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22 May 2026

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Opinion

How we could abandon GCSEs and make 14-19 education work

Expecting students to take a plethora of exams at 16 makes little sense in a modern context. By stripping back the number of externally-assessed subjects for this age group, we could introduce far greater flexibility into our education system To my mind, many of the reforms to qualifications made in the life cycle of the […]

Embracing my dyslexia makes me a better teacher

Tasks such as writing and alphabetising can be time-consuming and tricky, but children learn more helpful lessons when we are honest about the challenges we face in life than when we try to conceal them What is it like to be a teacher with dyslexia? I have been staring at that question for 20 minutes […]

How do exam writers put together questions for tests?

After an Edexcel GCSE maths question about Hannah’s sweets went viral on Twitter yesterday, exam writer Paula Goddard gives an insight into the way question papers are put together. The probability of orange sweeties and calculating the size of a lump of cheese – clearly the examination question writer was feeling a bit peckish when […]

Promises, promises, promises…

After the election results, the government now needs to make good on its election promises. With the recent election outcome, we can now only hope Nicky Morgan keeps to the promises made in the Department for Education’s (DfE) Workload Challenge report published in February. Reading back over the details this half-term, I have decided to […]

‘Rigour’ mortis for Gove GCSEs?

In November 2013, Michael Gove reminded us the Coalition had “outlined plans for changes to GCSE qualifications designed to address the grade inflation, dumbing down and loss of rigour in those examinations”. “Rigour” was Gove’s watchword. More rigorous exams in English and Maths would be first examined in 2017. This meant teachers had to be […]

Eight key principles to help boost pupils’ mental health

Schools that help their pupils to be mentally healthy give children and young people the opportunity to get the most out of their education and to prepare for adult life. It also means that they get off to a good start as they can better cope with the stresses and strains they might face in […]

The reality of school funding cuts

We may know who will govern the country for the next five years, but the detail of education funding under a Conservative administration remains opaque David Cameron has called for greater efficiency and lean management in public bodies, a call that signals a strong intent to make further cuts to public services. In their pre-election […]

Why there is an ‘invisible’ quality to education

There is much more behind an academic grade than a child’s computational capacity or his mastery of the 3Rs (to receive, remember and regurgitate) on a given day. It also includes his character traits and attitudes to learning, his creativity, his motivation, his levels of curiosity Many elements of teaching and learning remain hidden. The […]