An article offered a chronological account and critical appraisal of changes to early childhood education and care services in England over the previous 20 years. It covered four key areas: policies designed to reduce social inequality; the professionalization of the children's workforce and changing status of adults employed in pre-school education and care settings; changes to early years pedagogy and the early years curriculum; and how major research programmes had informed the understanding of the effects of social disadvantage and how high-quality pre-school provision could alleviate this. There was now 'persuasive evidence' that investment in state-maintained early education was highly cost effective, particularly for disadvantaged children. The coalition government, however, was shifting the burden of funding for professional training and high-quality integrated services for children and families from the state to the private and voluntary sectors.
Source: Dorothy Faulkner and Elizabeth Coates, 'Early childhood policy and practice in England: twenty years of change', International Journal of Early Years Education, Volume 21 Issue 2-3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that pupils in England did not have sufficient opportunity for practical experience in science lessons. Noting the value of hands-on learning, the report outlined areas of good practice and ways in which improvements were needed.
Source: Maintaining Curiosity: A survey into science education in schools, HMI 130135, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | Summary | OFSTED press release | Wellcome Trust press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Nov
A report examined the achievements of music hubs in supporting music education in schools. Music hubs were set up across England in response to the National Plan for Music Education. The hubs were given defined roles, including ensuring that every child sings regularly and learns a musical instrument in normal school class lessons. The report said that many hubs did valuable work, but only reached a minority of pupils. It concluded that little had changed in terms of provision in the music hubs' first year. The report made recommendations.
Source: Music in Schools: What hubs must do, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Nov
A new book examined the role and practice of education in the digital age. It said that, from a social justice perspective, the skills-based curriculum should be replaced with one that engaged with digital technologies and equipped young people with knowledge that they would be unlikely to learn outside of the school setting.
Source: Rosamund Sutherland, Education and Social Justice in a Digital Age, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Nov
The schools inspectorate said that the potential of religious education was not being realized fully in the majority of the schools surveyed. It identified barriers to better RE and suggested ways in which the subject might be improved.
Source: Religious Education: Realising the potential, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | BBC report | C of E press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Oct
A new book examined the way young people related to religion in their education and upbringing.
Source: Elisabeth Arweck and Robert Jackson (eds), Religion, Education and Society, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Oct
The schools inspectorate evaluated the quality of citizenship education in primary and secondary schools.
Source: Citizenship Consolidated? A survey of citizenship in schools between 2009 and 2012, Office for Standards in Education, Children s Services and Skills
Date: 2013-Oct
The Welsh Government began consultation on proposals to revise the curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. The consultation focussed on literacy, numeracy and wider skills and would close on 17 January 2014.
Source: Curriculum for Wales: Consultation on proposals for revised curriculum and assessment arrangements for Wales – Phase 1: Literacy, numeracy and wider skills, Welsh Government
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2013-Oct
The government began a consultation on the A-level curriculum. The consultation would close on 20 December 2013.
Source: New A Levels: Subject content consultation, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | Summary | Subject-specific papers | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2013-Oct
A new book examined a range of early years curriculum models from across the world, providing in-depth discussion of key issues and theories.
Source: Lynn Ang (ed.), The Early Years Curriculum: The UK context and beyond, Routledge
Links: Summary
Notes: Chapters included:
Carolyn Silberfeld and Karen Horsley, 'The early years foundation stage curriculum in England: implications for practice and practitioners'
Date: 2013-Oct
A report examined the teaching of statistics through the A-level curriculum. It noted a need for students to be equipped with analytical skills. The report discussed opportunities for greater inclusion of statistics learning within a wide range of taught subjects, and examined the barriers to change.
Source: Roger Porkess, A World Full of Data: Statistics opportunities across A-level subjects, Royal Statistical Society/Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
Links: Report | IFA press release
Date: 2013-Oct
The coalition government published (following consultation) a new national curriculum for schools in England. It said that the curriculum embodied 'rigour, high standards and... coherence' in what was taught in schools. It had been significantly slimmed down and would free up teachers to use their professional judgment to design curricula that met the needs of their pupils. The majority of the new national curriculum would come into force from September 2014.
