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24 April 2026

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Opinion

Should pupils have to wear school ties?

Following the news that MPs will no longer have to wear ties to work, Adam McNicholas considers the case for schools “Do I think it essential that a Member [of Parliament] has to wear a tie? No.” So said the speaker of the House of Commons last week. Admitting that opinions on his own sartorial […]

Final exam results are becoming less valid

The evidence base for exam results is becoming less valid as the system moves back to wholly end-of-course testing, says Harry Torrance There are good reasons, rooted in traditional assessment concerns for validity and reliability, to involve teachers in setting and marking national test work in their own schools (coursework, project work and so forth). […]

Streaming dampens the aspirations of white working-class boys

Many white working-class boys say ability-based grouping dampened their aspirations, says Mary-Claire Travers White working-class boys in England are the lowest academic achievers at 16 for any socio-economic class grouping, according to Sutton Trust data, with only 24 per cent achieving five or more A*-C GCSEs, compared with a national average of 69 per cent. […]

New Ofsted chief sets out her battle plans

Amanda Spielman is starting to warm up in her role at Ofsted and it is exciting, if slightly alarming, to watch. Her inspector’s focus on curriculum is correct and difficult. Correct because schools have started to concentrate too much on exams. Primary pupils spend most of their final year learning the contrived version of English […]

Setting the record straight on the Edexcel A-level exam ‘leaks’

It is a matter of profound regret to me that examinations for two of this year’s A-levels, economics and maths, have been overshadowed by concerns about whether or not content from the papers was made available before the exams were sat. This situation has caused anxiety for schools, teachers, students and their parents. Many will […]

Is it legal for teachers to sell teaching resources?

Who owns your lesson plans, and who can make money off them? Education consultant Simon Foulkes has the answers You wrote a great lesson plan, but then you find out, by whatever means, that another member of staff has not only used the plan but has actually sold it on to other teachers across the […]

Homework habits: what we have learned at Michaela

Setting the right balance on homework is a tight-rope walk for teachers, but Britain’s so-called ‘strictest school’ has a plan, explains Jo Facer Every school faces the challenge of getting kids to practise what they need to, but without gaming it. Teachers have all encountered pupils who will do the bare minimum to avoid a […]

Silence (from politicians) is golden

England’s government was unusual for not having really bothered about schools until about a hundred years after everyone else. While America and Germany, and just about everyone else in the developed western world, created a network of publicly funded schools in the 19th century, England dilly-dallied. It wasn’t until 1902 that a state board of […]

The latest workforce data shows government should care much more about teacher retention

With a workload problem that has been identified but not addressed, and funding pressures that are biting, are the effects starting to show in teacher workforce figures? On the face of it, this isn’t the case. Figures published this morning show that overall teacher numbers are up marginally, from 456,900 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2015 […]