outside in the rain.

It eventually went viral and caught the attention of Cynthia Harvey, the artistic director of the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Dance.

Harvey then got in touch with Madu to offer him a full scholarship to attend the ABT virtual Young Dancer Summer Workshop. Harvey also offered Owoseni to be a part of ABT’s National Training Curriculum which helps instructors improve their skills more.

“A child who shows this much dedication, you just have to help. If there is anything the world has taught us, it’s… that we all have a lot to learn from one another. Providing opportunities for Daniel and Anthony is the right thing to do,” Harvey said.

Meanwhile, Madu hopes he can also inspire other young dancers, girls and boys alike, to try ballet dancing.

“The feeling that comes over me (when I dance) is as if I am dreaming,” Madu said. “When people see ballet they think it is only for girls. How I want them to see me is when I am dancing, they know that there is a male ballet dancer.”

A University of Wolverhampton student presented her research at a high profile workshop profiling Machine Ethics.

Satwant Kaur, a second year student studying for a Computer Science degree in the School of Mathematics and Computer Science, took part in the workshop run by the Machine Ethics Research Group in the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin alongside practitioners, professionals, junior researchers, and senior academics from across the globe.

The Machine Ethics Research Group is an inter-disciplinary group that investigates technology and its impact on society, law, ethics, philosophy and fiction.

Satwant was one of five students who won a scholarship earlier this year to present a research poster to the British Computer Sociey Lovelace Colloquium at the University of Stirling, but because of the pandemic, was unable to attend due to the event being cancelled. She said: “I love to travel and I was really looking forward to going to Scotland but sadly in the end, the whole trip had to be cancelled due to the lockdown.

“My poster proposed a system of ethics for technology based on the work of Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem. My lecturer, Dr Herb Daly, told me about an opportunity to develop my idea into a piece of research.”

The Machine Ethics Research Group held their second annual workshop online for the first time and although this is usually a Postgraduate forum, Satwant submitted her work and hoped it would make it through the selection process.

“I have always been keen on philosophy, so I re-wrote the contents of my poster as an academic paper. I was surprised and delighted when they accepted it and it was an amazing experience to present it online.”

Dr Herb Daly, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “Satwant was brave enough to take an opportunity in the middle of a global crisis. It is fantastic that she has been able to present her work at this level and contribute to international academic discourse. We hope that other students will follow her example in the future.”

Anyone applying for a course through Clearing can register their interest and arrange a phone call with the University on results day on Thursday 13th August or visit our next virtual Open Day on Saturday 15th August for more information. Alternatively call us on the Clearing Hotline on 01902 518585 or contact us through our Social Media channels: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Young Wulfrunians aged 11-25 are being invited to this year’s virtual #YES Youth Engagement Conference.

The conference, which takes place on Microsoft Teams on Monday (10 August) from 2pm-3.30pm, will give young people the chance to hear from different groups and organisations about what they are doing to benefit young people in the city.

This will include updates from the City of Wolverhampton Youth Council and Sustainable West Midlands, as well as a chance for young people to find out more, and have their say about, the city’s exciting Westside development.

There will also be a prize draw, with five participants given the opportunity to win £10 worth of Amazon vouchers.

Councillor John Reynolds, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “Young people are a key part of shaping our city’s future and it is vital that their voices are heard.

“I would encourage as many young people to attend this virtual conference as possible so that we can share with them some of the great work already underway to make Wolverhampton a better place to grow up in, and so we can continue working in partnership with them on key city projects and issues that will play a big part in their lives, like climate change and sustainability.”

To take part, join the #YES Youth Engagement Conference at: https://bit.ly/3kaxbPM. Anybody who attends the conference will need access to a mobile phone and Microsoft Teams to take part in some of the interactive activities which are planned.