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The Sats crisis should inspire ministers to tackle the big questions raised by our failing education system One does not need a degree – or indeed level 4 – in common sense to interpret the political meaning of Ed Balls's most recent speech on Sats . In effect, the schools secretary is saying: We know this system needs radical reform, but we need to be seen to be doing it in our own way and our own time. Governments, and particularly Labour governments, can never appear to "give in" to union pressure. A Sats boycott , particularly one involving primary-school headteachers, would be a disaster, especially with an election looming. Outright abolition is not an option after last year's debacle over key stage 3 tests. Staying with Sats for the moment, a powerful consensus seems to have emerged that the tests are both too rigid... [read full story]
Next week is an anniversary England might wish to forget. The defeat ultimately cost Andy Robinson his job, and only one player – Lewis Moody – is still in favour from the starting XV that took to the Twickenham pitch to face...
Sky News has spoken to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the G20 summit of world finance leaders at St Andrews in Scotland and has said that he is "not prepared" to support Gordon Brown's plan for a financial...
