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22 May 2026

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Opinion

White Paper: ‘Control freakery to the left of me, neglect to the right’

Education Excellence Everywhere is the title of the government’s education White Paper published today. Although it lacks the excitement promised by Enid Blyton’s The Naughtiest Girl in the School, there are similarities. Nicky Morgan’s introduction states that in 2010 the Conservatives “inherited an education system where one in three young people left primary school unable […]

White Paper: Why should Ofsted inspect at all?

Educational Excellence Everywhere is full of fascinating, contentious and highly problematic proposals on a whole range of issues. Here, I focus on one apparently minor proposal which if carried to its logical conclusion could mean the end of visit-based school inspection. The White Paper reports that “Ofsted will consult on removing the separate graded judgments […]

‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ White Paper: What are the actual policies?

The first education white paper since 2010 has been released by the government today. But what does it actually say? I spent this morning picking through the 128 pages of ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ to find what the government is saying it will do. Small projects that were already announced have not been included. Likewise anything […]

Academy conversion is an unnecessary distraction – here’s how to survive it

Schools must become academies by 2022. Prolific education tweeter (@SchoolDuggery), and governor, Rachel Gooch advises what to do.   Budget Day for the Chancellor coincided with budget day for the large secondary school where I am a governor. Like Osborne, the financial outlook was rather worse than we had expected a year ago. Unlike the […]

What Is An Academy? (And other questions about converting schools)

The government has announced it wants all schools to become academies by 2022. But what are they? Editor Laura McInerney looks at questions about the policy, and tries to answer them straightforwardly.   1.  Aren’t academies run by private companies? Is this just privatisation of schools? Not quite. We have to be careful with language […]

‘This revolution in governance does not include barricades’

The multi academy trust is an increasingly common form of school governance. Should governors embrace the change or make more fuss as they lose their decision-making powers? A school governance revolution, arguably as fundamental as devolving local management to schools after the Education Reform Act 1988, is going on largely unnoticed in England. The changes […]

A former minister’s view: thoughts on the school-led system

Five areas need to be given priority if schools-led system is to become a reality English schools have a large measure of autonomy compared with many other countries. But this is qualified by some of the most important determinants of what happens in schools sitting with the Department for Education. The control of the curriculum, […]