Blog
School performance – why intake still matters
Is there a problem with school accountability in this country? Yes. Is there an easy solution? Probably not. The latest consultation on this issue has just closed, to remarkably little fanfare. Perhaps everyone was so preoccupied with the National Curriculum Review, or taken aback by the climb down on the EBCs, that less attention was […]
Why for profit is a bridge too far
Earlier this month I spoke at the Spectator Schools Conference on the subject of for profit schools. I argued that the the evidence doesn’t prove that they are guaranteed to raise standards, and there are considerable risks attached to putting financial incentives ahead of educational aims. You can watch my speech here thanks to my colleague […]
The Headteachers’ Roundtable Alternative English Baccalaureate
Late last year, Education Secretary Michael Gove conceded that, while he was determined to stick to his timetable for qualifications reform, if a “red light” flashed, he would take account of it. It is hard to imagine a brighter “red light’ than last week’s Education Select Committee report on Mr Gove’s cherished English Baccalaureate Certificates. […]
The Coalition Agreement – two years on
The most striking feature of the Coalition Agreement on schools, two and a half years on, is not what has or hasn’t been achieved but what wasn’t included in the first place. The document’s most high profile policy proposals – the establishment of free schools and a pupil premium for disadvantaged pupils – have been […]
Gove must rule against any new grammars
If I were Michael Gove, the decision I would least relish at the moment would be having to rule on the fate of the Sevenoaks grammar school. This little time bomb was lobbed into the Secretary of State’s court around 18 months ago when the county council in fully selective Kent decided to approve the […]
Labour should subvert the Tory academy programme to end selection
A shorter version of this article appears in the Guardian today I am sure I wasn’t alone in feeling a profound sense of gloom on hearing that the go-ahead has been given for what will effectively be a new grammar school in the Kent town of Sevenoaks. For the last fifteen years too many people, […]
