Podcast appearances and mentions of mary curnock cook

This week on the podcast we pore over Rachel Reeves' first budget and consider the implications for universities. We also think about students' finances as bus fares and the minimum wage both rise. Plus OfS has been rattling its sabre on consumer rights—but is the sector taking any notice?With Andy Westwood, Professor of Public Policy, Government and Business at the University of Manchester, Mary Curnock Cook, serial sector non-exec and former UCAS CEO, Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at City St George's University of London, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.Everything in the Budget for higher educationStudent bus travel should be freeMore consumer rights cases emerge from OfS and NTSThe minimum wage is going up. Will maintenance loans rise to match it?The value of historyDfE to stop grading English schools based on proportion of Russell Group students Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As A-level students receive their exam results, Cindy Yu speaks to Isabel Hardman and Mary Curnock Cook who is the former chief executive of UCAS. In a bid to curb recent grade inflation, fewer of the top results have been handed out to students who were the first year group to sit through pandemic style examinations. Can the government return to 2019 levels this summer? Produced by Cindy Yu and Natasha Feroze. 

There are few board leaders more well-versed in the education industry than Mary Curnock Cook CBE. In addition to her roles as the Chair of the Dyson Institute, Pearson Education Ltd. and Emerge Education, Mary has developed a diverse portfolio of board-level positions at the London Interdisciplinary School, The Student Room The Student Loan Company, Education Cubed and the Higher Education Policy Institute.Join Mary and Nurole CEO Oli Cummings for an open discussion of what she has learned from her career in education. From the unique challenges of balancing her private and public sector appointments to the importance of training and development for board members, Mary's comprehensive insight will challenge listeners to bring an outcome-focused approach into the boardroom.

Support The Problem With Men Podcast: Buy a T-Shirt | Make a PayPal Donation.Why are schools getting an ‘F' when it comes to educating boys? Government statistics have revealed a troubling gender gap in our educational system for decades. So why is nothing being done?In this episode of The Problem With Men Podcast, we look at some of the reasons why boys fall behind in school and identify potential gender bias that discourages them from continuing their educationWe're joined for this episode by a range of educational experts; Gary Wilson is a former teacher, educational consultant and author of several books about boys achievement.Mark Roberts is a head of research, English teacher and author of two books about educating boys.Mary Curnock Cook is the former head of UCAS; and sits on the board of several educational companies.Professor Gijsbert Stoet is a professor of psychology at the University of Essex.Dan Bell is the CEO of the men and boys coalition.You can find out more about this episode of the podcast over at http://theproblemwithmen.co.ukSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-problem-with-men/donations

This week on the podcast there's a bunch of highlights from our student experience conference in London. We hear results from the Student Futures Commission and research on belonging, examples of student and SU led-projects on diversity, insights from generational research and reflections from the outgoing CEO of the Office for Students. With Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive at the Office for Students, Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, Vice President (HE) at NUS, Mary Curnock Cook, Chair of the UPP Foundation Student Futures Commission, Bobby Duffy, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute King's College London, Richard Brabner, Director at the UPP Foundation, Omar Khan, Director of the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in HE, Shuab Gamote Project Manager at The Union MMU, Dani Bradford, Policy and Research Manager Students' Union UCL, Calum Sherwood, Senior Policy and Research Officer at Arts Students' Union, Georgia Spencer, Welfare Officer at Arts Students'​ Union, Syeda Zara Haram, Vice President Education, Herts SU, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

Episode 10 of our ‘UCEM in conversation with…' series sees guest presenter, UCEM's executive director – regulation, Andy Youell, talk to Pearson UK chair, Mary Curnock Cook CBE. Mary is an educationalist who has previously served as chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and director of qualifications and skills at the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency. Mary was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000 for assisting in training in the hospitality industry before being promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) just last year for services to further and higher education. Mary was invited by our Chair, Amanda Clack, to speak at this month's board of trustees meeting on her expertise in education. Whilst Mary was in the office, we thought it presented a wonderful opportunity to get her thoughts on some of the pressing issues in higher education and also gain some life advice based on her hugely successful career.

This week on the podcast UCU are balloting for industrial action over pay and pensions - does it signal a bleak midwinter for the sector? Plus HEPI has a new report out on the humanities, there's new data on LGBT+ applicants and the Free Speech bill completes its committee stage.  With Graham Virgo, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Cambridge, Mary Curnock Cook, serial non-exec director and Chair of the UPP Student Futures Commission, Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at Nottingham Trent and presented by Wonkhe's own Jim Dickinson.

This week on the podcast UCAS has some new findings out on supporting students to make good (higher education) choices. Wales has its own Erasmus replacement, Northern Ireland has a brain drain, Mary Curnock Cook appears to discuss the new Student Futures Commission from the UPP Foundation that she's chairing, and a happiness course at Bristol brings a smile to the face. Plus Mike Ratcliffe tells the story of Oxford's Masters degrees on Hidden History. With Gavan Conlon, partner at London Economics, Jenny Shaw, Student Experience Director at Unite Students, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor.

