Laura McInerney | Schools Week

Nicky Morgan, former education secretary

Every education secretary has a story of the day they were appointed. Estelle Morris forgot to take photo-ready shoes. Shirley Williams accepted via a late-night phone call in New York. Nicky Morgan mostly tried not to fall over. Summoned from a symposium at the Treasury (where she was financial secretary), she was told the prime […]

Women need to get even – let’s ban men from school names

Is anyone bored of hearing the ways women are disadvantaged in education? I am. Commentators like me bang on and on about women being relatively less likely to become leaders, less likely to get into Oxbridge, more likely to get low wages. Frankly, it all gets a bit samey. But that’s because inequality is boring. […]

Pearson Teaching Awards reveal who has come top of the class in 2016

Ten of the country’s most outstanding teachers have been rewarded for their contributions to education by winning gold at this year’s Pearson Teaching Awards. The annual event, known as the ‘Oscars of the teaching world’, was hosted today by comedian and actor Hugh Dennis at the Guildhall in London. Outstanding teachers were put forward for […]

Historians make the best superheads. Ugh.

While it is easy to lie with statistics, it is even easier to lie without them. And if you are going to accuse teachers from certain subjects of being worse school leaders than others, you probably ought to have some numbers to back you up. Researchers Alex Hill and Ben Laker are no stranger to […]

Make it easier to create new exam boards, says new report

There should be “lower” requirements on new exam boards wishing to enter the qualifications market in a bid to drive up innovation, according to a new report. Competition between exam boards has not caused schools to choose easier specifications but rather has helped ensure a higher overall standard, said the author of a report for […]

The Department for Education has removed a school data webpage – but why?

The Department for Education has removed a webpage enabling the public to download performance scores for every secondary school in England less than an hour after Schools Week flagged the issue. National statistics on pupil achievement at key stage 4 were released earlier today on the department’s website. The figures showed the distribution of Progress 8 scores across […]

Greening to reveal primary test changes ‘in coming weeks’

Justine Greening will make a new announcement about primary assessments in the next few weeks, she told delegates at the SCHOOLS NorthEast Summit in Newcastle. When asked about possible changes to the accountability system at primary school key stages, Greening remained tight-lipped but promised more information in the coming weeks. It will be soon. Hold […]

Libby Nicholas, CEO, Reach4 academy trust

Reach4 is a wild experiment. It is the first spin-off academy trust: distinct from its parent company Reach2, but part of the overall “Reach” family. It’s a slightly odd way to think about schools but it’s no different, really, than the way Virgin Atlantic is its own company, but sits under the Virgin brand. Its […]

The mystery of the disappearing education secretary

As another party conference season ebbs away, this is usually the part where I write a column about the education secretary. For the past two years I spent the Conservative conference at fringe events stalking Nicky Morgan – turning up at the parties she was at, springing questions on her during debates – and taking […]