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22 May 2026

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Opinion

Why don’t we care about the purpose of education?

In one of the most significant periods of upheaval in education, debate around collaboration centres too much on structure and too little on the substance and purpose of education. Instead, says Marie-Claire Bretherton, it should revolve around the quality and purpose of school partnerships Earlier this year, our Lincolnshire teaching school alliance submitted evidence to […]

Academy trusts – don’t get caught out by new PSC regulations

From 6 April 2016, new company ownership rules came into force, which will affect some academy trusts. Hannah Catchpool explains. What do the Panama Papers have to do with academy trusts? The recent media focus on the offshore tax arrangements of the rich and famous may seem far removed from the day-to-day life of a school, […]

Calm down – the church isn’t after a ‘land grab’

The memorandum of understanding between the Catholic church and the government is little more than a written definition about their working relationship, says Paul Barber Much has been written over the past month about the memoranda of understanding (MoU) between the Department for Education (DfE) and both the Church of England and the Catholic church. […]

Why 3-day qualifications can be just as valid as GCSEs

The ECDL, as promoted by the schools network, the PiXL club, is a valuable qualification for many students, says Brian Lightman ­­– one that should prompt Ofqual to think carefully before placing further constraints on awarding bodies Ask any employer what they want from a qualification and they will tell you they want it to […]

Ofsted should take responsibility for primary curriculum bias

In his latest commentary, Sir Michael Wilshaw said subjects like science and modern languages have become the ‘poor relations’ of the primary school curriculum. Colin Richards argues that Ofsted is in large part responsible for the status quo. Ofsted has a lot to answer for when the chief inspector’s latest monthly commentary dares to criticise primary schools […]

Ignore social media, pupils can cope with hard GCSE exams

What do drunk rats, teenage boys and an independent drugs company have in common? Despite sounding like key components from a song in the 1980s they are actually items mentioned in AQA’s biology GCSE paper taken earlier this week. Echoing youngsters across generations who walked out of exams and asked “what the heck was all […]

Do “prison academies” make sense?

In light of Michael Gove’s plan for the prison sector to learn from schools, Peter Dawson of the Prison Reform trust explains why a move towards academy-style autonomy is welcome. Professional leaders enjoy telling others about the uniqueness of their personal challenge. One is often reminded of Ron Manager’s bleat that football management is “the ’ardest job in the […]

Teaching Assistants: are they worth it?

In light of Durham County’s decision to cut teaching assistants’ pay, and the recent warning that teaching assistants risk being replaced by poorly-paid “interns”, Helen Saddler makes a case for the invaluable classroom support staff – and argues they need better professional development. When you hear ‘Teaching Assistant’- what comes to mind? “Jack of all trades”, first […]

How you can evaluate the impact of your decisions

With the government increasingly asking for evidence that initiatives have had “impact”, Stuart Kime writes a step-by-step guide for creating those documents Professor John Hattie’s entreaty for teachers to “know thy impact” is a laudable and important one. But knowing is hard. How can a teacher or school leader know what impact their choices had […]