Changing GCSE – an opportunity in a crisis
30 September 2020
Just consider, for a moment, what it must be like to be in year 11 right now, in the midst of a pandemic, after a summer of exam chaos, with… Find out more
HMC Blog
Where’s Wally?
6 September 2019
Sitting in a cafe in North Devon this summer, my 11 year old daughter, on spotting a passing stranger in a stripey jumper, suddenly shouted, ‘Look, it’s wally!’. When I… Find out more
Unconditional offers? No thanks
2 July 2019
In recent years, universities have had to walk a difficult line. On the one hand they are, or should be, upholders of academic standards and virtues – ethical, philosophical and… Find out more
Professor Robert Plomin and independent schools
6 June 2019
The claim by leading geneticist Robert Plomin that academic success is largely fixed by genes has prompted newspaper headlines such as ‘Top schools add nothing to grades’. In fact, Professor… Find out more
Reflecting on recent interest in the comparability of GCSEs and International GCSEs
4 April 2019
This blog by Mike Buchanan, HMC Executive Director, provides further information about the qualifications available to schools in England. International GCSEs and GCSEs in England are different qualifications. So too… Find out more
Questioning GCSE
15 January 2019
In a recent article by Haroon Siddique in The Guardian (30/12/18), Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner expressed concern that Tory education reforms are putting state school pupils at a disadvantage… Find out more
Qualifications Equivalence
4 July 2018
Much has been written in the press in recent weeks about the equivalence or otherwise of qualifications bearing the name ‘GCSE’. The discussion has been prompted following reports on social… Find out more
IGCSEs remain tried and tested in year of upheaval
24 June 2018
Listen hard and you can hear the national sigh of relief. Finally, GCSE exams have finished and pupils and parents alike can congratulate themselves for getting through a particularly difficult… Find out more
Exam Pressures
10 April 2016
In a blog 10.04.16, HMC member Kevin Fear, headmaster of leading independent Nottingham High School writes about how parents can support pupils to cope with exam pressure. As we move into the… Find out more
