Inside Your Ed

Despite the endless debates and disagreements in education policy, there are some things that we can all agree on, such as the need for a fair education system. However, a new report suggests that while we may agree on the need for a fair education system, we may well disagree on what fairness actually means in practice. The report – titled Mapping the way to educational equity �

This time last year, we did a podcast episode about the growing problem of pupil absences in the aftermath of the pandemic, with record numbers of children and young people failing to attend school on a regular basis. Since then, finding ways to reduce absences has become a priority for both main political parties in England, and numerous initiatives have been put in place by the c

“It’s not just a skill for learning, it’s also a skill for life. Not just for the workplace, also for working out who you are – for overcoming shyness or disaffection, anxiety or doubt – or even just for opening up more to our friends and family. We don’t do enough of that as a society, and I’m as guilty as anyone, but wouldn’t that be something precious for our chi

In the current education policy landscape, the debate over adding VAT to independent school fees is by far the most high-profile dividing line between Labour and the Conservatives. That said, the question of what would actually happen in practice if Labour won the next election and tried to implement this policy has received remarkably little attention in political circles. That is

On the 15th of March in the year 2000, then Education Secretary David Blunkett invited businesses, churches and voluntary groups to build and manage a network of "city academies", a new type of urban secondary school outside the control of local authorities. Little did David Blunkett, now Lord Blunkett, know that a quarter of a century later, there would be over 10,000 ac

Existential crisis - at risk of insolvency - looming financial crisis - ticking time bomb - bankruptcy.Newspaper headline writers have certainly not been holding back in recent months as they try to describe the predicament that UK universities apparently find themselves in. Then again, with a General Election on the way, universities and other higher education (or HE) providers ar

With a General Election on the way, all eyes and ears are trained on what our politicians are saying about the future of education and skills. However, there are plenty of other important individuals who you won’t see in the political spotlight but are nevertheless thinking hard about how to improve the life chances of the most disadvantaged children, young people and adults. One

“The arrival of on-screen and online high stakes assessment has been predicted for many years.”Those are not my words, but the words of the exam regulator Ofqual back in 2020, in their report on the barriers to greater adoption of high stakes on-screen and online assessments, and how these barriers may be overcome. Perhaps the wait for these digital assessments is finally over

Almost exactly 12 months ago, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set out his plans for all students in England to study some form of maths to age 18.Ten months later, the Prime Minister went much further by announcing plans for a single qualification – called “the Advanced British Standard” – to bring together A-levels and T-levels as well as making both maths and English compulsor

Welcome back to Inside Your Ed in 2024 and happy New Year to all our listeners. Speaking of things that are new, this episode is all about the new institutions - often called Challenger institutions – that have been appearing in England’s Higher Education (or HE) sector in recent years. So what is a challenger institution? What obstacles have these new HE providers faced? Have