Teenagers aged between 16 and 19 were most likely to be users, with one in five claiming to have taken drugs in the past month against 46 per cent ever.A breakdown of under 30s who took stimulants at some point found 14 per cent had tried amphetamines or speed, 13 per cent poppers, 10 per cent magic mushrooms, 9 per cent LSD and 6 per cent ecstasy.Just 3 per cent of under 30s had tried cocaine and less than 1 per cent had ever experimented with harder drugs like heroin, crack or methadone.People living in London, other inner-cities or areas with large numbers of young people were more likely to have had contact with drugs.Other strong indicators included people who were heavy drinkers, single, were away from home a lot, out of work, or lived in a poorer household, the survey found.Afro-Caribbeans were more likely to use cannabis and crack than whites, who favoured speed, it said.The findings will be used as background information by drug action teams as part of the Government’s drugs strategy.. The British Crime Survey found that while many 16 to 29-year-olds have taken drugs at some point, most claim they have taken them merely on a one-off basis or only occasionally. One in four have taken drugs in the past 12 months while one in seven admit to being regular users.
Cannabis is the most commonly used drug – and is twice as popular among younger people than other drugs.The 1994 study, based on interviews with 10,000 people aged 16-59, gives a fascinating insight into drug use in Britain.Not surprisingly drug use declines with age. Almost half of under-30s have dabbled with drugs with young whites overtaking Afro-Caribbeans of the same age as the biggest drug users, a report revealed yesterday. Getting on towards 100 schools have written in to say that their experience doesn’t fit with that of the Ofsted inspectors,” he said.. However, the majority of students had been found to be able to teach effectively and some changes had already been put in place to address the shortcomings of the courses, it said.John Halstead, principal of the college, said the conclusions had been based on the weaknesses of a minority of students. Other aspects of work in the department had previously received good reports, he added, expressing disappointment that Ofsted had chosen to base its findings on a small proportion of students.”We have had massive support from .. the schools which employ our output.

They observed teaching practice and training sessions at the university for the 830 students, 780 of whom were on a four-year undergraduate course and the rest on a one-year postgraduate scheme.Yesterday the university admitted that it needed either to make a substantial investment in the college or to merge it, and said that a decision would be made at the end of May. That course was closed shortly afterwards.The Ofsted inspectors found courses at Charlotte Mason deficient in every area they reviewed. While a few students had a good grasp of the English national curriculum, too many had “limited and superficial” knowledge. In maths, some students were unable to teach effectively because of gaps in their own knowledge.A significant number of students were unable to plan a sequence of lessons properly, the inspectors said, and in some cases the work set was poorly matched to the ability and interests of their pupils. The quality of children’s learning was poor as a result.A team of five inspectors visited the college for four days in June last year, with a repeat visit in November. The only other teacher-training course to fail was the secondary provision at the South Bank University in London, a former polytechnic.

In particular they were weak in spelling, grammar and phonics, all of which are now considered central to the teaching of reading.
The college, which is part of the university but which is based in Ambleside, could be merged with the University College of Saint Martin in Lancaster, whose courses are accredited by the university.The report is bound to have come as a significant blow to the university. “This is a major admission of failure by ministers and Ofsted,” he said. “The fact is that Ofsted missed its target for primary schools by a quarter in 1994-95 and has not recovered since That is the main reason for this change.”. Lancaster University is considering the future of its teacher- training college after it became the first to fail an inspection of its primary school courses. Ofsted, the national inspection body, found that some students at Charlotte Mason College in Cumbria lacked the levels of literacy and numeracy needed to teach maths and English. “Whatever the impact on the staff or the community, we must find out what is going on,” he said.Labour’s education spokesman, David Blunkett, condemned the changes. The subjects will probably vary from one school to another, and could be based on exam results or earlier inspection findings.Commenting on the plans to name more weak schools, Mr Woodhead said the aim was to help rather than to vilify.

These weaknesses could include: low standards of teaching in four or more subjects or in more than a quarter of lessons; poor pupil behaviour; ineffective management; poor value for money; low attendance; or a high number of exclusions.Schools which are not subjected to extra visits after their initial inspection may receive them later if their exam and test results or attendance levels fall, if exclusions rise or even if the head teacher changes.Ofsted has yet to decide how to choose the four subjects which will be inspected in secondary schools in addition to maths, English and science, though one option is to allow schools to have a say in the choice. If a school continues to fail, an education association can be sent in to take over and either improve standards or close the school.In future, a larger number of schools with weaknesses will be subject to extra scrutiny. In addition to the 2 per cent of schools labelled “failing” under the current system, inspectors will be asked to identify those with serious weaknesses so that they can be targeted for action. These are expected to make up another 8 per cent of the country’s 24,000 schools.
In future the inspectors will concentrate on the quality of English, maths and science in primary schools and on those subjects plus another four, yet to be finalised, in secondary schools.The aim of the changes is to bring more flexibility to the inspection process, which currently works on a four-year cycle, and to take pressure off the inspection body, Ofsted, which is struggling to keep up with the cycle of primary inspections, due to be completed by 1998.Yesterday the Chief Inspector of Schools, Chris Woodhead, announced a consultation on the plans, which would come into effect for secondary schools next year and for primary schools the following year.Schools which fail inspections are already subjected to special measures which include frequent visits by inspectors and the preparation of an action plan which must be approved by the Secretary of State for Education. Although healthy schools may only receive a visit once every six years, others will be seen by inspectors every term until they show an improvement. FOne school in 10 will be labelled as “weak” under plans for changes to the inspection system published yesterday.