CEER Publications

The Publications are organised in three groups:

the most recent are available below
Annual Reports
Archive Reports

Are Schools Failing Boys?

Buckingham: CEER, January 2022

Boys are getting poorer results, on average, at all levels of education. This has been known for some time, but little has been done about it. It appears that many boys are not developing to their full potential. The seriousness of the issue is such that it calls for a major national inquiry.

Download: Are Schools Failing Boys?

GCSE 2021: Another Year of Teacher Assessment

Buckingham: CEER, August 2021

GCSE grades in the past two years have been decided by teachers. They reached a record high in 2020 and the signs are that this will be repeated in 2021. Once again, girls dominated, so does this mean they are cleverer? The popularity of high grades strengthens the hand of those who want to ditch the exams.

Download: GSCE 2021: Another Year of Teacher Assessment

A-Levels 2021: Another Year of Grade Inflation?

Buckingham: CEER, August 2021

In 2020, there were the biggest ever rises in A-level grades. The pass rate hit 100%, A*/A grades jumped by more than 50%, and top grades in some subjects more than doubled. The big question for 2021 is will grades return to where they had been stabilised in the previous decade, or will they repeat the gross inflation of last year?

Download: A-Levels 2021: Another Year of Grade Inflation?

Where Next for Apprenticeships 2016

CIPD, August 2016

In a policy report of the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development edited by Tess Lanning, Alan Smithers argues that the introduction of national apprenticeship qualifications would turn the government’s hopes for the new apprenticeships into reality.

Download: Where Next for Apprenticeships 2016 (PDF).

Social Disadvantage and Widening Access to Universities

Buckingham: CEER, November 2015

Achievement in higher education is not uniformly spread across the various sections of society. Females, those from higher income backgrounds, those from more affluent neighbourhoods, and those who are white, gain proportionally more good degrees. Universities face a dilemma: to admit on excellence or representativeness.

Download: Social Disadvantage and Widening Access to Universities (PDF).

HEFCE’s Blunder

Buckingham: CEER, November 2015

HEFCE has made a crucial error in its latest report on degree outcomes. It states that 82% of those getting firsts or upper-seconds in 2013-14 came from state schools against 73 per cent from independent schools, whereas the analysis actually shows the reverse to be the case.

Download: HEFCE’s Blunder (PDF)

The Coalition Effect, 2010-2015

Edited by Anthony Seldon and Mike Finn, Cambridge University Press, pages 257-289, March 2015

The government rushed to unsettling reforms of education but was given an ