Tag Archives: aspiration tax

Life in the sixth form funding canyon

Posted on October 18, 2017 by Eddie Playfair

The chancellor is currently pondering his priorities for the forthcoming autumn statement on public spending and given the critical state of our public services there are plenty of worthy calls on resources. Without minimising the case for spending more on … Continue reading →

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Dear candidates…

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Eddie Playfair

How to talk about post-16 education in the election campaign. Dear candidates, The general election campaign has started and you’ll be wanting to talk about all sorts of issues and hoping to win support. You can’t expect to be an … Continue reading →

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Life in the qualification market

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Eddie Playfair

‘The truth is in the whole’ and if we want to understand the impact of recent post-16 qualification reform on sixth formers’ experience of education we need to start with an overview of the whole educational landscape before analysing specific … Continue reading →

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Overlooked and left behind?

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Eddie Playfair

The latest report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility runs to over 100 pages and makes some worthy points. However, it seems to support the idea that education in itself can improve mobility and fairness in the … Continue reading →

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Let’s celebrate vocational success!

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Eddie Playfair

I never cease to be surprised at how little most politicians and commentators know about vocational qualifications and their value. There is no shortage of people who will tell us that we need to ‘do something’ about vocational education in this country … Continue reading →

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University progression for the NewVIc class of 2015

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

Every year, when we analyse our students’ university destinations, we conclude that the current year is our best year ever. And every year it’s true. Our class of 2015 is another great cohort, full of ambitious and determined young people, … Continue reading →

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Market madness: condition critical

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

Market madness: condition critical From Forum vol.57, no.2, 2015 The condition of English education is critical. It has been weakened by pathological marketization and is in desperate need of treatment to restore it to health. In this article, I try to … Continue reading →

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The case for sixth form colleges

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

From ‘What’s next for education?’ (New Visions Group, 2015) By any objective standard, England’s 93 sixth form colleges are among this country’s great educational success stories. They offer more opportunities, higher standards and a broader experience for students aged 16-19 … 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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5 New Year wishes for post-16 education

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Eddie Playfair

Here are my 5 personal post-16 education wishes for 2015. I think they are modest, realistic and realisable and could probably be progressed at no net cost. I believe that, taken together, these 5 changes could start to yield tangible benefits for … Continue reading →

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People’s College and Top Academy: which is best?

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Imagine two colleges, let’s call them People’s College and Top Academy. We want to compare them, so we turn to the national performance tables which tell us that the average A-level point score for People’s College is 200 (C-) compared … Continue reading →

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Education and skills coming together?

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The appointment of Peter Lauener as the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) while remaining as chief executive of the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has prompted speculation that the two agencies could soon be merged, although this has … Continue reading →

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Market madness #6 Students as commodities: premium, discount and remaindered

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Enrolment is always a challenge. We come back from our holidays to an empty college. Like someone organising an open house, we’ve stocked up on a range of snacks and drinks for our guests but we can’t really be sure … Continue reading →

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If not now, when?

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

So, first we slashed the funding for education for 18 year olds Even if they were half way through a 2 year advanced course. When was education ever the wrong choice?   Then, if they haven’t yet achieved an advanced … Continue reading →

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Post-16 funding: making the wrong choices

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

I agree with quite a lot of what Michael Gove says about the purpose of education and I like his championing of egalitarian aims. I welcome the fact that he has moved the Conservative party away from selection pre-16. I … Continue reading →

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