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21 August 2026

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Opinion

How to consult effectively when applying for school planning permission

Consultation is never a silver bullet to securing planning permission, but it is necessary and de-risks the process, says Louise Page-Jennings. The government’s ambitious target to build 500 new schools by 2020 is leaving many communities stuck between the need to provide much-needed school places and finding the right location to do so. To find […]

Do we spend more or less on schools than in the past?

Many people believe you cannot put a price on education. They are wrong. For each child doing their GCSEs in 2013, the taxpayer paid somewhere between £47,000 and £67,000 for their schooling, depending on where the child grew up. This nugget of information is in Chris Belfield and Luke Sibieta’s masterful report, Long-run trends in […]

No website can replace good careers guidance

Careers education and guidance is more than just providing information about jobs says Janet Downs. It cannot be offloaded to employers or delegated to website and phone lines. The quality of careers education and guidance (CEG) has plummeted since the days of the Technical and Vocational Educational Initiative (TVEI), which did much to improve the […]

What’s the essential technology spend for schools in 2017?

Many schools have struggled to keep up with changes in the rules covering the use of technology in public institutions, says Mark Orchison. They do so at their peril. Schools are not spending as much on technology this year, the British Education Suppliers Association’s market barometer shows. This is hardly surprising: with budgets in their […]

Sorry, Mr Slater, schools can’t make any more savings

This week Jonathan Slater, the head of the education department, said that if the bottom 75 per cent of schools became as efficient as the most cost-effective 25 per cent of schools then the flat education budget of the next few years wouldn’t be a problem. He knows that isn’t going to happen. It’s optimistic […]

When did schools ban corporal punishment?

There is a division running rife through the Schools Week office and it’s not just which radio station we should play as we work. It’s the split between those who attended school when corporal punishment was still possible, and those who cannot believe that there was ever such a thing. This is because the answer […]

Progress 8: beware confidence intervals!

Progress 8 scores offer a better way of looking at school performance than did the A*-C percentage GCSE pass rate, says Stuart Kime, but be aware of how you interpret them . Removing the A* – C percentage pass rate statistic from the vernacular of English schooling was an eminently sensible decision. But is the […]

How should we define ‘disadvantaged’ pupils?

Separating pupils into those who qualify for free schools meals and those who don’t does little to highlight the more nuanced and complex picture in relation to attainment outcomes for different pupils, says Sameena Choudry. The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) research Ethnicity, Gender and Social Mobility, carried out in partnership with LKMCo and Education Datalab […]

Tests for sale makes a mockery of selection

Where, exactly, is the line of “this has gone too far”? That’s a question teachers have to consider almost constantly. When is a pupil “too” loud? When is a short skirt “too” short? One of the main reasons schools have so many rules is to try to avoid the psychological energy needed for such decisions. […]