Authors

Calls for GCSEs to be scrapped were growing louder before Covid – and the exams hiatus has only strengthened the case to explore different forms of assessment. But if you want to ditch GCSEs, do you really have to wait in hope for government reforms? Alistair McConville explains how some schools are finding alternative qualifications that they believe better prepare their students for the future

The school system prizes achievement above all else but does little to explain what that sort of success looks like, according to Alistair McConville. He tries to find a definition that goes beyond the narrow focus of the current system

What would an education unencumbered by the traditional exam system look like? Alistair McConville looks at examples from across the globe

Cognitive load theory has been cited by Ofsted and the Department for Education, and is hailed as ‘the single most important thing teachers should know’ – but does it actually translate to the classroom in a way that benefits teachers and pupils? Teacher Alistair McConville investigated, and found that education’s love-in with CLT needs urgent reassessment

After being made an offer it couldn’t refuse, one school agreed to its pupils’ calls for a greater say in their learning. Following a bumpy start, a gang of student leaders, the self-styled ‘Dons’, is gathering power, reports Alistair McConville

What would schools look like if you took all the research around optimal learning and put it into practice in classrooms? Very different, finds Alastair McConville, and not altogether workable