Game on
7 February 2022
‘When they go low we go high’ has become an overused catchphrase, and I certainly don’t mean to try to take moral high ground in the latest attacks on independent… Find out more
HMC Blog
Calls for education reform can’t be ignored
6 December 2021
Another week brings another powerful plea for reform to the ways in which we teach and assess the young people in English schools. To the exasperation of many, myself included,… Find out more
The reform of assessment
19 November 2021
At the height of the Blitz in 1941 a group of civil servants from the Board of Education gathered to write a blueprint for education after the war. Known to… Find out more
What goes up but never comes down?
18 August 2021
This timeless childhood riddle is still circulating around school playgrounds, and the answer remains the same – your age. A variant of this riddle appears every August amongst media commentators,… Find out more
HMC: Better results
12 July 2021
As students, parents and teachers anticipate some hard-won grades this year, there is a general expectation that we will have much to celebrate. The causes of improved results are not… Find out more
PQX – let’s not rush it through without thinking
20 November 2020
So the Secretary of State for Education has said that the Government is going to deliver Post Qualifications Admissions before the next election. He is clear that places should be awarded… Find out more
Changing GCSEs – An Opportunity in a Crisis
30 September 2020
Are GCSEs changing? A blog by Andrew Johnson, Headmaster of St Benedict’s School, Ealing. Just consider, for a moment, what it must be like to be in year 11 right now, in… Find out more
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
