Sir John Holman’s wise words about accountability in the English context (“Look at the data but do not miss the bigger picture”, Letters, 14 June) should be required reading for ministers of education and politicians in all jurisdictions. He is, however, mistaken in one respect. He argues that employability, inspirational teaching and students’ self-confidence “are hard to measure”. They are not. They are impossible to measure. And that’s where fallible human beings called inspectors are needed to make difficult judgements. I strongly suspect that after a moment’s reflection Sir John would agree with me.
Colin Richards, Spark Bridge, Cumbria.