Education
The city's post-1992 university, the University of Portsmouth, previously known as Portsmouth Polytechnic, has notable achievements in law, mathematics and biological sciences. Several local colleges also have the power to award HNDs, including Highbury College, the largest, which specialises in vocational education; and Portsmouth College, which offers a mixture of academic and vocational courses in the city. Additionally there are several colleges in the surrounding area, all of which offer a varying range of academic and vocational courses. Post-16 education in Portsmouth, unlike many areas, is carried at these colleges rather than at secondary schools.
In 2007 for the first time in over a decade, no school in Portsmouth was below the government's minimum standards and thus none of them was in special measures; nevertheless many still counted among the worst performing schools in the country.
Before being taken over by ARK Schools and becoming Charter Academy, St Luke's Secondary School was, in terms of GCSE achievement, one of the worst schools in the country. It has improved considerably in recent years. 21% of students achieved five GCSEs at grades A* – C including English and mathematics in 2009. The new academy's aim is that at least 80% will achieve this benchmark by 2014. Charter Academy operates its intake policy as a standard comprehensive taking from its catchment area rather than selecting on religious background. This is the opposite of its nearby rival St Edmund's RC school. Both Admiral Lord Nelson School and Miltoncross School were built recently to meet the demand of a growing school age population.
Portsmouth's secondary schools are to undergo a major redevelopment in the next few years with three being totally demolished and rebuilt, (St Edmund's, City Boys and King Richard's) and the remainder receiving major renovation work. However this is now unlikely to proceed with the new coalition government's cancellation of the national building programme for schools.
There is also a cohort of independent schools within the city – the oldest, founded in 1732, is The Portsmouth Grammar School which has been rated as one of the top public schools in the country. There is also the Portsmouth High School, a member of the Girls Day School Trust, as well as Mayville High School and St. John's College.
The University of Southampton which trains student nurses and midwives has a campus within the grounds of St Mary's Hospital.
Also, Portsmouth City College is a new college in Kingston Road opened in 2011 which provides English, Tourism, Business and Management courses.
Read more about this topic: Portsmouth
Famous quotes containing the word education:
“The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered.”
—Jean Piaget (1896–1980)
“... in the education of women, the cultivation of the understanding is always subordinate to the acquirement of some corporeal accomplishment ...”
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797)
“In my state, on the basis of the separate but equal doctrine, we have made enormous strides over the years in the education of both races. Personally, I think it would have been sounder judgment to allow that progress to continue through the process of natural evolution. However, there is no point crying about spilt milk.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)