Wherever you look workers are going on strike and our schools are no exception – even though Jeremy Hunt managed to find an extra few billion behind the Treasury couch for education at his recent Autumn Statement.
So what’s going on here, why are union leaders still balloting, and what’s the state of English schools after 12 years of Tory-led governments?
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To get the lowdown on all things educational I caught up with my Centre for Policy Studies colleague Mark Lehain, our Head of Education.
Mark’s no ordinary policy wonk. he’s worked as a teacher, including as a headteacher and set up his own free school, as wel as working in the heart of government as a special adviser – what he doesn’t know about English education over the last few years really isn’t worth knowing.
Schools do not exist in isolation from the economy. The number of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) is, in large part, a function of the economic conditions in which they leave education. When growth is weak, entry-level opportunities are scarce, employers are cautious and the public finances that pay […]
After 17 months of drift following the Government’s January 2025 reset of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, the free speech complaints scheme administered by the Office for Students (OfS) is at last going ahead. The Government has now signed the commencement regulations needed to bring the scheme into force. From 1 September […]
Almost buried under this week’s avalanche of news reports on war in Iran and who-said-what-to whom in the newly-released Mandelson files, was an announcement from the Treasury Select Committee launching an inquiry into ‘widespread dissatisfaction’ over student loan repayment terms. They can say that again. It may not be as urgent or compelling as drone […]
