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Education & Arts Blogs
Why the free school doom-mongers have been proven completely wrong
Natasha Porter, Deputy Head of Education at Policy Exchange, shows how our recent report A Rising Tide has proven Free Schools naysayers wrong. Natasha shows that claims that Free Schools would lead to the collapse of nearby schools and drive down results are shown to be unfounded.
Now we have new evidence about Free Schools. And it shows that they’re working.
Jonathan Simons, Head of Education at Policy Exchange, sets out the findings from A Rising Tide, our new report that takes the first detailed look at the impact of Free Schools. The report shows that Free Schools have a positive influence on the results of underperforming local schools.
There is no evidence cutting tuition fees will increase university applications
Jonathan Simons, Policy Exchange’s Head of Education, looks at the Labour claim that £9,000 a year tuition fees are putting prospective students off going to university. Jonathan argues that cutting tuition fees would have no appreciable effect on entrance rates, serving only to benefit mostly male higher earners decades from now.
Academies after 2015
Jonathan Simons, Policy Exchange’s Head of Education, sets out the three questions the government will need to answer in order to effectively implement today’s announcement from the Prime Minister that “coasting” schools will be forced to accept new leadership.
Premier League
Jonathan Simons, Policy Exchange’s Head of Education, examines three questions raised by the recent debate on the new format school league tables: does it matter if well known public schools reside at the bottom of the table; does it matter if we can’t truly compare 2013 and 2014 results; and does it matter if league tables only give a partial picture of performance?
Why linear A-levels will work best
Natasha Porter, Policy Exchange’s Deputy Head of Education, argues that linear A-levels allow for time to teach skills that are no longer examined, giving pupils the space to explore subject areas that they’re interested in.
5 reasons why a return to grammar schools is a bad idea
Natasha Porter and Jonathan Simons, Policy Exchange’s Deputy Head and Head of Education, argue that – contrary to what the backers of more grammar schools say – selective education was actually bad for social mobility. They show that grammar schools left behind those who did not attend them in terms of both grades and pay, that grammar schools take fewer poor students and that they did not necessarily provide a good education.
A tale of two education announcements
Policy Exchange’s Head of Education, Jonathan Simons, contrasts recent announcements on education policy from the Labour and Conservative Parties. Jonathan sets out how the varied reactions to these announcements provide an interesting illustration as to the current state of education political communications.
The advantages of scale
Annaliese Briggs, Policy Exchange’s Education Research Fellow, explains the thinking behind our recently published report, Primary Focus. The report highlights how a “perfect storm” of challenges could see 1 in 5 primary schools falling below the government’s tough new minimum standards in 2016 and proposes grouping schools together into formal academy chains, building capacity and capability.
Doug Lemov at the annual Policy Exchange / Teach First Lecture (I)
Sam Freedman, Director of Research, Evaluation and Impact at Teach First and former Head of Education at Policy Exchange, covers Doug Lemov’s recent education speech. Sam lists Doug’s three simple insights which could drastically improve the way both teachers and children are taught.
