Education

My daughter’s gone to Magaluf, and it’s hard not to worry

13 July 2019 9:00 am

At the Leavers’ Ball held to mark our daughter’s last day at boarding school, there were only two topics of…

The fanatical thinking that’s on its way to British schools

1 June 2019 9:00 am

For anyone who isn’t following the long march of racial self-flagellation through America’s institutions, last week’s revelations about the excesses…

In defence of a liberal education

9 March 2019 9:00 am

A good decade or so ago I wrote a fairly vituperative article in response to a piece by the writer…

An inconvenient truth: white children are underperforming everyone else in UK schools

2 February 2019 9:00 am

The Department for Education (DfE) published its finalised data on the 2018 GCSE results last week, revealing that, for the…

Danny Dyer trying to keep a straight face in his latest bizarre TV outing. Photo: BBC / Wall to Wall Media

Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family might well be the oddest TV show of recent times

26 January 2019 9:00 am

Last year on Who Do You Think You Are?, Danny Dyer — EastEnders actor and very possibly Britain’s most cockney…

Brexit is about renewal, not just leaving the EU. And there’s no time to waste

15 December 2018 9:00 am

None of us can predict the potential fallout from Brexit, good and bad. What began as a vote of confidence…

Why are the middle classes so obsessed with schools?

24 November 2018 9:00 am

One thing I love about my adopted country is the widespread cultural contempt for dullness. Unlike North Americans, intelligent British…

Requiem for the Common Entrance Exam

13 October 2018 9:00 am

So farewell, then, to the Common Entrance Exam, bane of a million schoolchildren’s lives since it was introduced in 1904.…

Don’t tell the parents: the official guidance to teachers of ‘trans children’

6 October 2018 9:00 am

How can we help transgender children? This is a question greatly exercising politicians and many are confused about what to…

Claire Foy accepts the best actress Emmy for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown. Photo: Getty

Men and women are born equal but different. Deal with it

22 September 2018 9:00 am

I was delighted to see Claire Foy win an Emmy award for her portrayal of the Queen in the fine…

Vocational schools are not to be sneered at

18 August 2018 9:00 am

When I was 16 I failed all my O-levels, bar a grade C in English Literature, and concluded I wasn’t…

Pupils at Ampleforth in 1952 [Getty]

The sorry demise of Benedictine education

4 August 2018 9:00 am

Twenty years ago, Douai, a monastic boarding school in West Berkshire, shocked parents with an announcement that it was ‘no…

What the education system needs is more marketisation, not less

12 May 2018 9:00 am

Towards the end of 2009, shortly after I announced my intention to set up England’s first free school, I debated…

Letters: Rod Liddle is right, Toby Young is wrong and Bruce Anderson must stop

5 May 2018 9:00 am

Campaign for real cricket Sir: Geoffrey Wheatcroft’s splendid article ‘Cricket, unlovely cricket’ (28 April) remonstrated against the threat to Test…

Why do British charities want to shut down private schools in Africa?

21 April 2018 9:00 am

Why would anyone who claims to care about the world’s poorest children try to shut down their schools? It’s strange…

Low-cost private schools are transforming lives in the third world

21 April 2018 9:00 am

Private schools in the United Kingdom are affordable only to those on the highest incomes. But surprisingly to many, this…

How to get your child into the best state school: an insider’s tips

21 April 2018 9:00 am

Monday was ‘national offer day’, which means that more than half a million parents across England were notified about which…

Wild Wild Country makes me want to set up my own cult

14 April 2018 9:00 am

I have decided to set up a cult, which you are all welcome to join, especially those of you who…

Letters: the very belief that poorer pupils do less well is what limits them

7 April 2018 9:00 am

Self-limiting beliefs Sir: As someone who spent much of his working life teaching at Eton and Harrow, it was amusing…

“I’ll eat you alive” – Angela Rayner interview

6 January 2018 9:00 am

Angela Rayner is perhaps the only Labour MP who works with a picture of Theresa May hanging above her desk.…

As a trainee teacher, I saw the damage the SNP is inflicting on Scottish education

4 November 2017 9:00 am

Once one of the best in the world, Scotland’s education system has been steadily marching backwards for the past ten…

Teach First has turned me into a free speech martyr

4 November 2017 9:00 am

I had the unusual experience last Sunday of appearing on a panel to defend free speech having been the victim…

The kids aren’t all right

28 October 2017 9:00 am

Our histrionic parenting is making today’s young people mad, unhappy and fat

Sadly, true grit can’t be taught

21 October 2017 9:00 am

I am currently wrestling with a dilemma. I have agreed to contribute to a panel discussion on character education at…

Tales out of school

7 October 2017 9:00 am

In 1952, the five-year-old Michael Rosen and his brother were taken on holiday along the Thames by their communist parents.…