Insights
by Alexander Shea
Policy Update 12.06.20
Schools: 1m social distancing, summer schools and a shared curriculum sequence   Government drops plans to fully reopen primary schools before summer holidays  The government on Tuesday dropped plans to fully reopen primary schools in England before the summer holidays, in a move that was welcomed by teaching unions but confirms many children will not resume … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 13.09.2019
This weekâs activity in Parliament will be remembered for the thunderous scences of Monday night, during which the typically combattive rhetoric of MPs threatened to for once produce real-life physical scuffles and protests were held at the governmentâs decision to suspend Parliament.
Read MorePolicy Update 13.12.2019
Donât be blinded by the election result, none of the parties offered an aspirational set of education policies.
Read MorePolicy Update 14.02.2020
Boris Johnsonâs reshuffle confirms that British politics has entered its âunipolarâ moment Theresa May was known for her elephantine memory when it came to grudges. Upon becoming Prime Minister in 2016 she dismissed 13 members of David Cameronâs cabinet, in what her special advisor Nick Timothy described as an act of âpure revengeâ against six … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 14.08.20
A levels: sociological sorting process will only increase teachersâ hostility towards âpunitive accountabilityâ  Last evening, a matter of hours after data published by Ofqual revealed that pupils from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were most likely to see their teacher-assessed A level awards significantly downgraded, The Economist magazine tried to claim that this was a results day like any … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 15.11.19
On the 16th of October, a DfE official stood before a meeting of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and assured them that the government would not be publishing its updated teacher training framework until spring 2020.
Read MorePolicy Update 16.10.20
Circuit breaker and school exams delayed for now, but argument is not over.  It has been a week that has tested the UKâs delicate Covid consensus. Britainâs opposition parties have for months broadly backed the governmentâs approach to tackling the crisis while finding plenty to fault with the actual delivery. Englandâs Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, as well … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 17.01.20
If, at just 646 words in length, many accused the Conservative manifestoâs section on education of being deliberately vague, the same allegation has been aimed in recent months at the DfEâs Curriculum Fund scheme.
Read MorePolicy Update 17.04.20
Expectation grows that Englandâs schools will reopen in May In the first week of April, at the behest of the German government, senior civil servants from France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Norway convened in Munich to consider how to re-open schools by mid-May. Hosted by two dozen experts from the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, an … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 17.07.20
IB grading furore provides early warning of likely GSCE and A level frustrations   Schools are out, FE is in  Schools are out for the summer. So confirmed Gavin Williamson in an interview with The Financial Times this week, in which he laid bare his intent to move his Departmentâs policy agenda away from the thorny question of … Continued
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