The fall-out from the exams debacle during the pandemic lockdowns continues, with news that English students face stricter grading in their exams this year than students from devolved parts of the UK. Ofqual, England’s exam regulator, has decided to return to 2019 grading levels, but Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s regulators won’t. It means that…
The Prime Minister wants youngsters to study maths until they are 18. Rishi Sunak has identified an ‘anti maths mindset’ that is holding the country back. He is right. There is any anti maths mindset and the economy would be better off if youngsters left school fully numerate. They would be better able to understand…
The death of Caversham Primary School headteacher Ruth Perry is a tragedy of huge proportions. This is of particular poignancy if the results of the Ofsted inspection about her Reading school led to her suicide. But there has been no inquest yet and only after that inquiry will we know the full circumstances surrounding her…
Young children in Britain are being exposed to material that is completely inappropriate and unsuitable. We have learned that in Wales, seven-year-olds have been told that they might be a ‘mixed berry gender fluid muffin’. Aside from the sheer absurdity of the notion, these trendy theories have little or no academic evidence to support them.…
I was interviewed this morning on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC News South London. In the BBC Radio 5 Live interview I discussed: * The merits of having a Grammar School in every town; * How wealthier parents are able to purchase properties in better comprehensives – biasing children whose parents who are not…