Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has U-turned on taking away the charitable status of private schools because the effect would be devastating. Its removal would also have had the effect of schools abolishing assisted places, bursaries and scholarships for poorer students. Starmer would have been criticised for harming the education of poor children, so he…
I have just returned in mid-September from a week-long foreign holiday, and I was surprised to see so many English families with children. According to a recent report from consultancy Public First there has been a ‘seismic shift’ in parents’ attitudes to school attendance. My anecdotal evidence supports the report’s findings that absenteeism is growing,…
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…