Recent inspections of schools run by academy chains have shown many of these schools to be failing. Yet Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, is still not allowed to regulate the very organisations that are…
Schools in England will now be able to prioritise children from poor families when deciding who gets a place. This sounds a fair and sensible policy, intended to promote “social mobility” and equality…
All schools in England have a considerable and increasing degree of autonomy over their budgets. Academies have more autonomy than those state schools still under local authority control over how they…
Nearly 15 years after the first academies – state-funded schools with more autonomy – were introduced in England, there is still relatively little information about how the reforms have affected children…
In what must surely be seen as a significant demotion, secretary of state for education, Michael Gove, has been moved to become chief whip in David Cameron’s cabinet reshuffle. Given he is such a big fan…
The long-awaited inspection reports on 21 schools in Birmingham accused of involvement in the “Trojan Horse” affair over alleged Islamic extremism, were released on June 9 to a hungry media. The affair…
Ten years ago, if a school in England was deemed to be failing, there were three broad responses: send in a team of advisors to support the existing leadership, parachute in a “super-head” to turn the…
It was early and still quiet as I meandered around the recent Academies Show in London. Jars of promotional pens and key chains were lined up, while two young people in smocks painted the words “innovation…
The government’s free school policy, which allows local communities to set up new schools that are funded by the state, has come under attack in recent days by MPs and sparked a row within the coalition…
Recent reports have suggested that Section 28-style bans on the promotion of homosexuality are on the rise in UK schools, causing concern among teachers’ unions. Based on research by the British Humanist…
The recent furore around the so-called Trojan Horse plot, which has seen 25 Birmingham schools being investigated over fears of a takeover by radical Muslims, raises wider issues for the already beleaguered…
Governments across Europe are searching for effective policies to drive down youth unemployment. Most European countries have experienced an alarming rise in the levels of young people (16-24) who are…
The Easter holidays have arrived, heralding the start of teacher union conference season. These are always important events, not least because according to research commissioned by the government, 97…
Education is one of the largest academic research enterprises in England, and yet in over 50 years, research into education has failed to find useful answers to many of the most basic questions about how…
Anne West, London School of Economics and Political Science
School-based education is undergoing significant changes across much of the developed world with private providers increasingly taking over the delivery of education from public providers. In both England…
In The Importance of Teaching white paper in 2010, the government committed itself to developing a “self-improving system of schools”. Four years on there is a risk that a two-tier system will emerge in…
What should we make of the announcement that the academy chain E-ACT is being stripped of ten of its 34 schools because of under-performance? It is unwise to jump to conclusions when details are still…
How much can we really deduce about academies and free schools from the Organisation for Economic Development’s (OECD) international education rankings? When the OECD’s deputy director for education Andreas…
It is not very often that an education story is the lead item on the BBC’s Today programme, but the apparent sacking of Baroness Sally Morgan as chair of schools inspectorate Ofsted and comments by its…