Opinion

The reality for excluded children is already dismaying and Covid could make it worse. It’s time for concerted action, writes Claire Heald Behind all those pupils who celebrated the bright futures ahead of them this summer and who are preparing to return to school this week, are pupils whose future is simply not so bright. […]

It would be no exaggeration to say the last few months rank up there with the toughest of my career. We’d had a successful year last year and I was feeling positive about driving forward our improvement agenda.  But planning for our first day back at school in the midst of a global pandemic was […]

Yesterday felt like the final straw for many school leaders up and down the country. Schools minister Nick Gibb said the funding settlement for schools this year and the next two years has been “very generous”, indicating schools can take the hit regarding Covid-19 costs. Apparently the decision to compensate schools for the costs of […]

Schools will do their job as they have throughout this crisis – now it’s time politicians do theirs, writes Paul Whiteman Ninety-seven percent of schools expect to open in full to all pupils next week. The rest will follow shortly after. That is the message school leaders have given me in their responses to a […]

Ongoing UCL research shows the Covid crisis has widened a chasm between teachers and government that threatens to become unbridgeable, writes Alice Bradbury The fiasco over A level exams over the last week followed by the U-turn on advice on the use of face masks in schools has widened a gulf between the teaching profession […]

Political schemes and partial solutions are how our qualification system got into this mess – it’s time for something radically different, writes Tom Sherrington This summer’s exam grade fiasco has directed a harsh spotlight on our current system for recognising and measuring young people’s achievements.  It’s not pretty.  We place extraordinary weight on a set […]

Supporting learners with English as an additional language will be more challenging than ever this year, but also more necessary, writes Silvana Richardson – so here are some tips to get it right As schools prepare for the start of the academic year, attainment gaps are a national focus like never before. In this context, […]

As the Education Policy Insitute publishes its annual report on the state of education in England, Jo Huchinson says ‘levelling up’ simply can’t wait any longer Cast your minds back to summer 2019, before the spectres of the pandemic, school closures and algorithmic exam results loomed into view. All the certainties about school results season […]