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25 April 2026

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Opinion

Why we replaced our local governing bodies with committees

As Ofsted demands around accountability have tightened, shifting that responsibility to professionals takes the weight off governors’ shoulders I don’t care whether I’m called a school governor or an academy ambassador. Having experienced both set ups, it’s clear to me that all that matters is ensuring that our young people are getting the best possible […]

The DfE’s repeated misuse of statistics is embarrassing

The Department for Education needs to start using statistics properly, or much of its evidence will simply be dismissed as untrustworthy, says Hetan Shah “I am writing to raise with you serious concerns about the DfE’s presentation and use of statistics”, starts the letter from Sir David Norgrove, chair of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), to […]

‘They’ll blame the housing crisis on PRUs soon!’

The recent debate about exclusions has become a stick with which to beat pupil referral units, says Steve Howell Almost everyone in education can quote some statistics about pupils excluded from school: • 60 per cent of the prison population were permanently excluded • Less than 1 per cent go on to get five “good” […]

Pupil premium: how to translate evidence into practice

Every month a school from the Education Endowment Foundation’s Research School network shares a research-based initiative it has implemented. A third of our pupils at Springfield are “pupil premium”. Last year we won the National Pupil Premium Awards because our outcomes for “disadvantaged” learners were exceptional, and this year 90 per cent of our 30 […]

How to support young people with literacy difficulties

Less than half of teachers feel confident teaching young people with literacy difficulties, says Karen Wespieser, who offers some handy tips for teachers To mark Dyslexia Awareness Week, literacy charity Driver Youth Trust commissioned the teacher polling app TeacherTapp to ask teachers about how confident they feel teaching young people with literacy difficulties. The poll […]

Conference diary: What did we learn from four days with the Conservatives?

After four days of politics but very few policies at the Conservative Party conference, schools are still none the wiser about how the government can make life easier for them. Reporting from Birmingham, Schools Week chief reporter and political editor Freddie Whittaker rounds up what school leaders learned from Damian Hinds’s first conference as education […]

Why we need to hear new voices in education

For a little under two decades as a teacher, I had never heard of, let alone attended, an education conference. The closest I got was the odd off-site INSET where I met with other teachers in my borough or surrounding boroughs. When I networked at these events, conversation revolved around what was happening in our […]

How goal theory can help you achieve your aims

Every month Stuart Kime trawls through his greatest research hits to offer practical implementation tips for using evidence in practice It’s mid-September, Sunday evening, Norwich. In search of a healthy, tasty post-train journey dinner, I head to Namaste, the place I consider to serve the best curry in the world. Closed. Hasty, hunger-induced and quasi-maniacal […]

How can universities best support their local schools?

An ambitious attempt to improve teachers and teaching in South Yorkshire is focusing on a collaborative approach to recruitment, development and retention, says Sam Twiselton With the government so caught up in Brexit that Labour is getting away with stealing the best schools policies from old Tory green papers, it seems like an opportune time […]