The share of children receiving SEND support has nearly doubled in a decade, with spending set to reach £21 billion by 2029, according to an IFS report. Some numbers from the report: One-in-twenty (5.2 per cent) pupils aged under 16 in England have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This share has almost doubled…
… and here’s what should happen. When then Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that he wanted 50 per cent of school leavers to go to university I held my head in despair. It was argued that as graduates earned so much more money than non-graduates we ought to send more youngsters to university – then…
There’s an interesting debate unfolding on LinkedIn about demand for tutoring versus the number of tutors in the marketplace. From my perspective, this isn’t really about whether there are enough students or enough tutors. It’s about the quality of tuition being offered. There are good tutors and bad tutors. In my view, tutoring should be delivered by professional teachers unless…
For many years now reports and surveys have shone a light on the plight of white, working-class children in our schools. We know they perform more poorly than any other demographic and that the problem is generational. And we know that if children come out of school without qualifications and being unable to read and…
A recent poll for the NEU (National Education Union) has shown a massive collapse in support for Labour, but a huge leap for the Greens. The NEU is the biggest teaching union. The poll asked for teachers’ voting intentions compared with how respondents voted in the last general election. Predictably it shows vast support for…