Monthly Archives: February 2015

Time for a new Great Education Reform Act

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

27 years ago, Kenneth Baker’s 1988 Education Reform Act changed the direction of travel of English education. It introduced an element of school choice and Local Management of Schools, established more autonomous City Technology Colleges and Grant Maintained Schools as … Continue reading →

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Your college interview

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

How should you approach your sixth form college interview and get the most from the experience? Following my previous posts How to choose a sixth form and How to make a strong college application, here is some advice about getting … Continue reading →

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Education 2020: market or system?

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

What will education in England be like in 2020? As the 2015 general election approaches, what are the possible futures for education in England? An election is a democratic moment where we are offered a choice of futures and we … Continue reading →

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Resisting selection

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

Thanks to the prime minister, it seems that educational selection is back on the agenda again. The grammar school issue in Kent and elsewhere is one aspect of the debate but it’s worth remembering that the segregation of learners by ‘aptitude’, ‘potential’, test … Continue reading →

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Investing in 16-19 education

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

Labour’s promise to maintain education spending from nursery to 19 year olds and increase it at least by inflation is very welcome. No such protection is on offer from the Conservatives who are promising ‘flat cash’ for pre-16’s and apparently … Continue reading →

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Re-imagining the university

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

A celebration of Birkbeck’s latest innovation in higher education in London. Anish Kapoor’s amazing Orbit here in East London’s Olympic quarter calls to mind previous sculptural structures built on a monumental scale. Together with Gustave Eiffel’s tower in Paris and … Continue reading →

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How to make a strong college application

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

How can students make sure that their sixth form application is as strong as possible and does justice to their achievements, interests and aspirations? If you are in Year 11, you need to be thinking about where you want to … Continue reading →

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Russell Group university progression: dispelling the myths

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

Since the Russell group of universities started publishing their ‘Informed Choices’ guide and launched the concept of facilitating A-level subjects, their advice has often been misrepresented or misunderstood. ‘Informed choices’ is a helpful contribution to advising and guiding students about sensible subject choices … Continue reading →

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Demonstrating high achievement in comprehensive settings

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

Comprehensive schools and colleges can face a challenge when trying to show how well their highest achieving students do and how many of them there are. They can suffer from ‘bog standard’ syndrome and the assumption that all their students … Continue reading →

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My NewVIc Story: Supreet Kaur

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

I am currently the Lead Academic Mentor at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) where I am responsible for mentoring students from art, media and IT courses, helping them develop independent learning skills. I work with a fantastic team of 6 … Continue reading →

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