With girls again outperforming boys at GCSEs an academic has posed the question: “Why can’t we accept it is just that they are cleverer?” Professor Alan Smithers’ comment was not just a throw-away line; he had conducted research into this area and published a report on it. And for the most part, I would go…
Once again A’ Level results were collected by worried sixth formers and once again they performed better than any year group that had gone before them. It seems we are trapped in an unending spiral of grade inflation, and if it continues on its current trajectory, it won’t be long before every student is an A-grade student.…
Children next week will learn what GCSE and A’ Level results they have achieved. However, like last year, the method of arriving at the grades will not be through the process of marked examination papers. This is because of the pandemic, which has deeply affected the education of millions of our young people. Last year…
After more than a year of children experiencing disrupted schooling, they now have a six-week holiday – a chance for them to get even further behind. Many parents of those going up to secondary school have asked me what they should be doing to ensure their children know as much as they ought to. This…
To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men are two of the finest novels of the last century. Millions of youngsters over multiple generations have read, enjoyed and learned from them. Harper Lee’s masterpiece is one of the greatest anti-racist tomes ever written and Steinbeck deals with poverty during the Great Depression. So, it…