Source: The National Curriculum in England: Framework document, Department for Education
Links: Curriculum | Statutory Instrument | Hansard | Accord Coalition press release | ACT press release | BHA press release | Brook press release | Citizenship Foundation press release | Democratic Life press release | NAT press release | PFEG press release | SEF press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper said that how school pupils were ranked academically within their reference group had significant effects on later objective outcomes. Boys gained four times more in later test scores from being ranked top, compared with girls. Non-cognitive skills such as confidence and belief in own ability were the most likely explanatory factors.
Source: Richard Murphy and Felix Weinhardt, The Importance of Rank Position, DP1241, Centre for Economic Performance (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper | Abstract | Daily Mail report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Sep
An article examined the recent history of school involvement in teaching financial education. There appeared to be a move toward making financial education a compulsory part of the national curriculum: but, even if this happened, there would be challenges in delivering this in practice. For example, the role of values in financial education made it a contested subject, and teachers would need training and support to deal with this. They would also need to be supported to deliver financial education in a way that recognized diversity and sensitivity issues in the classroom.
Source: Lindsey Appleyard, and Karen Rowlingson, 'Children and financial education: challenges for developing financial capability in the classroom', Social Policy and Society, Volume 12 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
Four linked articles examined citizenship education in schools.
Source: Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, Volume 8 Number 2
Links: Table of contents
Notes: Articles included:
Mikael Sundstrom and Christian Fernandez, 'Citizenship education and diversity in liberal societies: theory and policy in a comparative perspective'
Jonathan Birdwell, Ralph Scott, and Edward Horley, 'Active citizenship, education and service learning'
Isabelle Cote, Malena Rosen Sundstrom, and Anders Sannerstedt, '"The state of the debate": a media analysis of the debates on liberalization and citizenship education in France, Sweden, and England, 2001-2010'
Avril Keating and Tom Benton, 'Creating cohesive citizens in England? Exploring the role of diversity, deprivation and democratic climate at school'
Date: 2013-Jul
The coalition government published (following consultation) a revised national curriculum for children aged 5-16 in state schools in England (excluding academy schools). It said the curriculum was 'tougher and more rigorous': schools would focus more on essay writing, mathematical modelling, and problem solving. For the first time children would learn how to programme computers. Introduction would begin in 2014.
Source: The National Curriculum in England: Framework Document, Department for Education
Links: Framework | Hansard (1) | Hansard (2) | DE press release | ATL press release | Brook press release | CBI press release | Citizenship Foundation press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | SEF press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games for school sport was 'on life support', and that more needed to be done to ensure that it lasted beyond two years.
Source: School Sport Following London 2012: No more political football, Third Report (Session 2013-14), HC 164, House of Commons Education Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Oral and written evidence | Additional written evidence | Committee press release | NAHT press release | SRA press release | YST press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book examined a range of topical issues and debates surrounding the school curriculum, including: arguments for and against common core curricula and state control of the curriculum; the positive and negative impact of free market ideologies on public education; the tensions in school curricula between the agendas of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism; and the possibility of a school curriculum that was not shaped and monitored by dominant interests, but was instead based on promoting responsibility, responsiveness, a love of learning, and a sense of wonder and respect for the natural and social world.
Source: Alex Moore, Understanding the School Curriculum: Theory, politics and principles, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jul
The coalition government began consultation on proposals to reform GCSE examinations in England. It said that it was necessary to restore public confidence in the examinations by making them 'more challenging, more ambitious and more rigorous'.
Source: Reformed GCSE Subject Content Consultation, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | ATL press release | CBI press release | IOD press release | Labour Party press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | NCB press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report
Notes: GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education.
