'Serious failings' at academy chain

 The rapid growth of academy chains has been one of the most significant - if relatively quiet - developments in schools policy in England. There has already been concern about the very large salaries paid to some of the Chief Executives of these chains, many of which now have numbers of schools running into double figures.

So this week's outcome of  the Department for Education's investigation into the Lincolnshire-based Priory Federation, which has three schools in it, is an important warning sign. The investigation found 'serious failings' in relation to financial management. The Federation's Trust has accepted responsibility and the Chief Executive, Richard Gilliland, has left.

The full report is worth reading for the shocking details of how an individual manager could so drastically misuse school funds. These include using schools funds for personal use and the purchase and decoration of a floor of a Manor House to meet the needs of the CEO and his wife not the needs of the Federation. 

There are now 48 academy chains, covering nearly 350 academies.  Some are getting very big and are almost mini-local education authorities. Indeed just 9  chains account for 182 open or planned academies.

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02 May 2012 2 comments - read and reply.

Updates on invaluable website resource

 I have mentioned before Derek Gillard's invaluable website resource for education policy. Well now I'm happy to hear that he has not only updated his website - The History of Education in England - with many new documents and reviews but has also created a update page so you can quickly see what's new.

It's here: www.educationengland.org.uk/new.html

Among the new records now available are: the 2011 Education Act, the Bew, Tickell, and Henley Reports and - going much further back - the 1968 Newsom Report and the 1944 Fleming Report. Happy reading!

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18 Apr 2012

University admissions disappointment

 The news that UCAS will not be going ahead with its proposals for a Post Qualifications Admissions (PQA)  system will not be too surprising to anyone who has seen the reluctance of most university leaders to embrace the change . However there was disappointment from student leaders, who felt an opportunity had been missed.

This decision looks set to end the debate about PQA for many years to come, bringing to an end a discussion that has been going on since the Schwartz report suggested the reform under the last government.

Obstacles to PQA

According to UCAS, the obstacles to PQA were that:

• different term dates and qualifications' timetables across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;
• university initiatives to support disadvantaged applicants could be compromised;
• it might encourage an undesirable focus on simple grade achievements rather than more rounded assessments of applicants' potential.

Reform of Clearing

Instead, UCAS will press ahead with reforms to the system of Clearing, reforming the Extra service, and improving the on-line application form. There will also be defined offer deadlines to give greater certainty to applicants.

The full report is here: UCAS Admissions Process Review

New study says intervene early

Meanwhile a…

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28 Mar 2012 7 comments - read and reply.

University participation rate stalls

The proportion of young people in England entering university has hit a plateau -- stilll short of the 50% target set by Tony Blair's government.

The latest official statistics shows that 47% of people aged between 17 - 30 entered university in 2010-11. That represents no change on the previous year - the first time in recent years that there has been no year-on-year increase. 

In 2006/7 the participation rate was 42% and it climbed steadily to 47% in 2009/10, but since the advent of the coalition government that increase has halted. The 50% target has, of course, not been endorsed by coalition ministers.

Women  ahead of men

Female participation at 52% remains well ahead of that for males, which is is 42%.

The statistic - known as the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate - measures the probability that a 17 year-old will enter university by the time they reach the age of 30.

Read the full statistical bulletin here.

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28 Mar 2012 1 comments - read and reply.

21st Century Free School: a way ahead?

Caption: Peter Hyman delivers NET Lecture. Photo: Gary Eason

Free Schools remain controversial and, while some excellent new schools have been proposed, the big questions remain:

• how sustainable are they?
• will they ever reach more than a tiny minority of children?
• what is their effect on neighbouring schools?
• can they maintain curriculum innovation despite league table targets and Ofsted inspections?

These dilemmas were raised by the audience at last night's annual National Education Trust lecture. They had heard an inspirational talk from former Tony Blair strategist, Peter Hyman, who is opening a new Free School - School 21 - in east London this coming September.

 The school will be a far cry from the Toby Young school, which has so far dominated the coverage of Free Schools. It was given its name to denote Hyman's determination to look ahead to 21st century teaching and learning styles. This is not a 1950's, nostalgia-led project designed to give a new boost to school uniforms and Latin. 

School 21  will put a much greater emphasis than usual on speaking and listening skills, or oracy, which - as Hyman argues - is greatly under-emphasised in this country compared…

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15 Mar 2012 7 comments - read and reply.

From Tony Blair to Free School - leap or logic?

 I'll be chairing the annual National Education Trust Lecture this week and - living up to its formidable pedigree - the charity has once again netted a fascinating speaker. This year's lecturer is Peter Hyman, former Downing Street policy advisor and scriptwriter to Tony Blair and now founder of a potentially highly innovative Free School.

