AS Education - OFSTED Functionalism

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the current head of the government's education watchdog OFSTED, has said that schools are "great forces for social cohesion" and that they "provide the glue that helps hold our society together."

Does that remind you of anything? Functionalism, perhaps?

Wilshaw went on to single out the achievements of the children of immigrants, saying that their success in the UK stood out against that of other European countries - such as Germany, France, Finland, Italy and Switzerland - where they do far worse in school than their native peers.

Read more about Wilshaw's speech here.

AS & A2 Ethnicity

Why a black child is 12 times less likely to become PM.

A black child born in the UK today is 12 times less likely to become prime minister than a white child, according to new research. But why is this?

The figure was calculated by statistician, economics and inequalities specialist Dr Faiza Shaheen for the documentary Will Britain Ever Have A Black Prime Minister?

Read more about the research here and watch the programme at 21:00 on Sunday 13 November on BBC Two or catch up later online.