The UK is ranked tenth in the world for quality of university education, despite the presence of internationally-renowned institutions such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and University College London.

The United States, Sweden, Canada, Finland and Denmark make up the top five in the Universitas 21 Rankings table for 2012, with the UK falling behind Switzerland, Norway, Australia and the Netherlands.

Universitas 21's report uses a range of measures to establish which nations are the best at providing higher education.

An important aspect of this is highlighting the importance of creating an environment in which institutions can contribute to economic and cultural development.

In total more than 20 different measures have been used to compile the list.

"The success of the system is measured by output variables such as research performance, participation rates and employment," report authors explain. "The measures are grouped under four main headings: Resources, Environment, Connectivity and Output."

Researchers note that there are strong relationships between resources and output. Interestingly, only the UK and Australia are not in the top eight for resources, despite falling into the top eight for output.

Posted by Jennifer Wright

Sidcot School in Weston-super-Mare is launching a new financial assistance scheme that will see day school fees cut for high achieving pupils.

Families will be able to receive a waiver of up to 50 per cent of the annual day fees if children attending excel academically, according to The Post.

Speaking to the newspaper, new Headteacher Iain Kilpatrick explained that the scholarships will be offered from primary school right through to sixth form.

"These ongoing scholarships and bursaries in the junior, senior and sixth form are an exciting new development," he explained. "Sidcot is a registered charity with fantastic academic results and in line with the caring equality of the Quaker ethos we are committed to widening pupil access for talented children."

Sidcot received an Outstanding rating in its latest Ofsted report, while inspectors from the Independent Schools Inspectorate indicate the school is excellent, highlighting pastoral care and the mutual respect between people of all ages in the community.

Posted by Tony Thomas

Excellent private education makes London a more attractive place to live for wealthy domestic and overseas residents.

Good Schools Guide Editor Janette Wallis has underlined the strength of the private schools tradition in the capital, including their ability to produce world class university students.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Ms Wallis said: "One of the reasons London is attractive to the rich is its range of excellent, world class schools.

"Westminster School sends around one third of its pupils to Oxbridge, and schools like St Paul's and St Paul's Girls aren't far behind."

Accessing a good university is one of the big draws of private schools. Recent research by the Independent Schools Council (ISC) indicates that three-quarters of parents believe a private education offer good university and employment prospects.

In addition to offering better standards of education, parents surveyed by the ISC also believe private schools offer children a better start in life, better discipline and better results in subjects such as Maths, Science and Languages.

Posted by Louise Wright

Keele University has joined St Andrews in signing up to the Common Application admissions system used in the United States.

This allows US students to apply for places using the same form used for US universities, rather than through the British UCAS applications process.

The addition to the Common Application supports the universty's long-term international growth strategy, as it attempts to broaden its standing in Asia and the Far East as well as North America.

Keele University director of marketing and communications John McCarthy explained: "We believe the next stage of our evolution is North America, where we have many long standing academic partnerships as well as a very strong and active alumni network.

"We believe that a British degree is recognised around the world for its quality and we are excited about providing opportunities for American students."

The Common Application has been running for over 35 years and has more than 400 member institutions, including the full range of higher education institutions in the US.

Posted by Louise Wright

Good value and careful management of costs are a priority for the Girls' Day School Trust private education vision.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the former Penguin Books boss and current Chief Executive of the trust, Helen Fraser, explained that the level of school fees are clearly important to parents in the current economic climate.

However, this can prove a very hard balancing act and with standards expected to remain high there are many challenges.

Ms Fraser said: "We want to be seen as the John Lewis of independent schools. So we are careful to manage our costs.

"Because we have 26 schools, we can, for example, buy gas and IT centrally at better rates. But there are some things we cannot compromise."

Her comments follow calls from the former High Master of St Paul's School, Martin Stephens, for private schools to evolve.

The Gems Director of Education noted that failure to adapt to the modern education sector could see many schools losing touch with the middle classes and potentially facing financial difficulties.

Posted by Jennifer Smith

Private schools have been told they must "evolve or face extinction" by the ex-High Master of St Paul's School in west London.

Martin Stephen believes that independent schools are in danger of losing touch with the middle classes and will suffer when the delayed effects of 2008 recession begin to take their toll.

In a guest article for the Times Educational Supplement, the Gems Director of Education said that private schools need to reduce their fees in order to survive.

He also advised school leaders to "use their independence to be at the sharp edge of innovation and radical thinking", becoming a voice for academic education in the UK.

With the UK confirmed as having fallen back into recession just this week, private schools could find themselves coming under increasing pressure.

Mr Stephen, who is the former chair of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, also highlights that for-profit schools, such as those run by Gems, are already proving high-quality private education is possible for lower fees.

Posted by Tony Thomas

AC Grayling has defended his "elite" intake of first-year students at his New College of Humanities, most of which will be drawn from private schools.

Critics have taken issue with the fact that just over a fifth (22 per cent) of the intake for the £18,000 per year alternative to Oxbridge will come from state schools.

However, the philosopher has indicated he has no problem with the university being labelled as elitist.

"Anything that's high quality, very demanding, can be described as elite," he explained. "I personally don't have any difficulty with the word elite. You would like your surgeon or airline pilot taught at an elite institution. Elite doesn't mean exclusive."

Of the 91 students who have been offered a place so far, just seven are to receive scholarships that will cover all tuition fee costs.

Some 37 will receive means-tested reductions in fees because they come from households with an income of below £25,000 per year.

Posted by Jennifer Smith

Private schools work hard to instil a strong sense of self-belief in pupils, which is a vital character trait for success in later life, according to Newsnight's Emily Maitlis.

The state school-educated broadcaster made the comments in an interview about the new Speaker for Schools programme, set up to attract more high-achieving public speakers to state schools.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and BBC Business Editor Robert Peston have both given their backing to the scheme, which seeks to replicate private schools such as Eton College and Harrow School that consistently attract top speakers to events.

Speaking to the Metro, Ms Maitlis explained: "I think without the right encouragement I would have aspired to less.

"At private school, kids have it drilled into them that they can do anything and be anything – and I'd really like to encourage that self-belief in all sorts of kids that don't have access to fee-paying schools. It's vital."

Posted by Jennifer Smith

Former Eton College student Tom Hiddleston has defended the private school.

The Avengers star is part of a cluster of Old Etonian actors who have found success in the US on the big screen and on TV.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Hiddleston explained that arrogance and chauvinism is incredibly rare in the school.

"There are a few people like that but that's one or two in a school of 1,200," he noted. "It's actually one of the most broad-minded places I've ever been."

Eton is among a host of private schools which are providing expert tuition to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, as part of the government free school programme.

A new sixth form college is being created in east London, sponsored by ten leading independent schools, with Eton offering tuition for English, Highgate School teaching Mathematics, and City of London School responsible for teaching Physical Education.

Posted by Louise Wright

Oxford University is collaborating with Vatican libraries to digitise 1.5 million pages of ancient texts, including Greek and Hebrew manuscripts and 15th-century printed books.

The aim of the four-year project is to make them available to view online for free, uniting two collections that have been kept separate for several centuries.

Some £2 million funding for the project is being provided by the Polonsky Foundation, set up to make academic and historic texts available to the public for free.

The majority of the texts are coming from the Vatican's Biblioteca Apostolica, while the rest will come from Oxford's Bodleian Libraries.

Bodley's Librarian Sarah Thomas said: "Transforming these ancient texts and images into digital form helps transcend the limitations of time and space, which have in the past restricted access to knowledge."

There is hope that the improved online access to the ancient texts will enable scholars to interrogate them afresh.

Posted by Tony Thomas