His brainchild, School 21 (so named as a school for the 21st century), is due to open in September in the London borough of Newham. It promises a very different approach to the traditional model offered at the Free School founded by his political opposite, Toby Young, which is characterised by school uniform and Latin lessons.

School 21 will move away from the traditional timetable and discrete subjects and will offer a mix of lectures, seminars, individual coaching and more project work. Assessment will be non-traditional too. More at the school's website: www.school21.org/

Will it work? And how will Peter defend his support of a policy initiative that has come from his former political opponents?

To hear more about Peter's plans - and his transition from Downing Street to classroom teacher - come along to the NET annual lecture (there are still a few places…

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10 Mar 2012 6 comments - read and reply.

The teachers' videos competition restarts

 It's good to be involved once again as a judge in the new round of O2 Learn's revision video competition for schools.

The format is slightly different this year, with the introduction of weekly winners who receive £1,000 for themselves and £1,000 for their school. This does mean rather more work for the judges, but it's fun and I'm learning a lot about GCSE topics as varied as science, geography and RE. 

It's a great idea from O2 that enables teachers and students to share the best innovative ideas about teaching techniques and revision aids. What is impressive is the efforts that have been put in by teachers to help their students with their revision.

The competition runs from now until almost the end of the year when - as in 2011 - overall 'Best Lesson' winners will be announced. The first prize is worth £45,000, with £30,000 for the school to spend on resources and £15,000 for the teacher who submitted the video. Not bad, eh?

So send in your entries soon. There's a prize just for uploading your lesson to the website. The first week's winner has already been announced. So well done to Dedworth Middle…

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05 Mar 2012 1 comments - read and reply.

Les Ebdon confirmed as new head of OFFA

 So the government has seen sense (or more likely in the world of realpolitik David Cameron did a compromise deal with Vince Cable) and has allowed the appointment of Professor Les Ebdon as the new head of OFFA to go ahead.

Offa has this morning confirmed his appointment. The outgoing head, Sir Martin Harris, said of his successor, who will take over later this year: “I am confident that all universities will find that he takes a fair, balanced and considered approach to the very difficult issues of fair access and widening participation, helping them continue to work with schools to raise aspirations and standards.”

In a letter to the Select Committee, the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, said its report did 'not raise any new, relevant facts about Professor Ebdon's suitability for the post'. However, he did say he took 'seriously' the committee's concerns over his presentational skills, and noted the Professor Ebdon himself 'felt he could perhaps have performed more effectively'.  Professor Ebdon has agreed to return to the committee for further monitoring sessions.

The whole kerfuffle over his appointment has been bizarre and has led to some  over-heated journalism and media commentary. The Daily Telegraph, for…

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20 Feb 2012 6 comments - read and reply.

Les Ebdon likely to be confirmed as head of OFFA next week

 Despite his rejection by the BIS Select Committee last week, it now looks very likely that Professor Les Ebdon will be confirmed as ministers' choice to head the Office for Fair Access after all. A decision is likely to be given to Parliament early next week now that Downing Street has confirmed that it does not have the power to block the appointment.

Its believed that the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, was determined that the appointment would go ahead and there is a strong feeling that the whole appointment process was played by the book and so it would be wrong for the choice of both the selection committee, and of ministers, to be blocked by a vote taken by just 4 out of 11 members of the parliamentary committee. 

A close look at the questioning by those committee members who opposed Professor Ebdon suggests they had either been lobbied by some members of the Russell Group or that they felt they were operating on their behalf.

 Meanwhile, while it now looks unlikely that a Higher Education Bill will appear this coming autumn, this does not mean that plans for legislation have been shelved. It seems ministers are relaxed…

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14 Feb 2012 1 comments - read and reply.

Decline in university applications confirmed

After much speculation and confusion over the past 5 months, the scale of the fall in university applications caused by the rise in tuition fees is now much clearer with publication by UCAS of the figures up to the January 15th deadline*.

These show that the number of undergraduate applications from students living in England (where fee limits have been tripled for 2012-13) has fallen by 9.9% compared to this time last year.

By contrast, applications from students living in other parts of the UK have fallen by less, with Scotland down by 1.5%, Northern Ireland by 4% and Wales down by 1.9%.

The fall is much less that had been anticipated earlier in the application cycle when they appeared to be down by up to 30%. However, the fall remains substantial, particularly amongst those applying to  English universities and the new fees regime appears to be a large (but not sole) part of the explanation.

English universities lose out

A closer look at the figures shows that it is English universities that have taken the heaviest fall in applications: English students applying to English universities are down by 9.8% but there are even…

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30 Jan 2012 1 comments - read and reply.