It's A-Level results day and much as expected, a large minority of A-Level grades from across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have been downgraded. For some schools and colleges, more than half of their students have been affected. On the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and Mary Curnock Cook, former head of Ucas about the government's approach, educational inequality, and why a new cap on university places may have made the situation a whole lot worse.

White working class boys consistently perform worse than other demographics in the UK's education system - why? (00:45) What is it like to be 'cancelled'? (14:20) And is it time to return to the office? (24:50) With the IEA's Christopher Snowdon; former Ucas head Mary Curnock Cook; journalist Kevin Myers; the Spectator's columnist Lionel Shriver; editor of the Oldie, Harry Mount; and Director of UK in a Changing Europe Anand Menon. Presented by Cindy Yu. Produced by Cindy Yu and Max Jeffery.

White working class boys consistently perform worse than other demographics in the UK's education system - why? (00:45) What is it like to be 'cancelled'? (14:20) And is it time to return to the office? (24:50)With the IEA's Christopher Snowdon; former Ucas head Mary Curnock Cook; journalist Kevin Myers; the Spectator's columnist Lionel Shriver; editor of the Oldie, Harry Mount; and Director of UK in a Changing Europe Anand Menon.Presented by Cindy Yu.Produced by Cindy Yu and Max Jeffery.

This week on the Wonkhe Show we start to try to make sense of the fall out from the Covid-19 crisis. We discuss admissions and student recruitment, the cancellation of the REF and the prospects for PGR students, the character of regulation required for the coming period and the major issues around student accommodation for both next term and beyond. Hosted by Mark Leach, CEO of Wonkhe, with Mary Curnock Cook, independent higher education expert; Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, and Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.

This week live from Wonkfest our guests reflect on two intense days of higher education wonkery. We also chat the coming general election and UCU's impending industrial action. With Andrea Burrows, MD at OES; Mary Curnock-Cook, Independent Education Expert; Jonathan Simons, Director at Public First; and Wonkhe's CEO Mark Leach.

Mary Curnock Cook is an educationalist and former head of Ucas. On this podcast, she talks about leaving school at 16, how boys suffer from the real gender gap in education, and why it would be 'ludicrous' to abolish university tuition fees. Presented by Katy Balls.

Mary Curnock Cook is an educationalist and former head of Ucas. On this podcast, she talks about leaving school at 16, how boys suffer from the real gender gap in education, and why it would be 'ludicrous' to abolish university tuition fees. Presented by Katy Balls.

This week on the podcast we discuss Labour's emerging policy on higher education. There's also a look at curriculum decolonisation campaigns getting the royal seal of approval and the state of private student housing. - should universities intervene?  With serial non-exec and sector expert Mary Curnock Cook, HE consultant Pete Quinn, and Wonkhe's Editor-in-Chief, Founder and CEO Mark Leach.

This special edition of the Times Higher Education podcast features a live discussion of the UK's most provocative higher education headlines, some future gazing and what our panelists would do if they were minister for a day.    Sara Custer is joined by Mary Curnock Cook, former-CEO of UCAS; Pamela Gillies, principal/vice-chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University; Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute; and Chloe Tear, a third year student at Leeds Trinity University and a disability activist. 

With Fraser Nelson and Mary Curnock Cook, educationalist and former head of UCAS. Presented by Katy Balls.

IOE Public Debates: It's time to address the latest issues surrounding the stubborn academic-vocational divide. Speakers include: - Mary Curnock Cook is the former Chief Executive of UCAS - Tony Little is the Chief Academic Officer at GEMS - Sir Michael Wilshaw is the former Chief Inspector of Schools In England and Head of Ofsted - Alison Fuller is Professor of Vocational Education and Work and Pro-Director for Research and Development at the UCL Institute of Education. - Chair: Professor Becky Francis is the Director of UCL Institute of Education. #IOEDebates

