There will be much to be written about today’s A-Level results, but there is definitely one aspect of the higher grades that is worth celebrating: applicants having more leverage when it comes to pursuing their university offers. From The Daily Telegraph: A record number of pupils are also expected to use the clearing system to […]
Universities, especially British universities, have a long and distinguished history of nurturing radical thinkers, innovators and iconoclasts in all areas of study and enquiry. No longer, it seems. At our oldest and most distinguished universities, Oxford and Cambridge, and indeed across the spectrum of UK universities, the spirit of free enquiry appears to have died, […]
The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, issued a written ministerial statement at the end of last week, Whitehall’s preferred method of saying something without necessarily wanting anyone to notice. In it, she announced that she intended to halt ‘further commencement’ of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. This legislation introduced by […]
Private schools are, on the whole, a good thing. They give parents greater choice in their children’s education, provide the state sector much needed competition and attract money from abroad by taking on foreign students. I start with this because where you stand on applying VAT to school fees is often treated as a proxy […]
The absurdity of Labour’s private school tax raid is finally getting the attention it warrants following the publication of Keir Starmer’s ‘first steps’. A policy which amounts to an act of class war, it simply serves to show what we can expect from a Labour government – one that dances to the tune of equality […]
The recent High Court ruling upholding Michaela Community School’s decision to restrict Muslim students’ prayer rituals brings into question the legal obligation on all schools to provide Christian worship. The law requiring all English state funded schools to hold daily collective acts of ‘broadly Christian’ worship have been on the statute books for 80 years. Similar […]
With WhatsApp now allowing children as young as 13 to access the app, and a renewed debate about the suitability of mobile phones for teens, now is the time to prevent children from using phones in schools. Since January 2024, the European Azerbaijani School, which I currently chair, has required students to put their mobile phones into […]
Yesterday, the government announced a public consultation about state schools and religion. For nearly twenty years, state-backed free schools with a religious affiliation have been subject to a legal restriction that they may only select 50% of their intake by reference to faith. The government’s view is that this cap should go, and that such […]
At a time when the Conservative Party seems to have succumbed to ban-hungry, tax-heavy social democracy, it can be difficult to have any real enthusiasm for the legacy the Tories will leave on Britain’s political landscape. The Conservative Party – once a powerhouse of freedom – seems withered, desperately chasing ideas that won’t work. The […]
Each April, the United States celebrates Financial Capability Month. Every year, this provides a month-long opportunity for the American government, workplaces and educators to highlight the importance of financial literacy to the country’s citizens. In the UK, however, we do not even dedicate a single day to financial education – and it shows. Put bluntly, […]
According to new research from the Times Educational Supplement, more than a quarter of candidates applying to teacher training courses starting next year are from overseas. Their analysis reveals international candidates account for 26% of all submissions so far this year – up from 17% at the same point last year. The number of submissions […]
When I was a young university lecturer, I would periodically receive letters from people with axes to grind, asking me to write a scholarly article in an academic journal supporting their position. I got quite good at drafting replies gently explaining why I could not help them. Academics and the universities they served, I pointed […]
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Centre for Policy Studies and the 10th of CapX, we’ve been republishing CPS pamphlets by some of the most influential figures in the history of British conservatism. For this week’s edition, we’ve republished Lord Blackwell’s 2006 pamphlet ‘Three Cheers for Selection: How grammar schools help the poor’. For […]
Many of us will remember the pressure of results day. Those nerve-wracking few moments as I opened my own envelope with my grades in will stay with me for the rest of my life. The students and graduates of today are no different. They face the same challenges and the same doubts that people my […]
When the word ‘academy’ is uttered, many on the left shudder as visions of unaccountability and the marketisation of education spring to the fore of their mind. However, the reality is profoundly duller than those who demonise the system would like to admit. Academies were the brainchild of New Labour adviser and later peer, Andrew […]
There are very few people working in schools today who do not think that mobile phones have a negative impact on many pupils’ mental health and their academic progress. At their most innocuous they are an irritating distraction, a constant pull away from being focused on work; at worst they can be the source of […]
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