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15 September 2026

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Opinion

“Nobody is forcing any teacher to sign up with a recruitment agency”

Following concerns reported by Schools Week that recruitment agencies were fuelling the teacher shortage by “hoovering up” job seekers and then offering them to schools for thousands of pounds. Below, Darryl Mydat is Managing Director of TLTP Education (The London Teaching Pool) presents the case for the other side. Comments reported from the recent Westminster […]

Governors! Make it your mantra to question everything

Every school governor must always remember to ask “how?” if he or she is to effectively monitor the quality of teaching and ensure every student receives the best possible education The role of the school governor has changed – and continues to change. Aside from juggling work and family commitments, we must know our school […]

How do examiners decide grades?

The exams are finished and GCSE and A-level students are heading off for summer. But there are 12 weeks – and a lot of work – from “pens down” to results day Did you hear that noise? It’s the sound of thousands of students collectively breathing a sigh of relief. If April is the cruellest […]

Why I moved from secondary to primary and love it

Six years in a challenging secondary school were fulfilling, but this Teach First ambassador wanted to make the greatest possible impact on children’s lives. And so she switched to the primary sector My road to Damascus was a graffiti-clad street in Berlin, which is where I escaped to after almost six years of slogging it […]

The good, the bad and the teacher recruitment stats

There are reasons to be cheerful; teacher numbers are up, for starters. But the School Workforce Census for last year shows that recruiting and retaining a top quality workforce is still a major challenge The School Workforce Census (SWF) is the main source of information on school staffing in England. It provides detailed statistics, such […]

We still haven’t got the right training model

Freeing up the teacher training market has some advantages. But if recruitment targets are to be met, the artificial distinction between school-led and university training should be removed The National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) last week announced a new way of managing trainee teacher recruitment for 2016/17. Instead of allocating places direct to […]

Finding the right woman for the job

Figures suggest governors have a gender bias when they appoint headteachers. So what happens when they don’t have a say? I have written before about the apparent gender bias among some governing bodies that contributes to women being significantly under-represented in headship. So I was interested to see what would happen when we took governors […]

How to understand your academy’s finances

It can be daunting, but academy trustees are legally bound to understand the financial position of their school. Read on . . . Academy trust finances continue to be a hot topic and one of concern to many of those responsible for them. The board of trustees, or governors, shoulder this crucial obligation and must ensure academy […]

If you REALLY want to find ‘coasting schools’, HERE is the definition you need

The government want to tackle ‘coasting schools’. Nicky Morgan has described them as schools that may be in “leafy areas” but nevertheless fail to realise the “full potential” of their pupils. This week the government released the definition they will use to find this sort of school. Under the proposed law, coasting schools are defined […]