As the college search for many of you begins in earnest this summer, here’s one way to ruin your summertime: Start talking to your child about completing the college application essay. Now, as you all know, some colleges require more than one essay and usually the second and third supplementary essays for those colleges, for example, are shorter and more geared to a specific question related to the college itself than the main essay, like the one in the Common Application. We gave one perspective on college essays way back in Episode 22 and another in Episode 49 when we recounted some sad experiences we had reviewing the college essays of about 100 kids in a top New York City high school. Today, let’s talk about that main essay.  In this episode, we would like to chat about what might be at the crux of the problem in putting together a compelling essay—and that is sounding original and impressive when the applicant is still a 17-year-old. 1. The Common Application Essays Remember, first of all, that not all colleges require essays, particularly community colleges. But let’s start with the Common App “personal statement,” which most students who have to write any essay will find themselves writing. Since over 600 colleges take the Common App, these essay prompts are likely in your child’s future. The Common App essay prompts are the same as last year’s and, for that reason, the Common App people can tell you which prompts were the most popular. Here is the breakdown as of last January (quoted from The Common Application website): Among the more than 800,000 unique applicants who have submitted a Common App so far during the 2015-2016 application cycle, 47 percent have chosen to write about their background, identity, interest, or talent - making it the most frequently selected prompt; 22 percent have chosen to write about an accomplishment, 17 percent about a lesson or failure, 10 percent about a problem solved, and four percent about an idea challenged. I have to say those figures seem entirely understandable to me inasmuch as I, too, think that the essay prompt that proved to be the most popular is likely to be the most straightforward to write about and the most likely to be easily adaptable to most kids’ situations. But let’s look at the exact wording of all five options (quoted from The Common Application website): 1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. (47 percent) 2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (17 percent) 3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? (4 percent) 4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. (10 percent) 5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. (22 percent) On the whole, I think these are reasonable prompts and relatively interesting prompts (without being overboard interesting) for high school seniors, though I do think that the writer has to be careful to bite off something that he or she can chew. For example, students, I wouldn’t suggest choosing global warming as a problem you’d like to solve unless you can say something very specific, unusually persuasive, and ideally somewhat original about it. It’s hard to propose the solution to an international crisis in 650 words. 2. Hugh Gallagher’s Essay When I was in Maine this weekend, college admissions expert Allen Millett told me about a college application essay that was news to me—though I guess people who do online dating have been stealing from it for years. Allen had heard about it some time ago from his colleague at New York University, the college that admitted the student who wrote the now-famous essay. That student was Hugh Gallagher, who said this in his 2008 video interview with The Wall Street Journal: It was 1989 and I was applying for colleges, and I thought it was really absurd for them to ask me at that age, you know, who I was or what I’d done because I hadn’t done anything. I feel as though truer words were never spoken. Anyway, Mr. Gallagher wrote the following essay in response to a question about significant experiences or accomplishments that helped define him as a person (that is, of course, a 17-year-old person): I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge. I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis. But I have not yet gone to college. Mr. Gallagher’s point is, I believe, obvious. This essay doesn’t solve your child’s problem of writing about himself or herself; it just points out how difficult getting a grasp on what a reasonable accomplishment or talent or interest or problem solution might be. As with all assignments, the more time your child has to think about the essay and sort through his or her young life to consider what might make sense to write about, the better off you all are. And here is some excellent advice that I can’t imagine anyone will take: Try writing about a few different ideas to see which one works best. I know that sounds like more work—and, in a way, it is—but all writers know that often many attempts have to be started and abandoned before a piece of good writing takes shape. I had an English teacher once who reminded the class that the word “essay” comes from the Old French “essai”—meaning a trial, attempt, or effort. So, it is perfectly reasonable to write several essays—that is, to make several attempts—before finding the one that actually works best. 3. The U.K. Weighs In And now let’s cross the Atlantic and see what is going on with college essay writing in the U.K. Earlier this spring, the BBC reported that the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), which handles the process of admitting students to British universities, had noted that “[u]niversity applicants are overly reliant on a few ‘hackneyed phrases’ in their personal statements” (quoted from the article “University hopefuls urged to keep applications ‘personal’”. The BBC article quoted the UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock Cook as saying that “[t]he personal statement is supposed to be personal.” In the U.K., the essay focuses on why applicants are planning to study a particular course or subject and on any skills or interests they have. To prove the point about “a few hackneyed phrases,” the UCAS published a list of the 10 most popular opening lines used by the over 700,000 applicants in their personal statements last year. Here they are (as reported in the article): “From a young age I have (always) been..” and then typically “interested in” or “fascinated by” (1,779 applicants) “For as long as I can remember I have...” (1,451 applicants) “I am applying for this course because...” (1,370 applicants) “I have always been interested in...” (927 applicants) “Throughout my life I have always enjoyed...” (310 applicants) “Reflecting on my educational experiences...” (257 applicants) “Nursing is a very challenging and demanding (career/profession/course)...” (211 applicants) “Academically, I have always been...” (168 applicants) “I have always wanted to pursue a career in...” (160 applicants) “I have always been passionate about...” (160 applicants) So, maybe our U.S. college applicants are more creative than our U.K. friends, but maybe not. The lesson here, students, is don’t put the words “I have always…” in the first sentence of your essay—unless you want to be like thousands of young Brits. Ask your questions or share your feedback by… Leaving a comment on the show notes for this episode at http://usacollegechat.org/episode80 Calling us at (516) 900-6922 to record a question on our USACollegeChat voicemail if you want us to answer your question live on our podcast Connect with us through… Subscribing to our podcast on Google Play Music, iTunes, Stitcher, or TuneIn Liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter Reviewing parent materials we have available at www.policystudies.org Inquiring about our consulting services if you need individualized help Reading Regina's new blog, Parent Chat with Regina, or checking out our book, How To Find the Right College, which is now available for sale as a Kindle ebook or as a paperback workbook

Mary Curnock Cook, Chief Executive of UCAS.