An under-performing state school in Guildford in southern England has already been taken over by the private-sector arm of a successful west Midlands school.

ECONOMIST: Education, education, education

Such a drop-out rate has its roots in the earliest years of school, when under-performing students are pushed through the system.

ECONOMIST: Education

Thousands of vocational courses are to be excluded from school league tables in England because the government says under-performing schools are relying on subjects of "little academic worth".

BBC: Are vocational qualifications valuable?