Spill The News

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The skewed perspectives in my A-level curriculum are staggering. Until that changes, harmful ideas about race and migration will live on Astrid Barltrop is the winner of the The Guardian Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Voices award (16-18…

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Capital’s schools hardest hit in England and Wales by rising housing costs and falling birthrate, with further falls predicted in coming years Schools in London continue to be hardest hit by housing costs and the falling birthrate. Further…

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The skewed perspectives in my A-level curriculum are staggering. Until that changes, harmful ideas about race and migration will live on Astrid Barltrop is the winner of the The Guardian Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Voices award (16-18…

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Ofqual said the exam board failed to ensure paper content was fit for purpose

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This blog was kindly authored by Martin Blakey, a commentator and advisor on student living and housing and formerly Chief Executive of the student housing charity Unipol. 2025-26 has been a difficult year for all student accommodation…

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Exams are everything in the compulsory sector, but higher education is moving towards authentic assessment. Gianina Harvey-Brewin asks why we can't be consistent

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Media stories about foundation years, entry qualifications and weekend delivery all lead back to the same place. Jim Dickinson follows the data

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Reading time, 2 minutes: Can you define “metacognition” and provide some examples? Metacognition in the classroom refers to students’ ability to adapt, monitor and transfer their thinking when faced with new problems… … closely linked to…

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Children in care are among the most vulnerable in our society. Too often they face significant challenges that can make success harder to achieve. Yet we also know how transformative the right support can be. When schools and colleges get…

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Children in care are among the most vulnerable in our society. Too often they face significant challenges that can make success harder to achieve. Yet we also know how transformative the right support can be. When schools and colleges get…

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Leaders, local authorities, parents and carers frequently ask about how we deal with complaints about a school. When we receive a complaint, we never rush to inspect. In this blog, I’ll explain the processes that we follow when deciding…

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Leaders, local authorities, parents and carers frequently ask about how we deal with complaints about a school. When we receive a complaint, we never rush to inspect. In this blog, I’ll explain the processes that we follow when deciding…

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5 March 2023 By Jie Gao and Rachael Levy Many would agree that ‘literacy’ is a multifaceted concept. This is highlighted by UNESCO, who state that rather than a discrete set of skills, literacy is “now understood as a means of…

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5 March 2023 By Jie Gao and Rachael Levy Many would agree that ‘literacy’ is a multifaceted concept. This is highlighted by UNESCO, who state that rather than a discrete set of skills, literacy is “now understood as a means of…

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Reading time, < 1 minute What one teaching technique can transform classroom learning? I recently hosted a livestream with Patrice Bain, co-author of Powerful Teaching, to explore what actually improves learning without adding to teacher…

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3 March 2026 By Sandra Leaton Gray, Rita Chawla-Duggan (Bath University) and David Scott When people talk about decolonising the curriculum, the discussion often slides into content. Which authors are on the reading list? Which histories…

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26 February 2026 By Rachael Levy and Jie Gao As 2026 is the UK National Year of Reading, there is no better time to reflect on the importance of parent-child shared reading. We know that reading with pre-school children in the home is one…

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Reading time, 2 minutes: What if 11+ tuition was actually curriculum-led? Teachers and school leaders are often asked for guidance about 11+ tuition. Families want something structured, interactive and affordable, but without it feeling…

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Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with initial teacher education (ITE) providers to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most frequently…

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Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with initial teacher education (ITE) providers to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most frequently…

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Reading time, 6 minutes: What do Ofsted say about teaching and learning in their new report cards? This post explores recent Ofsted reports focused on curriculum and teaching, highlighting key findings and solutions for schools. I’ve…

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You may have seen that the Department for Education (DfE) is tightening its guidance on mobile phones in schools . Our Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, has said many times that you already have his and Ofsted's full backing to ban…

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You may have seen that the Department for Education (DfE) is tightening its guidance on mobile phones in schools . Our Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, has said many times that you already have his and Ofsted's full backing to ban…

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Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with further education and skills (FE) providers to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most…

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Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with further education and skills (FE) providers to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most…

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Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with schools to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most frequently asked questions below, so you can…

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Since we published the renewed inspection framework on 9 September 2025, we’ve put on lots of online and face-to-face engagement with schools to answer your questions. We’re publishing the most frequently asked questions below, so you can…

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The UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is the world’s leading institution for research-informed teacher and student education. Their pioneering MA Module, The Holocaust in the Curriculum , is an engaging 10-week online course which…

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Ofsted has a unique perspective on the various places that children and learners experience. We gain this through our inspections of schools and further education and skills providers, and through our additional powers as the regulator of…

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Ofsted has a unique perspective on the various places that children and learners experience. We gain this through our inspections of schools and further education and skills providers, and through our additional powers as the regulator of…

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This week we released information sets to schools, further education providers and inspectors that help frame our inspection activity. These are called the Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) for schools and Further Education and Skills…

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This week we released information sets to schools, further education providers and inspectors that help frame our inspection activity. These are called the Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) for schools and Further Education and Skills…

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Since September, we’ve carried out pilot inspections in 115 schools and taken time to carefully review the findings. Overall, feedback on the renewed framework has continued to be really encouraging. Many providers described the toolkit…

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Since September, we’ve carried out pilot inspections in 115 schools and taken time to carefully review the findings. Overall, feedback on the renewed framework has continued to be really encouraging. Many providers described the toolkit…

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In this blog, we take you through the changes we’ve made to our guidance on registering and inspecting school-based provision to reflect how we are seeing early years or childcare provision being delivered. Our updated guidance offers…

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In this blog, we take you through the changes we’ve made to our guidance on registering and inspecting school-based provision to reflect how we are seeing early years or childcare provision being delivered. Our updated guidance offers…

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“Chunk it, don’t flunk it”: leading and teaching a memorable curriculum In this session, Jude will explain the importance of “chunking” to help students develop faster understanding. He will examine this generally drawing on cognitive…

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Curriculum (in a) crisis: designing curriculum for a post-Corona world In this session, we will be looking at the core principles of curriculum design in the long-term and the medium-term towards an understanding of how they can help us to…

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Early Maths Matters – deepening our understanding of great mathematics teaching for our youngest learners. Developing a sound understanding of mathematics when we are young is essential – children’s early mathematical understanding is…

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Curriculum should be at the heart of school priorities, but leadership of curriculum is far from straightforward. This presentation gives some suggestions for navigating the path, balancing essential tensions such as the need for subject…

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The evidence about curriculum development, CPDL and the leadership of both suggests that there is no systematic research reviews re: curriculum development with evidence re: pupil impacts – and too few studies with that to support them.…

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What constitutes the curriculum is the key educational issue of our time. In this session I will explore Christine Counsell’s concept of the Core Curriculum and the Hinterland Curriculum with very specific examples. I will explore who owns…