Exams

The politics of exam results

8 August 2023 1:49 am

August always means an anxious wait for results days, but this year pupils will be feeling particularly apprehensive. England’s exams…

It’s time to repair the damage caused by lockdown grade inflation

13 August 2022 9:00 am

When A-level results are published next week, we will find out if the government has made any progress in stemming…

What ministers won’t admit about A-levels

14 August 2021 9:00 am

The tale of A-levels shows how ministers can sometimes find themselves in a position when it is simply too dangerous…

How to burst the grade inflation bubble

14 August 2021 9:00 am

The Tories regard a return to rigorously marked exams as one of their big achievements in education. In 2010, the…

When will exams get back to normal?

12 August 2021 8:47 pm

It wouldn’t be credible to say that this year’s A-Levels grades are comparable with 2019’s: almost 45 per cent of entries…

The Romans wouldn’t have understood our exam obsession

29 August 2020 9:00 am

Many commentators have argued that the recent grading controversy indicates just how important public examinations are. Up to a point,…

Must try harder: education is still a vote loser for the Tories

31 August 2019 9:00 am

The reluctance of the Conservative party to take credit for the success of its education reforms is a source of…

Scotland and Wales have much to learn from England’s education reforms

6 July 2019 9:00 am

I’ve contributed a chapter to an education book published this week by the Institute of Economic Affairs. I was asked…

As easy as 1, 2, 3…

26 August 2017 9:00 am

The amount of nonsense being talked about the new GCSEs in English and maths, whereby exams have been graded 9-1…

West Heslerton and other villages with one careful owner

9 April 2016 9:00 am

Squire power The village of West Heslerton in Yorkshire was put up for sale at £20 million after its owner,…

How education jargon hurts children

14 November 2015 9:00 am

Schools are becoming addicted to acronyms. It’s not just silly, it’s dangerous

Spectator letters: On wind turbines, Churchill's only exam success, and the red-trousered mayor of Bristol

19 April 2014 9:00 am

When the wind blows Sir: Clare Oxford’s piece (‘Gone with the wind turbines’, 12 April) is both timely and sad.…