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the prevalence of 'streaming' by ability in primary schools. 16.4 per cent of children in year 2 (age 7) were in streamed classes, according to data from the Millennium Cohort Study. The best predictors of being in the top stream were whether the child was born in the early part of the school year, parents owning their own home, and the child's cognitive ability score. The measures predicting being in the bottom stream were being a boy, being born in the spring/summer of 2001, having a behaviour problem, being born into a lone-parent family, and cognitive ability score.
Source: Susan Hallam and Samantha Parsons, 'Prevalence of streaming in UK primary schools: evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study', British Educational Research Journal, Volume 39 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A report by a committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly said that urgent action was needed to tackle the large and persistent gap in literacy and numeracy between pupils who were entitled to free school meals and those who were not. Schools had not acted strongly enough to sack teachers who were not performing well.
Source: Report on Improving Literacy and Numeracy Achievement in Schools, Fifteenth Report (Mandate 2011/15), Northern Ireland Assembly Public Accounts Committee, TSO
Links: Report | NIA press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined the performance of children educated in the devolved Scottish system compared with those educated in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. There were many more similarities than differences in terms of educational attainment across the four countries: all four attained similar positions relative to the international community. But an analysis of national statistics suggested that Scotland's performance had been very stable over time, whereas England's performance had been improving. There were also deep levels of educational inequality in Scotland, particularly between pupils from different socio-economic groups, that devolution had been unable to solve.
Source: Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally, and Gill Wyness, Education in a Devolved Scotland: A quantitative analysis, Special Paper 30, Centre for Economic Performance (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-May
A report said that there was little evidence to support coalition government claims that standards of examinations had fallen in England. Simply introducing more demanding GCSE exams, as proposed by the government, would not automatically raise standards of achievement. A model based on modular assessments was not consistently easier than the end-of-course exam, whereas end-of-course exams produced 'backwash effects', including a narrowing of the curriculum and an increase in 'teaching to test'.
Source: Jo-Anne Baird, Ayesha Ahmed, Therese Hopfenbeck, Carol Brown, and Victoria Elliott, Research Evidence Relating to Proposals for Reform of the GCSE, Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment
Links: Report | OUCEA press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-May
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the proposed abolition of GCSE exams. It noted the committee s concerns about the scale and pace of the proposed reforms, but said that the case for urgent reform was 'compelling'.
Source: From GCSEs to EBCs: The government s proposals for reform – Government Response to the Committee's Eighth Report, Seventh Special Report (Session 2012–13), HC 1116, House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: MPs report (January 2013)
Date: 2013-Apr
An article examined the relative influence of family and neighbourhood on pupils' test scores in England, and how this varied by sibling type. The neighbourhood explained at most 10-15 per cent of the variance in pupils' test scores, whereas the family explained 44-54 per cent at the end of primary school and 47-61 per cent at the end of compulsory schooling. The family influence was significantly higher for identical twins. It was also higher for dizygotic twins than for non-twin siblings brought up at different times and therefore experiencing varying family circumstances.
Source: Cheti Nicoletti and Birgitta Rabe, 'Inequality in pupils' test scores: how much do family, sibling type and neighbourhood matter?', Economica, Volume 80 Issue 318
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals to exclude from 16–19 performance tables in England any vocational qualification that did not meet new, higher standards from September 2014.
Source: Government Proposals to Reform Vocational Qualifications for 16–19 Year Olds, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | DE press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Mar
The coalition government published a summary of responses to consultation on personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. It said that PSHE would remain a non-statutory subject, and that it was unnecessary to provide new standardized frameworks or programmes of study.
Source: Consultation on PSHE Education: Summary Report, Department for Education
Links: Consultation responses | Hansard | DE press release | Accord Coalition press release | BHA press release | Brook press release | Christian Institute report | NAT press release | PFEG press release | Population Matters press release | Relate press release | SEF press release
Date: 2013-Mar
An article said that constant changes to the system of qualifications and examinations at ages 16 and 17 reduced their value to higher education and to employers. Changes had been implemented without proper trialling, and the new 'English baccalaureate' (subsequently scrapped) in particular narrowed the learning experience. There was a need for a moratorium on change; and for a 'long, hard look' at the qualification system by a non-partisan advisory committee.
