How bright but poor kids fall behind

And what can be done to help them, writes Alison Goddard.

Clever children from poor backgrounds fall further behind their affluent peers between the ages of 11 and 18, according to research by academics at the University of Oxford. The study followed more than 3,000 youngsters through the school system. According to the Guardian, it found that the gap was narrowed if the child attended a school rated "outstanding" by Ofsted and had a supportive learning environment at home. The Independent suggests that it would be a good idea to give bright youngsters from poor households "cultural vouchers" to enable parents to take them to museums. The Times says that advice on better subject choice would also help. Clearly universities might also play a useful role.

Uncapped tuition fees in Australia remain an ambition for the government. Bill Shorten, leader of the Labor party, has a blog post in the Guardian in which he argues that Australia needs to invest in higher education because it is a "fair wage nation in a low wage region". However the piece fails to identify exactly where the money might come from. We have an article, available only to full subscribers to HE, which looks at the government’s intention to separate the higher education and research reform bill into two parts, so that Senators can consider the merits of lifting the limit on tuition fees independently of proposed cuts to the research base. The new bill is predicted to be defeated later in the week.