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24 April 2026

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Opinion

Why shouldn’t I call my friend a c***? The case for philosophy GCSE

An encounter in the school canteen convinced George Duoblys of the need for a philosophy GCSE. It would help pupils’ attainment, well-being and critical thinking, he says – and it’s fun Until December, I was a teacher in east London. One incident at school really brought home to me the need to teach students philosophy […]

First they came for the teaching assistants…

The reality of budget cuts for many teaching assistants are proposed new contracts and a loss of up to £4,000 a year, says Megan Charlton Teaching assistants may be the canary in the mine as staff face the fall-out from shrinking school budgets. I was in contact recently with a teaching assistant (TA) in the […]

Headteacher boards are not corrupt

The editorial last week led to more responses than any other in Schools Week’s history. Here, one headteacher board member responds to the criticism – and our editor replies. As a member of one of the regional school commissioners’ headteacher advisory boards, it’s perhaps no surprise that claims they are shrouded in secrecy caught my […]

Headteacher boards ARE corrupt but can be fixed – just like Gove fixed GCSEs

The editorial last week led to more responses than any other in schools week’s history. One headteacher board member responded to the criticism – and here, editor Laura McInerney replies. In 2012, Michael Gove set about reforming GCSEs because he believed the exam system to be “corrupt”. At the time, I balked. Was he saying […]

Academy ‘members’ have too much power – but it’s not their fault

Those in charge of multi-academy trusts are not power-mad, says Alison Critchley – but government needs to be clearer about how trust governance should be structured If you work in an academy, do you know the “members” for your trust? And, most importantly, do you know what they are responsible for? No?Well, you’re not alone. […]

What would it cost to maintain current school spending levels?

Protecting schools from cuts will not come cheap, says Luke Sibieta, so the political parties must be clear on how they will fund their manifesto promises Schools in England currently face two main funding challenges: squeezes on overall funding levels and a changing allocation across schools. What would it cost to ease these pressures? English […]

How to motivate your GCSE pupils

The messages that teachers and school leaders give students about the value of GCSEs does have an impact, says David Putwain – although it may not be the impact intended For the past decade I have been researching how students interpret and respond to messages about the value of GCSEs; what sense they make of […]

Headteacher boards are corrupt, self-serving and secretive

Headteacher boards are the most baffling and stupid part of the schools system. They are also corrupt, self-serving and secretive. Think that’s unfair? Prove it. Only you can’t. Because of that secrecy. What I can say is that they aren’t democratic. Democracy means rule by the majority. Problem is, the headteacher boards (HTBs) aren’t voted […]

The “big fat maths” GCSE is not working as planned

Pupils will soon sit the first new “big fat maths” GCSE. Joanne Morgan looks at the challenges that it presented – and those still to come Two years ago we were uncertain about how our students would adjust to the demands of the new maths GCSE. We worried that many of them weren’t equipped with […]