Twitter questions for Gove

Well done to the cross-party Education Select Committee for giving the public and the teaching profession a chance to suggest questions to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, when he comes to give evidence at the end of the month.

You have until 11am on 27th January to send in your one question to the Committee. Mr Gove appears before them on the 31st. 

Send your question via Twitter using the hashtag: #AskGove.

Of course, there's no guarantee he'll answer the question (you'll have to rely on the MPs to do the follow-ups) but it seems a good idea, not just a gimmick. Go for it!

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23 Jan 2012 3 comments - read and reply.

Your top education blog topics of 2011

 It's slightly late, I fear, but I can now bring you the results of my detailed and intensive research(!) into my most read education blog topics of 2011. This helps me get a better idea of what interests the kind people who visit my blog. Its a also a quick reminder, with the new year still young, of some of the big issues of last year.

So, here we go. The winner - by a mile - is a topic I posted on way back in January 2011 on the details of the Education Bill. It just goes to show that you are a serious-minded, policy-orientated lot...I'm proud to serve you!

In the silver medal position was my blog on the Higher Education White Paper in June. Once again this suggests you like to get your teeth into some meaty policy detail.

And in third place was a blog on phonics looking at the government's attempt to limit schools' options of reading schemes.

Here's the rest of the Top Ten:

4. Gove invites parents to come into schools to help on the day the teachers go on strike.

5.The Open University sets its…

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23 Jan 2012 13 comments - read and reply.

Ofsted and to be or not to be 'satisfactory'

Interesting decision from Ofsted to abolish the 'satisfactory' grading. Keen readers of this website will recall that Roy Blatchford had called for exactly this decision back in June in a guest article here: www.mikebakereducation.co.uk/articles/86/why-ofsteds-satisfactory-is-just-not-good-enough  It is worth looking at it again.

While I sympathise with the reaction of many school leaders who must feel the bar is being raised ever higher, in reality 'satisfactory' had already been turned (in Big-Brother-speak) into 'unsatisfactory' by frequent statements from Chief Schools Inspectors. So in some ways this at least clears the waters. If only from the point of view of preserving the meaning of language, this decision is sensible.

However the worry is that the term 'requires improvement' could put the skids under a school that is already starting to improve. It should not be used just as a lever to create more academies.

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18 Jan 2012 17 comments - read and reply.

Problems publishing School Profiles

Since the 2005 Education Act, schools have been required to publish their school profile. Although change is on the way, this remains a statutory requirement on all governing bodies. But it seems the Department for Education is frustrating schools that are trying to do what the law requires.

Caddington Village School in Bedfordshire believes the school profile is a 'useful reporting tool'. Its chair of governors, Mike Smith, believes it is 'less onerous than the old-style Annual General Meetings' and is a helpful summary of a school's achievements.

But when the school tried to fulfil its legal duty by publishing the profile it was unable to access the necessary template which is usually available at the Department for Education's website.  It seems access to the template has been suspended.

In response to an enquiry from Mr Smith, the Department explained that access had been 'revoked' whilst the school profile is under government review.  In September 2011 the government said it planned to end the requirement to publish the school profile as it 'had not proved to be the most effective way of capturing the information parents wanted to know' . Only about 1 in 5 schools appeared to…

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04 Jan 2012 5 comments - read and reply.

National Curriculum delayed for 'more radical' change

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has announced a surprise delay to the revision of the National Curriculum in order to 'allow for more radical reform of both the curriculum and qualifications'. 

The changes being recommended by the Expert Panel will now not be implemented until 2014, instead of 2013 as originally planned.

Mr Gove said he was delaying the changes because  of the 'far-reaching and complex nature' of the interim recommendations of the Expert Panel which are published today. Amongst other things, the panel has suggested changing the length of Key Stages 2 and 3.

Mr Gove also said that, following the recent newspaper revelations in The Daily Telegraph, 'far-reaching reform to our examinations system is vital - and must be considered in parallel with changes to the secondary curriculum''.

Mr Gove's statement is available here. In it he explicitly relates the need for change to England's position in the OECD's international league tables which, he claims, show the country's position has 'deteriorated'.

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19 Dec 2011 4 comments - read and reply.

Examiners give their side of 'cheating' story

 I watched with great interest today's Education Select Committee hearing into The Daily Telegraph's 'sting' which - if you remember - alleged cheating by GCSE examiners during training sessions run by the exam boards for the benefit of teachers.

The underlying theme of the story was that competition for market share had driven examiners to offer undue help to teachers or to claim their own exams were easier than those of their rivals. Teachers paid up to £230 a day to attend training courses run by examiners.

