The Education Reforms proposed by Michael Gove when Secretary of State for Education, now being driven by Nicky Morgan, are the first major reforms since the 1988 Education Reform Act when the first national Curriculum was implemented. Many headteachers will welcome many of the reforms, especially the measuring of performance on a narrow set of results to a more broad and well balanced curriculum. Schools will now be judged on the progress they make with students from the time they arrive to the day they leave their school. However, there is a real need for schools, local authorities and government to make sure that these changes are fully understood by parents, carers and students. #

We have become accustomed to GCSE grades at A*-C being accepted as a good pass. Performance tables reflect the headlines of 5A*-C including English and mathematics, with many parents using this to indicate a preference when selecting schools for their children.

Our current Year 11 students will be the last group of children to receive their results for GCSE as A*-G grades. Year 10 students will receive English and maths grades between 9–1 but an A*-G grade in all other curriculum areas, with students in Year 9 receiving all numerical grading on the 9-1 scale. A grade 5 will be the new benchmark of a good pass. It is the equivalent of a current high C grade at GCSE. This raising of the ‘good pass’ grade will do little to raise standards, but will have a significant effect on pupil achievement.

We are also at the start of a new Common Inspection Framework for Ofsted, the body that regulates standards in education. Schools will be inspected by current practitioners, a terrific move to allow those who are doing a great job in their schools to support and inspect other school leaders.