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Accountability, Assessment & Inspection

Research lead

Jon Andrews

Director for School System and Performance & Head of Analysis

19 results

  • Reporting

    Building towards the Curriculum & Assessment Review’s Final Report

    In September 2024, the Government commissioned an independent Curriculum & Assessment Review to examine the National Curriculum to ensure it remains fit for purpose and delivers educational excellence for all. This marks over a decade since the curriculum offer was…

    By Joni Kelly and Education Policy Institute

  • Bird’s-eye view of a classroom during a GCSE exam, rows of students seated at individual desks, heads down and writing quietly. Reporting

    English and Maths Resits: Drivers of Success

    Disadvantaged students are, on average, one-fifth of a grade behind in English and one-eighth of a grade behind in maths when resitting GCSEs, according to research from the Education Policy Institute (EPI).  Introduced in 2014, the resit requirement aims to…

    By Robbie Maris and David Robinson

  • Reporting

    Reforming Accountability

    A new paper published by the Education Policy Institute sheds light on the flaws of the current accountability system and calls for a fairer and more holistic approach to measuring school effectiveness. The paper highlights that: • Current performance measures…

    By Jon Andrews

  • Article

    Ofsted ratings – have standards been improving?

    The Department for Education routinely uses the statistic: “90% of schools are now rated Good or Outstanding, up from 68% in 2010” This claim is, perhaps unsurprisingly, true. We expect such government lines to be factually accurate, after all there…

    By Education Policy Institute

  • Reporting

    A comparison of school institutions and policies across the UK

    This new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by the Nuffield Foundation, finds that the four UK nations have begun to adopt increasingly different approaches to education policy after twenty years of devolution.   The research, which is…

    By Education Policy Institute

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  • Reporting

    EPI proposals for awarding grades in summer 2021

    The Education Policy Institute has published its response to the Department for Education and Ofqual consultation on awarding GCSE and A level grades in summer 2021. The consultation follows the announcement earlier this month from the government that exams will…

    By Education Policy Institute

  • Analysis

    GE 2019 manifesto analysis | Priority 2: School accountability

    The school system in England is underpinned by a system of accountability in which schools are compared through performance tables and Ofsted inspections. By international standards, England’s system is defined as one of high autonomy, with high accountability (OECD, 2015).…

    By Jon Andrews, Emily Hunt, and Education Policy Institute

  • Analysis

    Analysis: A Level Results Day 2019

    This week, students throughout the country received their A level grades and began the process of figuring out the implications for further study or entering the labour market. This analysis explores the policy background, before examining what we can see…

    By Education Policy Institute

  • Analysis

    Improvements and errors: Ofsted’s new framework is difficult to grade

    Following a consultation that received an unprecedented 15,000 responses, Ofsted’s new inspection framework for education has been released today. As must often be the case with schools, it is incredibly difficult to reconcile the positives and the negatives into a…

    By Jo Hutchinson

  • Analysis

    Primary school performance tables 2018

    Today sees the publication of the primary school performance tables providing school by school results of the Key Stage 2 assessments in 2018 and statistics on attainment by different pupil characteristics. In this note we take a look at some…

    By Jon Andrews