Mark Lehain
CapX
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Past articles by Mark:
We must act on the school attendance emergency
Forget what some might tell you: schools in England have come a long way in recent times. Behaviour is better, classrooms are safer, the curriculum is more challenging and interesting, and teaching approaches are more effective. Oh, and the focus on systematic synthetic phonics means that 1 million more children are at school now who […] → Read More
The Lockdown Files are a reminder of just how fraught Covid decision-making was
Imagine if loads of your private messages were published online for the world to see. Would they show you in a better or worse light than before? The #LockdownFiles probably won’t change what people already think of Matt Hancock, or indeed many of the other characters caught up in the exchanges published by The Telegraph […] → Read More
What would Labour's 'mission' for education really look like?
There are good reasons why opposition parties generally don’t put too many detailed policies into the public domain too far away from an election. Circumstances may change and make them unaffordable or unachievable, like David Cameron’s ‘share the proceeds of growth’ stuff. Or they might unravel upon inspection and cause embarrassment, like many of Ed […] → Read More
Sadiq Khan's free school meals plans are hard to swallow
If you were a politician with a one-off £130m windfall to spend on kids and schools, what would you spend it on? Perhaps bursaries to get more teachers into shortage subjects like maths and science? Or grants for young people making the transition from the care system to independent adulthood? Maybe catch-up tuition for kids […] → Read More
Let's talk about sex (education)
How did you learn about the birds and the bees? I grew up in an uber-traditional Catholic family, and was withdrawn from all sex education lessons at school. I instead spent that time in the school library working my way through a series of books that showed how to make increasingly complicated paper planes. So […] → Read More
Teachers should tell the truth about why they're on strike
Last week’s teacher strike saw over half of schools closed to some or all of their pupils. It also allowed those on picket lines and marches to provide journalists with a steady supply of anecdotes about how bad things are in schools. Most were at pains to explain that they weren’t simply striking about higher […] → Read More
Why are teachers really striking?
Last week’s teacher strike saw over half of schools closed to some or all of their pupils. It also allowed those on picket lines and marches to provide journalists with a steady supply of anecdotes about how bad things are in schools. Most were at pains to explain that they weren’t simply striking about higher […] → Read More
Are we finally moving to an open, objective debate on gender identity in schools?
Given how heated the debates around trans issues can be, it was refreshing to see how calm and considered questions on the topic were in the House of Lords last week. The specific matter at hand was the guidance for schools on trans identity currently being developed by the Department for Education (DfE). Announced last […] → Read More
We may finally be tackling the other social care crisis
There are just over 9 million children in England’s schools, and just about every adult has been to school at some point in their life. It’s one of the main reasons why improving schools is so complicated – because nearly everyone has a view on what should happen, based on their own experience or that […] → Read More
Why the NEU's claim about teacher's pay is so wide of the mark
Everyone loves a good stat, don’t they? And there was a really really interesting piece on the BBC’s More or Less yesterday, looking at a National Education Union (NEU) figures on teacher’s pay. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the NEU’s claim of a 24% real-terms fall since 2010 turned out to be based on shaky assumptions. They arrive at […] → Read More
The teachers strike is the wrong move, for the wrong reason, at the wrong time
The school strike votes are in, and English and Welsh children are going to face more disrupted learning. There were three ballots by three unions, and while only the biggest union, the NEU, managed to get the numbers needed to strike, this could be enough to close many schools. It’s absolutely heartbreaking, especially when you […] → Read More
Katharine Birbalsingh's departure underlines a big problem with public appointments
Charismatic, uncompromising, straight-speaking and still working on the frontline, ‘Britain’s strictest Headteacher’ wasn’t a typical choice to chair a quango. Indeed, that was part of Katharine Birbalsingh’s appeal when then Equalities Minister Liz Truss appointed her to head up the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) back in 2021. The move signalled that it was no longer […] → Read More
Does Rishi's maths plan add up?
The second best way to provoke a reaction at a party is to let on that you’re a maths teacher. People always want to tell you about their own experience of studying the subject and, unlike English, generally aren’t embarrassed to admit to being bad at it. I taught secondary maths in state schools for […] → Read More
Schools have the billions they demanded, so why are teaching unions still threatening to strike?
Imagine you’re a headteacher back in the summer. You’re absolutely shattered. It’s been non-stop for you and your colleagues since Covid struck. You’ve dragged yourself and your school through one of the hardest years ever: the chaos caused by omicron variant, huge staff and student absences, and so on. You also got your kids through […] → Read More
Labour's attacks may be off target, but private schools need to get their act together
Alongside death and taxes we can now safely put ‘Labour trying to undermine private schools’ as one of life’s perennial certainties. When he led the opposition, Ed Miliband criticised private schools as entrenching privilege but said he wouldn’t remove their charitable status. And it wasn’t a massive surprise when former private schoolboy Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour […] → Read More
Schools have the cash they need – so how should they put it to use in the next two years?
There weren’t many rabbits pulled from the metaphorical hat in last week’s gloomy Autumn Statement – but an extra £2.3bn a year for schools for the next two years was one of them. Combined with previously announced increases, it means that by September 2024 the core schools budget will have gone up by another £5bn […] → Read More
Hey, minister, don't leave those schools alone! Now really is the time for a funding boost
Is it just my age or do revivals and comebacks come around quicker these days? Whether it’s fashion (Y2K! Double-denim!), the arts (reboots! 3D cinema!), economics (austerity!), or politics (Gove, Gibb, Braverman – even Osborne!), it feels as though things are coming back around again sooner than ever. Sometimes even before you realise they’d gone […] → Read More
Can common sense prevail over the excesses of Wokeness?
It’s been a tough year for everyone, to put it mildly. At the same time, I’m sure I’m not alone in having been blown away at the acts of kindness I’ve seen since things turned upside-down in March. During the darkest days of lockdown, people putting aside differences and helping one another was a beacon … → Read More
The results are in: Free schools are working
Free schools are the top performing type of state school. Why do Labour oppose them? → Read More