The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned this high-level research in December 2024 to understand, through analysis of the 2023-24 yearly reports, how safeguarding partnerships have developed their approaches in the past year. Yearly reports must be published in accordance with the requirements set out in the Children Act 20041 and Working…

The rationale for the principles of effective school governance in England, as set out in government regulations, has never been made explicit. This article addresses that issue and develops and proposes such principles. We argue that effective school governance secures the legitimacy of schools as institutions. Such institutional legitimacy is…

This article reports on a case study investigating the micro-politics of policy enactment in a school in England. The case is sited in the literacy policy of a primary school in challenging circumstances as it joins a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). Data gathering consisted of interviews with the school headteacher, assistant headteacher, and literacy…

Universities UK (UUK) is the collective voice of 140 universities in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its mission is to create the conditions for UK universities to be the best in the world, maximising their positive impact locally, nationally, and globally. Universities UK acts on behalf of universities represented by their heads…

This article critically analyses national and institutional forms of policy and different conceptions of widening participation in higher education in England by contrasting representations of 'it' as a 'problem' to be managed, compared with complex and recurring dilemmas in practice. Building on Bacchi's (2012a) strategy, the article asks,…

This research article explores how two English universities with Anglican foundations responded to UK government requirements to counter radicalization on campus. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with student union representatives, senior staff in the universities responsible for implementing the legal requirements and also those with…

In this article we consider the rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in England, introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014, within the context of the wider reforms made by the Act. Drawing primarily on key informant interviews conducted as part of an ESRC project on Autonomy, Rights and…

Background: The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on service providers to make "reasonable adjustments" for disabled people. The aim of this study was to explore key aspects relating to the provision of reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities in hospitals. Methods: The research questions were explored using Freedom of…

The crisis in teacher supply points to fundamental problems in the way teachers in England experience their work. In this contribution to debates about a National Education Service (NES) the author argues that a Labour government must be prepared to radically rethink how it engages with the teaching profession. The challenge is to shift from a…

In England the recommendation and award of qualified teacher status (QTS) is currently linked to the assessment of trainee teachers' competencies against performance criteria descriptors. Q-methodology was used to look for subjective differences in attitudes to the assessment of trainee teachers in school. This is a quantitative approach to…

A major concern for policymakers around the world is how to design an entire system of education that provides high quality teaching and learning outcomes. This paper aims to make a significant contribution to this debate by looking closely at the middle part of education systems -- the regional, district, and sub-district level -- as a critical…

England has been living with COVID-19, through peaks and troughs since March 2020. Policymakers see schools as integral to economic and social maintenance and recovery and have thus placed a high priority on education as a stable provision operating throughout a very long period of considerable uncertainty and instability. Because of rapidly…

The goal of this study was to explore the shared meaning of 'ethics in school practice' based on educators' attitudes. Our analysis focused on a random sample of 30 codes of ethics for educators that were developed by educational leaders in various countries. The data analysis was based on qualitative analysis. The findings generated a…

This statutory guidance should be read and followed by headteachers, teachers and staff governing bodies of schools (including maintained nursery schools) and colleges, proprietors of independent schools and non-maintained special schools, and management committees of pupil referral units (PRUs). This guidance sets out the legal duties that must…

This paper considers the policy "roles" adopted by teachers enacting policy in a department. It draws on a longitudinal study of two secondary mathematics departments endeavouring to make deep change aligned with a demanding curriculum policy. The study validates aspects of an existing typology, demonstrates the existence of a variety of…