Education: where do we go from here?

Well, government algorithms made a mess of exams, so teachers fix their own grades. We’re behind with the testing programme, so teachers work longer hours and have shorter holidays. And kids have come back from lockdown unruly, so we need a drive on discipline.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I’m a passionate practitioner of and advocate for coursework assessment, but teacher grades need to be awarded within an overall national framework that’s professional and thorough. Simply racing through more tests won’t solve anything; the tests are the problem, not the solution. And the last thing kids need as they come back into school is the sense that it’s their fault, and they need knocking into shape.

If you look at how other countries are responding to the challenges of post-lockdown education, you envisage possibilities that we don’t dream of. And why? Because we have Gavin Williamson in charge. Alan Duncan’s diaries conform what was already obvious, that he’s simply not capable of doing this job. There’s only two people in the country who think Williamson should be there, and until Boris Johnson changes his mind on that our kids are in serious trouble.