One effect of the pandemic not yet wholly appreciated is the way it has exposed the weakness in assessing children’s progress at primary school level. A dramatic shake-up of the SATs system around four years ago has left educators and parents unaware of exactly how children in this age range are faring. Before the changes,…
This old Chinese proverb holds true and spells out the importance of not solving just the immediate issue of food, clothing, and shelter by helping someone (which of course is important) but also thinking of the long-term possibilities that this person might have if only they could help themselves too. This is where education comes in.…
When Tony Blair came to power in 1997, he famously said that his government’s priority would be ‘education, education, education.’ But what kind of education did he mean? The answer was simple: a university education. His target was to send half the nation’s students to university – and it’s been achieved. But what did Tony…
An imminent U-turn by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson might well see exams re-instated this year. In a letter to the chief regulator, Williamson said he would like to ‘explore the possibility of providing externally set tasks or papers’. I said at the time of cancellation that it was a decision made too early and that…
The abandonment of GCSE and A-Levels this summer is unnecessary and will further degrade confidence in the system. The decision to cancel exams has been taken too early – it shows a lack of ambition and is a major disservice to the students. With the Covid vaccine being rolled out the exams could have been…