grammar schools | Schools Week

We can’t ignore the high-fliers who are not being pushed

The last few weeks of EU referendum debate have shown how badly we do latent anger as a country. Whatever ideals one may hold, whatever the reality may be, swathes of the population nevertheless feel as if politicians have long ignored them and want to exert more power over their lives. By the time you […]

Former education secretary tipped for Tory leadership

Former education secretary Michael Gove (pictured) has become second favourite to become the next Conservative party leader – after betting company William Hill slashed odds from 20/1 to 4/1, placing him just behind Boris Johnson, the former London mayor. Gove’s three-year stint as education secretary ended abruptly in July 2014 after David Cameron announced a […]

England’s controversial ‘new’ grammar school: fair process, or not?

After tirelessly questioning council officials and probing internet archives, anti-selection campaigner Joanne Bartley questions the fairness of England’s first grammar school ‘expansion’. When Nicky Morgan stood in parliament on October 19th 2015 to approve the controversial Weald of Kent grammar school expansion, she said: ‘‘I assessed the proposal in line with our guidelines on making significant […]

Alternative provision academy to offer International Baccalaureate

A new post-16 academy will become the first alternative provision (AP) school in the country to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB). The headteacher at TBAP academy, in Fulham, west London, said the “much broader” programme than traditional A-levels would give students who had experienced “disparity” at key stage 4 a “clearer path” to university. The […]

Does an elite education benefit health?

Dr David Bann, Lecturer/Research Officer, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL Institute of Education What have you been working on? Trying to better understand health inequalities in society using longitudinal data – in this case, data from a British study which began in 1970 (the 1970 British Cohort Study). In particular, how the education system relates to later […]

Conservative councillors promise grammar expansions if elected

Several local authorities bordering an area with selective schools have said they would welcome grammar “annexes” in their areas, leading to questions over Nicky Morgan’s promise not to open the “floodgates” on grammars. In the run-up to this week’s local elections, Conservative councillors in Milton Keynes, a non-selective local authority, promised grammar annexes if they […]

Nick Timothy, director, New Schools Network

People who run the New Schools Network (NSN) tend to move on to bigger, brighter, bluer things. Its first director, Rachel Wolf, currently resides at No 10 as David Cameron’s education adviser. Number two – Natalie Evans – is a Conservative whip in the Lords. But director number three, Nick Timothy, has come the other […]

EXCLUSIVE: Grammar schools given ‘tick box’ application form to open new sites

Grammar schools that want to expand to a satellite site can now tick a box to submit their proposals. The Department for Education has released an updated form this month for academies to apply for significant changes, which includes a specific tick-box for selective schools looking to expand. It follows the government’s controversial decision to […]

From the frontline: thoughts on the school-led system

Former executive principal Ros McMullen sets out her vision of what a school-led system now needs. In the first of a two-part series, she says it is time to think about how to join the social policy agenda with the education reform agenda, and to unleash the best school leaders to operate as community leaders […]