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Education & Arts Blogs
Deregulation is not necessarily the solution to the childcare crisis: we must keep in mind what parents want
With the childcare debate seeing several new developments recently, Policy Exchange Education Research Fellow Harriet Waldegrave examines the issues that have arisen around care quality, regulation and funding. Harriet warns against the debate sliding into an ideological argument on deregulation.
A chain reaction that would fix Britain’s failing schools
James O’Shaughnessy, former Head of Policy for No. 10 and author of recent Policy Exchange report Competition Meets Collaboration, argues that following the new Ofsted inspection scheme, an increasing number of schools in Britain will be told they are failing. James suggests new ways to tackle this problem, including creating more academy chains.
School Enterprise Zones would turbo-charge Free School Programme
Writing in the Sunday Times, Sean Worth, Senior Consultant to Policy Exchange, proposes ideas to turbo-charge the Government’s plans to free up the supply of schools in poorer urban areas by removing restrictions on who could provide schools, as well as lengthy planning requirements.
Raise a glass to students’ success but we need to talk about A-levels
David Skelton, Deputy Director at Policy Exchange, argues that A-levels should be judged on the esteem in which they are held by employers and businesses. He argues that schools should use autonomy over their curriculum to teach subjects that are academically rigorous, with real world application, potentially working in conjunction with local universities and businesses.
How can we help children in care? Should we be sending them to boarding school?
Policy Exchange Director Neil O’Brien highlights the fact that, despite legal provisions giving children in care top priority for schools admissions, they are more likely to be in failing schools than other children. He then examines a scheme previously implemented by Andrew Adonis which placed children in care in boarding schools and the positive effects this had.
What about the snobbery that despises vocational education?
Education Research Fellow Owen Corrigan calls for politicians to dispel the impression that vocational education is a second-class form of education, arguing that it is an important alternative to academic education. He cites highly successful vocational education systems in Germany and Austria which have led to some of the lowest youth unemployment rates in Europe.
Bend the twig to shape the tree – that’s the key to social mobility
Policy Exchange Director Neil O’Brien writes arguing that only a radical rethink of pre-school education will improve the life chances for some of the poorest in society.
