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26 April 2026

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Opinion

Education bill: Who will pay the bills as academies are passed around between trusts?

With the late inclusion of academies and free schools in new coasting schools legislation, schools could be passed around like Premiership footballers, leading to worries over costs, warns Phil Reynolds. The government has been very clear in their vision to ensure that school performance is not ‘coasting’ and their target to make every school in […]

Primary assessments a mess? Unions should propose a radical alternative

The schools sector is up in arms about primary assessments – both baseline and the standardised tests. I deliberately use the word “sector”. Teachers, school leaders, parents, unions, assessment providers: everyone is furious. One way to deal with late information and daft processes is a boycott. Get teachers to refuse to carry out the tests. […]

Morgan’s primary assessment video misses the point

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has released a video to explain the government’s plans for primary assessments. Brian Lightman has watched it, and has some thoughts. I watched Nicky Morgan’s video about the new primary assessments with great interest. It was helpful to receive a clear explanation of the government’s rationale in implementing these tests. The message of this video […]

Is having a go at northern schools part of Michael Wilshaw’s job description?

Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw yesterday criticised schools in the north west – but was he within his remit to do so?   I obsess about a few things. Clean and dry kitchen worktops, how to perfectly poach an egg (I’m a cling-film strategy guy and don’t mind split infinitives) and, more recently, brilliant job […]

Key Stage 1 changes take writing back to the 19th Century

I attended a briefing by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) on February 5 for local authority leaders of statutory moderation of writing (key stages 1 and 2). This briefing revealed to us for the first time some of the specific requirements of the writing that, in a few months’ time, we will be examining […]

Segregation is holding our children back

Next month a report on segregation will be published for the prime minister. Hopefully it will mark the point when England starts to take integration seriously In England, our faith-based admissions system has evolved a side-effect of keeping children of faith separate from children of other faiths and none. The majority of Sikh, Muslim and […]

Teachers must learn to tame technology

There are powerful tools already available in schools. Staff must realise they don’t need to upgrade, they need to maximise the use of what they have I went to the Bett Show recently. Four days – and half a mile – long, bigger than ever, stand after stand showing the latest educational technology. The show […]

Factory-farmed teachers will fail our children

The new-look training courses are trying to turn out fully-formed teachers in a matter of weeks, when what they need is time to think and support as they develop. We can’t dismiss the great educational thinkers of the past The increased focus on competition in education has produced a conveyor belt of quick fixes in […]

EBacc and primary testing pushing arts out of the curriculum

New findings from The National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) Survey Report 2015-16 published this week indicate that art, craft and design education in England has been significantly side-lined. The results from more than 1,100 NSEAD respondents are dismal, indicating a systemic marginalisation of the visual arts across all education sectors since […]