Skip to content
21 August 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

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 […]

What happened to teacher-training colleges?

What ever happened to the colleges of education, those specialist teacher-training institutions that were effectively abolished across England and Wales in the 1970s and 80s? In some ways, the demise of teacher-training colleges was unsurprising. Although some 160-strong by the early-1970s, many were small and isolated and some were rather parochial, inward-looking organisations. Many were […]

Stop bashing Catholic schools and let us educate children

As secular campaigners intensify their vocal opposition to faith schools, Andrew Cole charts the battle his Catholic voluntary aided school faced to open in west London. Ever since Theresa May announced plans to scrap the 50 per cent admissions cap for new faith free schools, secular campaigners have been unable to hide their disdain. Piece […]

Sussex governors’ strike threat is “innovative governance”

There are three types of governance, says Andrew Clapham. So where do the governors in West Sussex who are threatening strike action fit in? A school governor has an important job that takes skill and commitment – and is time-consuming and unpaid. Major concerns regarding school governance have been raised recently, such as in the […]

Beware John Blake, the “Red rebel” with great influence

My memory of early evening, Friday November 14, 2003, is hazy. My brain seems to think it was raining, and a Met Office report concurs. “Bands of heavy rain and showers were carried on gale-force south-westerly winds.” I’m pretty sure that a meeting I attended in the late afternoon took place after dark. A quick […]

We need an education system that works for the whole of society

Attainment is important for young people, but exams have to be seen in a wider context as part of an education that allows young people to flourish, says John Sentamu. Up and down the country, there are great examples of schools achieving fantastic results for some of the most disadvantaged pupils – results that give […]