London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, May 31, 2025

The growing educational apartheid

The growing educational apartheid

This week would normally be the time when state and private schools go their separate ways, when privately educated children go off on their holidays while the state school lot carry on for another couple of weeks of term. Except this time, the divergence happened in March, when lockdown started and the educational apartheid began, between rich and poor – or at least, between those who can afford fees and the not so well off.
At that point, private school pupils went online for their education with school days running pretty well as normal; state school pupils ceased to have any education at all apart from homework set online, which might be marked, or might not, depending on whether the teachers felt like it. My son, who’s at a good school, has had precisely two online lessons since lockdown. My daughter’s had some maths lessons, about five or six. By the time they return to school, it’ll be getting on for six months since their last formal education.

And now, it seems the great divide between state and private sector will be perpetuated even beyond September. As the Sunday Times reported yesterday, some state schools, notably the Harris Academies, may be reducing the number of GCSEs some pupils take to ensure they focus on maths and English rather than the soft stuff…art, music, that sort of thing. Private schools, by contrast, will be offering the usual eight or nine or more subjects, so as not to reduce pupils’ options at A level. The fact they’ve been teaching children during lockdown means their pupils won’t be three months behind in their work. Mind you, for private schools, art and music – like games – aren’t regarded as a luxury; more like part of a normal education. Which is precisely what most parents would like for their children.

This divide is a disaster and it was an avoidable one. If the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, had insisted at the outset that children should be taught as far as possible online, and that core workers’ children and pupils in care who were actually in school should maintain the normal curriculum, then there wouldn’t be this gap in outcomes. Schools and unions took the view that schools should shut and that because poorer pupils didn’t all have access to laptops, no one should have online classes. Ministers should have challenged that lazy, demoralising assumption. Ofsted didn’t have any remit for inspecting schools during lockdown, so even within the state sector there has been a vast disparity in performance. Some teachers did their best to offer classes, to chase up pupils who weren’t submitting work; others couldn’t be bothered. By contrast, the parents who pay for their children’s education wanted to know why if they weren’t getting their money’s worth.

Amanda Spielman, the Ofsted head, is absolutely right to insist that scaled down GCSEs should only be an option for a very small minority of pupils. But it’s dispiriting that for the plebs, art and music are actually regarded as optional… because I am afraid that if these non-core subjects aren’t taught at GCSE they probably won’t be taught at all. It would be pleasant to think that it didn’t matter, because every state school has a choir and music tuition, and arts lessons and pottery clubs; well in some schools it happens but in an awful lot it doesn’t, like team sports for all.

While we’re at it, what do you make of the other news from Mr Williamson’s manor, that you can now pass a GCSE in a foreign language without any oral examination whatsoever, just a note about your competence from your teacher? That says quite a lot about Ofqual, the exams watchdog. But given that the state schools actually offering something as basic as German are vanishingly rare, I suppose we should be grateful that they bother to teach languages at all.

PS

Cutting back on arts GCSEs could be a problem in other ways. If you don’t take music at GCSE you won’t take it at A level. If you don’t take it at A level you won’t take it at university. And if you don't take it at university you’re not going to teach music in schools. Problem perpetuated.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
Labour MPs Urge Chancellor to Tax Wealthy Over Cutting Welfare
Publication of UK Child Poverty Strategy Delayed Until Autumn
France Detains UK Fishing Vessel Amid Post-Brexit Tensions
Calls Grow to Resume Syrian Asylum Claims in UK
Nigel Farage Pledges to Reinstate Winter Fuel Payments
Boris and Carrie Johnson Welcome Daughter Poppy
×