Old Boy (name still used for alumni of British independent schools) of a well-known school at which I was teaching, recounting that when he

The GCSE exams taken by British pupils at age 16 have been reformed by HM Government; this first major overhaul of the exams since their introduction in 1988 has seen them returning to something along the lines of the old O-Level they replaced. Many successive years of pupils’ performance in the annual exams improving significantly led to political (if not national) cries that there was massive grade inflation and that too many pupils were receiving the highest A* grades, mak

When I was teaching I had two massive objections to the idea of students being tutored. First of all, there was nothing worse than trying to teach a child something, only for them to say: "But sir, my tutor told me to do it this way." The possibility of confused learning was huge. I also recoiled against the idea of children being so heavily tutored that their work or examination performance would be significantly skewed. Admittedly, these concerns still abide but, through my

Three of the most common things local families ask me about (when considering UK schools for their children) are bullying, school food and homesickness. Bullying Youngsters can be terribly unkind creatures, preying on one another's insecurities and idiosyncrasies - and there is no doubt that when they live together in large groups, this has the potential to be much more potent a force than when children disperse to their own homes at the end of the school day. That is why boa

【赴英升學考Ukiset】陶傑評考試設計：不是刁難學生 真正考獨立思維 香港小三BCA是否復考要三月才有定案──當中題型設計過份刁鑽，不是考學童基本能力；然而，全球教育體系下，真的有種公開試題型會令學生覺得有趣，不用操練而測試出不同程度的能力？

著名教育家Ken Robinsons說過，完成了一件工作，並不代表履行了一件工作。一個老師在某個課室內正在教書，但如果那個課室內的學生，根本沒有一個學到任何東西，這位老師也只是「完成」了教育的工作，而並沒有「履行」到這項職責。這便是finish和fulfill的分別。 我在一年前遇到一位學生和老師。 創業初期。有位家長過來公司找我，劈頭第一句便是想她的兒子Nathan考入一家叫Oundle的寄宿學校。Oundle的國際學生比例只有13%，香港人佔的部份更少，亦因如此想考 Oundle的香港人更為多，成功率當然不高。Nathan中等成績，英文科六十幾分，仲要喺一間校方必然未聽過嘅屯門中學讀書，性格顯然內向。你真心覺得Oundle會收阿仔？我想咁問，「你覺得Nathan真的適合嗎？」我最後說。家長一鼓作氣hard sell囝仔，但當然我心知，報得Oundle嘅香港學生通常都係嚟自喇沙或漢基等傳統名校，而且成績有返咁上下，我心只想幫你慳返報名費。 我唔想judge a book by its cover，最後我們當然是嘗試了，結果亦一如預期無功而還。第

Former british prime minister Benjamin Disraeli allegedly recoiled against "lies, damned lies, and statistics." He would certainly do so from beyond the grave if he were to see the UK's annual school league tables and the way that they are used by parents to select "good" schools. These tables, ranking schools in order of their supposed performance in public examinations (GCSE and A levels) have been flawed since their inception and continue to be flawed - and parents in Hong

UKiset（UK Independent Schools Entry Test），即英國私立學校入學考試，亦被稱之為中學版IELTS（雅思）。近年愈來愈多頂尖傳統英國寄宿學校視UKiset為收生評估的一部份，有些更會直接以Ukiset作收生標準。香港一直對赴英升學的需求很高，近年學生報考UKiset的人數亦愈來愈多。對於這個統一入學收生試，才子陶傑亦表示：「UKiset統一管理海外學生的成績，這個統一化無論對學校或者學生來說，都是一件好事。」 什麼是UKiset？ UKiset入學試專門為9-18歲以非英語為母語的海外學生而設，主要測試學生三方面的能力：英語 (Verbal reasoning)、數學 (Mathematics)以及邏輯 (Non-verbal reasoning)。學生可以利用 UKiset考試成績報讀5間私立寄宿中學，若額外付費可以再報考多兩間學校。 和以往逐間學校逐間報的方法完全大不同，Ukiest最大好處是一次測驗便可報讀多間學校，省卻不少時間和人力物力。 考試成績於試後3至5個工作天透過電郵發出，申請人毋須等一段冗長時

留學英國，為的是學好英文？ 紹英多年的才子陶傑會答你：「遠遠不只於此。」年紀輕輕的學子遠赴異國，學的當然不單是一門外語如此片面單薄，還有當地的整個文化、歷史，以至人文風景、歷史。而一向推崇英國教育，同時深請其文化底蘊精深的陶傑，亦認為愈早讓孩子留英，便能愈早讓其受到蕉陶，領會潛藏於語言及日常生活之內的浩瀚知識之海。 英國私立中學素來以其悠久傳統及優良校風見稱，其中聲名遐邇的傳統名校如伊頓公學(Eton ColIege)以及奧多中學( Oundle School)，均需要申請入學學生提供UKiset成績，以作為初步的遴選過程。而另有些傳統名校 如雷斯中學(The Leys School)和艾普森學院 (Epsom College)，更直接以UKiset的成績取代入學試。鑑此，如學生本身在香港的校內考試成績未如理想，或未能準確反映學生的真實能力，UKiset 便成為增加考入心儀學校的機會。 UKiset 全名為「The UK Independent Schools' Entry Test」，是專為9至18歲，以非英語為母語的海外學生而設的英國私立學校

本港讀書競爭激烈，不少家長選擇以「銀彈」供書教學，讓子女負笈海外升學，其中英國更是熱門之選。 據英國私立學校聯會去年數據顯示，目前有近5000名港生於當地私立中小學就讀，而近年入學申請的模式亦開始出現大革新，以往多需透過升學中介逐間學校「叩門」應考，近四年則新興簡稱為Ukiset的英國私立學校入學測試，只需透過一個歷時約2小時的電腦試考核，便可統一報讀最起碼5間院校，當地多間老牌寄宿學校如The Leys School 及 Epsom College等亦已引入，更有院校將Ukiset列作海外招生的唯一入學途徑，4年以來，已累計逾2000名本地生考取Ukiset成績。 知名專欄作家陶傑認為，家長送子女前往英國讀書，是本港教育制度以外一個選擇。 Ukiset 全名為UK independent schools' entry test，由英國一家逾百年歷史的教育咨詢公司於2014年創辦，屬國際認可的考試證明，供9歲至17歲學童報讀英國私立中小學或寄宿學校，每次考試收費為295英磅，即約3千多港元。據其官網介紹，成績有效期為一年，考生可據其成績報讀5間院