Bedales influencing education – FT article 

In an opinion piece in the Financial Times this week, Associate Editor Stephen Bush describes a UK education system obsessed with testing and grades at the cost of producing pupils who are “more literate, numerate and well-rounded.” With examples from education and the criminal justice system, he advises government and policymakers that “focusing on fewer goals may drive excellence more effectively than pursuing a lot of them.”  

The article cites Bedales’ innovative approach to the curriculum with the replacement of GCSEs, examined by high stakes end of course exams, with a broader offer and more continuous and varied assessment methods in our own Bedales Assessed Courses. 

The author describes how most teachers consulted thought “the freedom that would come with knowing you were delivering the essentials of a good education, turning out pupils who were both numerate and literate, while being able to focus on wider and deeper forms of teaching for other subjects, would improve their schools no end.” 

Stephen Bush concludes: “Perhaps the most widely applicable lesson from what schools such as Bedales have done with their qualifications is the importance of regularly reviewing whether your targets are working as they should.” 

The full article can be read on the FT website here (subscription required).