Source: Richard Pring, 'Another reform of qualifications – but qualifying for what?', Political Quarterly, Volume 84 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
The government began consultation on plans to simplify the national curriculum followed by primary and secondary schools in England. All state-funded schools would have to provide an education that was 'balanced and broadly based and which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life'. The new curriculum set out the detailed 'essential knowledge' expected in the core subjects of English, maths, and science from children aged 4-16.
Source: The National Curriculum in England: Framework Document for Consultation, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DE press release | ACT press release | AIC press release | Beat Bullying press release | Citizenship Foundation press release | IOD press release | Museums Association press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | Sustain press release | YST press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Feb
The coalition government announced that (following consultation) it was abandoning key parts of its proposals for reforming GCSE exams. GCSEs in key subjects would not, as planned, be replaced by an 'English baccalaureate' administered by a single exam board.
Source: Debate 7 February 2013, columns 441-457, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Hansard | DE press release | AOC press release | ATL press release | Cambridge Assessment press release | IOD press release | Labour Party press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | SRA press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Notes: Consultation document (September 2012). GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education.
Date: 2013-Feb
An article said that England's drop in the cross-national Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ranking was not replicated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and that this contrast might be due to data limitations in both surveys. The coalition government should not therefore base educational policies on the assumption that the performance of England's secondary school pupils had declined over the previous decade.
Source: John Jerrim, 'The reliability of trends over time in international education test scores: is the performance of England's secondary school pupils really in relative decline?', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 42 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb
An audit report in Northern Ireland said that unacceptably large numbers of pupils were failing to achieve even minimal levels in literacy and numeracy.
Source: Improving Literacy and Numeracy Achievement in Schools, Northern Ireland Audit Office
Links: Report | NIE press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Feb
The Welsh Government announced that it 'broadly accepted' all the recommendations made in an independent review of secondary school qualifications. GCSEs and A-levels would be retained in Wales, alongside a revised, and more rigorous, Welsh baccalaureate.
Source: Press release 29 January 2013, Welsh Government
Links: Welsh Government press release | NASUWT press release | Voice blog post | BBC report | Guardian report
Notes: GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education; A = Advanced.
See also: Review report (November 2012)
Date: 2013-Jan
The coalition government announced plans for changes to A-level qualifications. In future, A-levels would be linear – taken over two years with students sitting their exams at the end of the course. The government said that this would lead to students developing deeper subject knowledge and greater intellectual maturity. The AS-level qualification would remain but would be redesigned as a stand-alone qualification.
Source: Letter from Michael Gove MP (Secretary of State for Education), 22 January 2013
Links: Letter | Hansard | AOC press release | ASCL press release | CBI press release | HMC press release | IOD press release | Labour Party press release | NASUWT press release | 1994 Group press release | NUT press release | UCU press release | Universities UK press release | University Alliance press release | Voice press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Notes: A = Advanced; AS = Advanced Subsidiary.
Date: 2013-Jan
A think-tank report said that many school students were suffering from the lack of an alternative to traditional academic studies, and that a distinct technical and vocational route through the education system might help reduce drop-out and disengagement. There should be a requirement on all vocational and technical providers to involve employers formally in the development and delivery of the curriculum and in quality assurance. New funding arrangements were needed to help dissuade schools from retaining sixth-form students (aged 16-18) who would benefit more from a specific technical or vocational education.
Source: Owen Corrigan, Technical Matters: Building a high quality technical and vocational route through the education system, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs said that the coalition government had failed to prove its case that GCSEs in the key academic subjects should be abolished and replaced with new English Baccalaureate Certificate exams. The government was trying to do too much, too fast: introducing several fundamental changes at the same time and to a tight timetable would jeopardize the quality of the reforms and might threaten the stability of the wider exam system.
Source: From GCSEs to EBCs: The government s proposals for reform, Eighth Report (Session 2012–13), HC 808, House of Commons Education Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Hansard | AOC press release | ASCL press release | ATL press release | NASUWT press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jan
