GCSEs Articles

'Directors of school standards - I mean, is that it? Is that all Labour can offer on education?' Not my words but those of an experienced and exasperated headteacher at a secondary school in Hemel Hempstead, where I stood as Labour’s parliamentary candidate. I was...

Reform Time this week comes with a health warning. We are getting statistical and this week’s column is the nasty cough mixture – awful in the taking but ultimately good for you. Here is the bombshell. Under plans set out by examinations regular Ofqual and using...

When people criticise the reforms to state schools pioneered by the New Labour government there is often a refusal to acknowledge brute facts. The basic school leaving standard is just 5 GCSEs at A* to C including English and Maths. This is perhaps the least demanding...

One might hope the biggest reform of assessment in English education in over two decades would be based on a set of clear principles, evidence of what’s effective and consultation with everyone with a stake in the education system – young people, teachers, parents,...