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.…
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…
The decision by the Welsh Assembly to do away with exams next year is foolhardy and will store up major problems. There is a faction in progressive educational circles that want to axe exams, and the pandemic has given them the perfect opportunity to kick-start the process. But exams, while not perfect, are by far…
The majority of organisations involved in the government’s National Tutoring Programme don’t use qualified teachers, we have discovered. Our research looked into the 32 providers on the programme and only six state on their websites that they use teachers to deliver learning. The scheme, in theory, is sound – children have lagged behind in their…