Laura McInerney | Schools Week

Is Justine Greening the first education secretary to attend a comprehensive school? Yes, sort of

Justine Greening is the new education secretary and is said to be the first to have attended a comprehensive school. This is mostly true, but there are a few important caveats as editor Laura McInerney explains. Congratulations to Justine Greening who has been crowned as education secretary by Theresa May. Many people, myself included, […]

Results are in: Academy status works for the best and worst schools, but that’s about it

After years of debate over the effectiveness of academy status, the Education Policy Institute has now released data which it says shows the causal impact of academy status on school performance. Editor Laura McInerney took a look at explains what the researchers found. Does academy status lift performance in schools? It’s a vital question […]

The Post-16 Skills Plan: What do school leaders really need to know?

The government’s new Skills Plan describes significant changes to vocational qualifications for post-16 pupils – but what does it mean for schools? Editor Laura McInerney explains the relevant parts. When post-16 education changes are announced it can be difficult for schools to know which bits will affect them. Today’s announcement of a Skills Plan […]

Schools must hold together even if everything else tears apart

It’s an odd week to go for a positive start. But I can’t do any more negativity. So here it is. The best thing about schools is that they are packed with humans. Funny, challenging, stroppy, coquettish, amazing humans. But the most extraordinary thing about humans is our ability for utter kindness and complete cruelty. […]

Gove vs May: Why education will influence their leadership campaign

Former education secretary Michael Gove is running for Conservative Party leadership but editor Laura McInerney explains why education’s influence may run even deeper than expected in the upcoming campaign. We now know it will be Michael Gove versus Theresa May in the Conservative Party leadership race. Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox and Andrea Leadsom have also […]

The Education Secretary runs 70% of secondary schools – we’re stuffed if she’s now busy

So, here’s a problem: the education secretary is now directly responsible for around 4,000 English schools under the academy system. Unfortunately, the prime minister has staged a mutiny. The government is basically dead. We’re going to have to wait for 3 months for another one. What the heck happens now? The Prime Minister said on Friday […]

We can’t ignore the high-fliers who are not being pushed

The last few weeks of EU referendum debate have shown how badly we do latent anger as a country. Whatever ideals one may hold, whatever the reality may be, swathes of the population nevertheless feel as if politicians have long ignored them and want to exert more power over their lives. By the time you […]

Should we go or should we stay?

Next week there will be an election on the European Union. As a former citizenship teacher, I can tell you life will be easier for those citizenship teachers still out there if the country votes to leave. Pupils hate learning about the EU, teachers hate teaching it. It’s abstract, and far away, and difficult to […]

Why access to exam appeals — rather than how they are re-remarked — is the real social justice issue

Many people will say changes to the GCSE and A-level re-marking system are unfair, but are they correct? Editor Laura McInerney isn’t convinced. Ofqual’s decision to change the GCSE and A-level exam appeals process is unlikely to be an immediate hit. In future, instead of exam papers being re-marked they will be “reviewed”. Senior examiners […]