English as an additional language in schools: What are the Labour government’s priorities?

In this blog post I would like to raise a number of questions for the new government about English as an additional language in schools: What should the new Labour government do to reinstate...

Ethnic inequality in the teaching workforce in schools: Why it matters

BERA Conference 2023

Ethnic minority communities in the UK see education as a gateway for opportunities. Yet in the UK, the ethnic background of teaching staff does not mirror the profile of the pupils (Demie & See,...

School exclusions: What does research tell us about the scale of the problem and challenges?

School exclusion is a hot issue within education and there is growing concern about the numbers of exclusions and off-rolling in schools in England. In particular, a number of studies have drawn...

Rethinking how we can improve the diversity of the teaching workforce in England

The lack of black and minority ethnic (BAME) teachers and headteachers in English schools is a growing concern facing policymakers in England. In a recent conference of school leaders, Nadhim...

The impact of school closures on pupils with English as an additional language

Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) attract a great deal of interest among policymakers, school leaders and teachers, yet there are relatively few studies that have examined EAL...

Transforming the secondary curriculum

The questions of how to design and implement secondary curricula are critical and current ones in education. Of major concern is the narrowing of the curriculum and the lack of an inclusive...

Tackling educational inequality

The questions, ‘What does the empirical evidence tell us about the achievement gap?’ and ‘What is proven good practice for closing the gap in educational inequality?’, are the subject of...