This paper examines the reactions of English pupils who were preparing for GCSE and A-Level examinations to the 2020 exam cancellations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it addresses a gap in international research related to high stakes testing by presenting pupils' perspectives. It uses a Bourdieusian framework to explore the…

Two quantitative measures of school performance are currently used, the average points score (APS) at Key Stage 2 and value-added (VA), which measures the rate of academic improvement between Key Stage 1 and 2. These figures are used by parents and the Office for Standards in Education to make judgements and comparisons. However, simple…

The Evidence-based Literacy Support-"Literacy Octopus" Trial tested a range of dissemination interventions and resources, all of which aimed to engage schools in using evidence-based materials to improve teaching and learning in Key Stage 2 literacy. Four delivery partners provided interventions. These included light-touch,…

This article seeks to nuance arguments about the impact of broad policy technologies of auditing processes upon teachers' practices by providing empirical evidence of the effects of such processes, in context. Specifically, the article draws upon a cross section of teachers' accounts of schooling practices in a specialist, academically oriented…

Further education (FE) colleges in England were statutorily "cut free" from local education authority (LEA) control in 1992. This article, however, primarily considers changes within FE in the 30 years before this "incorporation" of FE colleges, as well as debates that followed. It argues that the post-1992 changes were…

Using the Derbyshire Project as an example, describes the adaptation for use in public libraries of Benefit Assessment and System Change (BASYC), which was developed as a decision-support framework coordinating subjective and objective factors that influence management decisions to change policies or systems. Three data tables are included.…

Focuses on mental tests, test developers, and the social and historical context in which mental tests were developed in the United States and England. Suggests that the tests were produced in an intellectual and social climate heavily influenced by eugenicist theory and that more attention should be paid to research which casts doubts on the…

One way to manage marking error, in a large-scale educational testing context, is to establish a mechanism through which appeals can be lodged. While, at one level, this seems to offer a straightforward technical solution to the problem of marking error, it can also result in unintended consequences, with political, social or educational…