Education

It seems a long time ago, but do you remember how Gordon Brown kicked off his campaign, saying how he came from an ordinary, middle-class home?

Well, those days are gone. The class war aspect of the election was soon dropped, because it was having no effect on the polls. Minutes before the first TV debate that launched Clegg into the stratosphere, I bumped into Peter Mandelson, who appeared to have dropped his class war tactics that very day.

“When I said that Cameron looks down his long, toffee nose at people, it was just witty repartee, a bit of a tease; I’m hardly one to talk myself,” he said, wrinkling his long nose, and grinning self-mockingly, “Class war is hardly my… Read More

The unblinking stare of Ed Balls

At long last, Ed Balls is beginning to listen to his critics. I don’t mean he’s intending to reverse any of the disastrous decisions he took during his three years as Schools Secretary, such as his insistence that every new Academy should be forced to teach the National Curriculum. No, I mean he’s clearly trying hard not to blink so often.

As several commentators have pointed out, blinking frequently while talking is a classic hallmark of a pathological liar and Balls is now doing his best to conceal this “tell”. On The Daily Politics this afternoon, debating education… Read More

When the three main parties won’t tell us what they’re really planning to do with universities, and Lord Browne’s “independent review” of higher education won’t tell us what’s being said behind the scenes, there isn’t a lot students can do to make an informed choice on May 6.

It has been clear for months that university students will be among the victims of whichever party is elected – none of them has issued clear policies on higher education funding or student loans - but what is most frustrating is that even our own universities seem to be failing adequately to represent us. The Browne Review, an independent body considering the possible changes to student funding and higher education (behind which the three main political parties have been hiding), i… Read More

Britain should hang its head in shame. Once again, we’re being held up to criticism for being one of the few European states that still allows children to be smacked, ten years after European judges warned that corporal punishment was a violation of human rights.

The latest criticism comes from the Council of Europe, which sets out its case at a public debate in Strasbourg. I’m aware – how could I not be? - that Europe, Strasbourg and human rights are keywords designed to raise the hackles of those who hate to see any powers potentially wrested away from the UK.

But what sort of power are we talking about here? Why should it be legal to hit children when it is illegal to hit adults? Children are… Read More

For several months now I’ve been expecting some local Conservative councillors to attack the Party’s free school policy and it happened this morning. Paul Carter, the Tory leader of Kent County Council, told the BBC that if a Conservative government makes it easier for parents and voluntary groups to set up academies, the amount of money available to local authorities for maintained schools will fall. “At the moment the more academies and free schools you operate, under the current academy funding arrangements, the less maintained schools would get,” he said.

That’s true, but misleading – the sort of point you’d expect a Labour opponent of the Conservatives’ education policy to make, not the leader of a Tory council. If a… Read More

A letter to The Guardian today proved just how brave Dave’s Big Society manifesto is. In the letter Mike Gibbons, chair of the Progressive Education Network, and a cabal of like-minded headteachers, write to oppose in advance the Tories’ plans for education. Michael Gove’s proposed cuts, the teachers cry, would undo the work of this government. (If only!) His “boutique” experiments in education are based on “naive educational tourism” (you see, instead of indulging in armchair educational theorising, Gove actually visited Sweden and the US to study first-hand the school models he admired). Moreover, the Tories will re-route millions of pounds from existing schools to new establishments. Of course they will, and they should: when an existing school doesn’t… Read More

The Lib Dems launched their manifesto this morning (Photo: PA)

Combing through the Lib Dem manifesto, I was horrified to discover that they’re committed to dismantling both Academies and faith schools.

On page 37 – a section ironically entitled ‘Freeing schools for excellence’ – it says: “We will ensure a level playing field for admissions and funding and replace Academies with our own model of ‘Sponsor-Managed Schools’. These schools will be commissioned by and accountable to local authorities …” It goes on to say: “We will ensure that all faith schools develop an inclusive admissions policy and end unfair discrimination on ground… Read More

For me, there’s only one issue that matters in this election: Education. I’m currently leading the efforts of a group of parents to set up a new secondary school in Ealing. We want it to offer children the kind of classical liberal education they would typically receive at a top public school – with the same standards of behaviour – but we want the school to be open to all, regardless of wealth, ability or faith. That is to say, it will be like one of England’s 164 remaining grammar schools or a really good faith school, but with a fully comprehensive admissions policy. Who should I vote for?

The answer isn’t as obvious as you’d think. Education is often singled… Read More

A hard truth is starting to emerge for English sixth formers. The admissions policy of the University of Edinburgh has evolved from one which favoured “home-grown” students into one which borders on discriminatory. For many years, Edinburgh has been the first choice of university for exceptionally bright students from all over Britain. It was the second choice of many of the Oxbridge candidates, including me, at my school.

This year, however, the university allocated an unbelievable 70 per cent of places to students from “poor schools”, those whose parents have not been to university, or those from Scotland or northern England. The other 30 per cent were given to those students with 11 A*s or more at GCSE (few schools even… Read More

If you work for Ed Balls, the two scariest words in the English language must surely be “Sutton Trust”. Once again, the charity has exposed the wicked stupidity of Britain’s education policy.

A study carried out by Professor Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson of Buckingham University found that the remaining grammar schools are ethnically and socially more diverse than the leading comprehensives. At the top 164 comps, just 9.2 per cent of pupils came from families on benefits.

I talked to Prof Smithers this morning about the study. He said the findings confirm the unfairness of the present education system: “Some comprehensives get a reputation for being good, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. They receive many more applications than they… Read More