Despite the grumbling from certain quarters it is good to see school exam results return to pre-pandemic grading. These year groups have had it tough with reduced teaching due to the closure of schools during the pandemic and teacher strikes. Nevertheless, the grades had to return to 2019 levels at some point because otherwise, the…
The man who is likely to be our next Prime Minister has opined on the subject of education. In a wide-ranging speech, Sir Keir Starmer attempted to set out what a Labour government would do for our schoolchildren. Of course, being a Labour leader he neglected to mention that his own education benefited from the…
Teenagers who have taken A Level and GCSE exams will now be waiting nervously for their results. They have endured curtailed schooling through the lockdowns and more recently because of teacher strikes. But when they get their results what will they mean? The problem with exam grading pre-existed the Covid pandemic and in fact, can…
New figures have shown a dramatic increase in the number of children being taught at home. It’s possible that more than 100,000 children are not attending school – double the number before the pandemic. Although parents got a taste of teaching during the lockdowns, they are not professionals and it’s hard to check what they…
The recent Year 6 SATs’ reading paper caused tears from students who took it – and from some of their teachers. It was too hard, they said. The National Association of Headteachers claimed that even staff ‘had to really think’ about the answers. The Department for Education defended the paper, saying the questions had been…