Academies

What, no new education bills?

14 May 2013 | Conor Ryan

The absence of any new education legislation in the Queen’s Speech was no bad thing. Michael Gove has introduced more than enough radical changes that need time and support to bed in Read more

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Education’s squeezed middle tier

25 September 2012 | Jonathan Carr-West

A report launched at today’s Lib Dem conference shows  ‘middle tier’ bodies have been squeezed out of education, centralising power in the hands of the education secretary  Read more

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Do Michael Gove’s changes add up?

3 September 2012 | Conor Ryan

The education secretary has certainly churned out enough changes to schools to be dubbed a reformer. But will the pupils gain? Read more

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Gove plays a long game on education

10 April 2012 | Conor Ryan

Michael Gove is quietly pursuing his education reforms. But several challenges will determine whether he is going to make the grade Read more

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Tweet defeat for academies

24 February 2012 | Lesley Lodge

Tweeting questions to the secretary of state for education is an interesting experience but not the best way to get to grips with the accountability of academy schools Read more

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Arguing the case for academies

4 January 2012 | Conor Ryan

Michael Gove should cease preaching to the converted on academies and try to win over sceptical parents, governors and teachers Read more

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Gove goes back to basics

16 June 2011 | Conor Ryan

The education secretary’s new focus on disadvantaged schools is to be welcomed, but teachers will have their work cut out trying to achieve his new targets for GCSE attainment Read more

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Academies: the risk of a knowledge gap, by Andrew Jepp

10 January 2011 | Andrew Jepp

Figures published last week by the government reveal that a total of 371 secondary schools are now academies, meaning that 11% of all secondary schools in England are working independently of local authority control. Just over 200 schools have been converted into academies since education secretary Michael Gove pushed through the legislation, the majority of which are schools rated outstanding by Ofsted. Read more...

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Academy arithmetic, by Conor Ryan

6 January 2011 | Conor Ryan

The government is making much of the fact that there are now 407 academies, twice as many as when Labour left office. This is not a strictly fair comparison, of course, since the secondary figure of 371 academies includes 68 where the work, including sponsorship, had already been done before Michael Gove entered Sanctuary Buildings. Read more...

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Cracking the code, by Conor Ryan

14 September 2010 | Conor Ryan

The education secretary, Michael Gove, is reported to be considering a change to the Schools Admissions Code that would allow successful schools actively to recruit pupils entitled to free school meals from outside their catchment area. The change has been greeted with predictable shrieks of ‘social engineering’ from the right-wing media and claims by Margaret Morrissey, who runs an organisation called ‘Parents Outloud’ that it would ‘shunt’ parents to ‘the bottom of the list.’ Read more...

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