Are some universities being punished for their politics?

Leaders in higher education said they believed the United Kingdom government was trying to push universities out of teacher training for political reasons because ministers thought their education departments were “hotbeds of left-wing intellectualism” and full of Marxists, writes Anna Fazackerley for The Guardian.

Under changes announced last summer, all initial teacher training providers in England must be re-accredited by the Department for Education to continue educating teachers from 2024. However, two-thirds of providers, including some top universities, were told this month that they had failed the first round of the new accreditation process. The Department for Education said last week that just 80 providers, out of 216 who are understood to have applied, had made the cut.

Those currently out in the cold include some from the prestigious Russell Group. The University of Nottingham, a member of the elite group, said it was “very disappointed and perplexed” to have been failed only two months after Ofsted rated it as outstanding, with inspectors praising the “exceptional curriculum taught by experts”.
Full report on The Guardian site