Skip to content
25 April 2026

Become a member today for unlimited access to Schools Week

Enjoy expert journalism on schools policy with fewer ads and exclusive benefits
subscribe

Opinion

Here’s why ‘low-cost’ private schools in England WILL work

One of the architects behind proposals for a low-cost private school in England explains why he believes the ‘no frills’ education model can take off… My work over the past 17 years has focused on low-cost private schools mainly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In these regions, private education is everywhere, even for low […]

Confidence is at an all-time low in the exam marking system

Exams manager Paula Wood says confidence is at an all-time low in the exam marking system, but will Ofqual’s recent moderation announcements change that? Some 67,900 exam grades were changed after they were challenged in summer 2016 – that is 18% of challenged grades, not dissimilar to 19% the previous year – despite changes to […]

The top 3 priorities for ministers on primary assessment

As the education select committee prepares to grill the schools minister Nick Gibb about primary assessment tomorrow, Nick Brook sets out his three priorities for the government’s upcoming review.   As we await the launch of the government’s primary assessment consultation, teachers will be turning their minds to this year’s SATs. Setting work to produce […]

What happened to the old technical schools?

The 1944 Education Act famously created three types of schools: academically selective grammars, selective technical schools, and secondary moderns for the hoi polloi. Grammars and secondary moderns charged ahead. But what happened to the selective technical schools? Few opened and of those that did, several became mainstream grammars before the end of the 1960s. The […]

Teacher body cameras are not the answer to classroom management

Not only is there insufficient evidence to justify their use, body cameras may actually escalate situations in the classroom, says Alex Sutherland Police-style, body-worn cameras are being piloted by teachers in two schools in England to stop pupil disruption. However, recent research raises concerns about such a scheme and its potential impact on both teachers and pupils. […]

The national funding formula didn’t have to take money from schools

The DfE should bat for the funding the school system needs, not bow down as soon as the Treasury comes calling, says Mike Cameron A couple of weeks ago I was involved in the selection of a new headteacher for the school where I am a governor. We had a field of six excellent candidates […]

Uber system will make supply teachers cheaper

New technology is changing the public sector workforce for the better, says Louis Coiffait. There may even come a day when an app will find that last-minute supply teacher… Reform this week publishes a report on the public sector workforce, Work in Progress. It describes how the workforce is changing, but also how these changes […]

Ofsted inspections are unreliable by design

How can we know which schools are good if inspectors are inconsistent and biased and the data is wrong, asks Becky Allen. We want school inspection to be able to tell us where the quality of curriculum and instruction is good. If we could show the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and (the late) Amos Tversky how […]

Assessment without levels: how are schools approaching it?

While some schools have simply replaced the old levels with unhelpful practices, a number of companies are developing solutions to fill the gap, says Joshua Perry When the DfE announced that levels would be scrapped in June 2013, many people cheered. Finally, schools could focus on formative assessment practices that actually improved outcomes! Professionals suddenly had freedom […]