 The Telegraph's story had seemed an example of good investigative reporting and appeared to offer a strong case of malpractice. However, today's evidence from the three suspended examiners - and their bosses - showed that this is a complex issue. 

  The examiners  - who it should be pointed out are teachers not full-time members of staff of the exam boards - seemed to win some sympathy for the way they had been treated. They said they had not been shown the evidence or the allegations before the story was published and were not given the chance to give their version of events.

 The Daily Telegraph has not yet published the full…

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15 Dec 2011 10 comments - read and reply.

Ofqual talks tough with exam boards

The exams watchdog, Ofqual, has said it 'will not hesitate' to take whatever regulatory action is necessary to secure standards following the Daily Telegraph's exposure of cheating. 

An undercover investigation by the newspaper showed exam board staff offering guidance about future exam questions to teachers who had paid to attend seminars. One member of the WJEC board admitted on video that the advice he was giving amounted to 'cheating'. 

Ofqual has said the behaviour of the exam boards named in the newspaper's investigation was 'unacceptable' and it will consider both specific action against individual boards and wider action to reform the system.

An Ofqual spokesperson added: "We have also recently launched a programme of work to look in detail at possible conflicts of interest in the provision of qualifications, in particular study aids such as text books and training sessions, and have notified government of our determination to tackle any issues this work identifies.

 It will report to the Secretary of State before Christmas.

Meanwhile the Commons Education Select Committee has called representatives of the four main exam boards to appear before it in an emergency session next week. 

They are bound to come under pressure to defend…

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09 Dec 2011 1024 comments - read and reply.

Education Journalism Awards 2011

 A very enjoyable night at the CIPR Education Journalism Awards at the House of Commons last night - now in their 7th year, these awards have really come of age. 

Huge congratulations to the national award winner, my old colleague at the BBC, Sean Coughlan, who writes with wonderful fluency and lightness of touch.

I was also delighted for my old friend, John O'Leary - former Education Editor of The Times and Editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement  - who received the Ted Wragg Award for lifetime contribution to education journalism. Don't worry, John, it doesn't mean you have to retire now.

Well done too to Mark Ashdown of BBC London for winning the regional/local award. Congratulations too to all the runners-up: Adi Bloom and Helen Ward of the TES, super-tweeter Sarah Pippalini of the THES, and Christine Alsford of ITV Meridian.

And, if it's not too immodest to do so, can I say how pleased I was to win the Best Online Commentary Award. Coming at the end of a rather tough year for me (dominated by my lung cancer diagnosis last April), it really meant a lot. Earlier this year, I wasn't even sure I'd still be around to…

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09 Dec 2011 21 comments - read and reply.

Telegraph exposes exam 'cheating'

 There's an apparently strong investigative story in tomorrow's Daily Telegraph which alleges that in seminars run by some exam boards teachers are being told which questions will come up in future exam papers.

The newspaper's website carries video from a WJEC-run seminar in which one representative of the exam board appears to admit that what he is doing is 'cheating' and would fall foul of the exam watchdog, Ofqual.

Teachers pay a fee to attend these seminars.

More on the story here: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/8940781/Exam-boards-how-examiners-tip-off-teachers-to-help-students-pass.html

 The evidence certainly suggests that the growing demands for schools to boost their league table standing is putting pressure on teachers to teach to the test, with a focus on teaching exam technique rather than covering the whole syllabus.

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has ordered an investigation in to the Telegraph allegations but perhaps he should  also look more widely at the consequences of high-stakes testing, in which league table scores are becoming more important than delivering a broad curriculum. 

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07 Dec 2011 6 comments - read and reply.

Perverse effects of latest university fees shift

 25 universities and colleges are being allowed to reduce their average net tuition fees for undergraduates, bringing them below the £7,500 threshold required to bid for extra student numbers.

According to figures just released by the Office for Fair Access, most universities have achieved this by either reducing their fees or by offering fee waivers to groups of students.  

However, at the same time, the universities have reduced the amount they were planning to spend on bursaries and scholarships. They have also reduced their planned spending on measures to improve outreach and student retention. 

In other words, in order to comply with the new government rules on the student numbers market, most of the universities have made changes that will benefit graduates once they reach middle-age at the cost of cash support for undergraduates while they are still studying.

Who's cutting fees?

The 24 universities and 1 FE college that have received approval to reduce their fees are:

Anglia Ruskin University, Aston University, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Chester, University of Chichester, University of Cumbria, University of Gloucestershire, University of Hertfordshire, University of Huddersfield, Institute of Education, Leeds Trinity University College, London South Bank University, Nottingham…

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02 Dec 2011 3 comments - read and reply.