Combining yesterday’s provisional GCSE results with data from the School Cuts website reveals that it is England’s lowest performing schools that are facing the biggest drops in per-pupil funding. The secondary schools who performed least well according to yesterday’s data are losing an average of £237 per pupil (a 4.1% drop in per pupil funding) …
Despite widespread calls for more ‘evidence-based’ education policy, I’m not entirely convinced – either by its possibility or desirability. Given that I work for an organisation that conducts research to help shape education policy, this might seem surprising. However, it’s about time we moved away from New Labour’s “what counts is what works” mantra. Instead, …
In this episode Iesha and Anna talk to Natasha Porter and Sarah Pearson from Unlocked Grads about why society should care about prisoners. Iesha, Natasha, Sarah and Anna discuss the Unlocked Grads scheme which trains top graduates as Prison Officers; Natasha’s career in education; her journey to setting up a charity; the lack of political will to improve conditions for prisoners and why Natasha believes business leaders should hire former prisoners.
ASCL today launched its Sense and Accountability report, which examines how primary schools are held to account and how this can be done better. I was delighted to play a small part in the production of this report, sitting on its expert panel. ASCL’s review builds on LKMco’s recent #TestingTheWater report, which explored how assessment can better …
2017 performance statistics show that, for the first time, EAL pupils outperformed native speakers at GCSE on all DfE measures. However, as EPI point out in a recent report, we desperately need national structures to create and retain EAL specialists. Even though EAL outcomes are high on average, this masks what are likely to be …
