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4 August 2026

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Opinion

Why you must beware of enormous effect sizes

How do you know which interventions will actually work in your school? You need to look beyond the effect size, says Jonathan Haslam I’ve learned a lot from these three numbers: +0.76, +0.11 and +0.26. They are all effect sizes from trials run by the Education Endowment Foundation. An effect size is a way of […]

The broken promise of autonomy for heads in multi-academy trusts

The death of autonomy in schools risks becoming education’s mis-selling scandal, says Tony Breslin Headship is changing fast. The growth of federations and multi-academy trusts, and the concurrent emergence of executive and multi-school leadership, threatens to break the promise of autonomy that has been central not just to the substance of headship (and governorship), but […]

Can we get some clear messaging from Ofsted on exclusions?

Ofsted is giving mixed messages to schools about exclusions, and it’s only going to push the problem underground, says Mark Lehain Recent years have seen ever greater attempts by Ofsted to be more transparent in its decision making, and engage more widely with professionals and the public. Being able to interact with senior staff at […]

Ofsted could do more to reward schools for being inclusive

Amanda Spielman can make Ofsted a force for good by ensuring that in the new framework, no school can be outstanding unless they can also demonstrate they are inclusive, says Adam Boddison This morning, Ofsted published their annual report and it was good to see consideration given to learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  […]

A lack of sponsors? Simple, ditch compulsory academisation

Today’s annual report by HMCI Amanda Spielman covers a lot of ground, but let’s pick up here on one important section that shows starkly the flaw in the government’s policy of compulsory academisation. The report points out that the turnaround rates for underperforming schools remain too slow and that a lack of sponsor capacity means […]

Ofsted’s two-in-one annual report

This year’s annual report is notable for the skilful way in which the politics was managed – although the biggest challenge is still to come, says Jonathan Simons The publication of the Ofsted annual report is always an important moment in the educational policy calendar. And while it is theoretically merely a summary of the […]

Why is Ofsted silent on the school funding crisis?

If Ofsted is happy to rely on anecdotal evidence for off-rolling and school readiness, why does it refuse to speak out on the school funding crisis, the impacts of which are clear as day, asks Paul Whiteman Ofsted’s annual report describes a school system that is performing well but is under significant strain. The number […]

If we don’t know when teaching interventions have failed, we’ll never improve

In theory everyone thinks it’s a good idea, but why are schools not embracing evaluation more fully when its impact can be so huge, wonders Stuart Kime The English education system has a pretty strange – perhaps dysfunctional – relationship with evaluation, although I don’t think that we’re unique in this. We talk about it […]