In its annual report, published this week, Ofsted said more apprenticeships are urgently needed to meet the needs of the economy. This is something I have been calling on for years. Apprenticeships are vital for the economy and also better fit the vast majority of students. We have become degree obsessed when most young people do…
As we leave 2019 behind and all the political uncertainty of the past three years I am hopeful that the new year could hold real promise for education. For someone like me who has backed the changes to the curriculum, supports testing and schools being held to account and believes in selective and specialist state…
Now all the manifestos have been published I’ve taken a look at the three main political parties’ education pledges. I’m pleased to see that funding is key and all the parties have recognised that more investment in schools is needed if we’re to thrive as a country. The most important issue is per-pupil funding and…
For many years I have been calling on successive governments to place greater emphasis on vocational and technical education. Slowly but surely, the government appears to be moving in that direction. This week saw the announcement of how T-levels – the new technical alternative to A-levels – will be rolled out and marked. The government…
August saw one of the education success stories of the year. You may have read about the Michaela Free School in London and its inspirational headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh recording GCSE results any grammar school would be proud of. Michaela, which is based in the deprived area of Brent, saw more than half (54%) of its students…