Life-changing judgements – university admissions (or not), apprenticeship places (or not), the need for a re-sit (or not) – are being made on the basis that a candidate is awarded a 3 or a 4 at GCSE, or a B or an A at A-Level. But if the 3 should have been a 4, or the A should have been a B, then such judgements and decisions are being taken on thin ice. More...

We recently published a new report on the history of the Universities Superannuation (USS) Scheme. It received a warm reception for recounting the little-known history of the foundation of the USS and its first 30+ years of stability as well as the origins of recent troubles. More...

We would agree with this, although would argue it is fruitful to explore both areas. In fact, we have published the most comprehensive data on student’s views on how their fees should be spent, through the HEPI/AdvanceHE annual Student Academic Experience Survey. More...

I had no idea that the results of school exams were so unreliable. And so variable by subject too – 4% wrong for Maths, 44% wrong for History. There’s another blog too, showing the evidence that scripts marked at grade boundaries have only about a 50% chance of being awarded the right grade, even for Maths. More...

The role of a think tank is – in large part – to make potentially dry subjects interesting, engaging and impactful. But just sometimes, our job is the opposite. It is to try and help temper subjects that have become so divisive that it is hard to make reasonable progress. More...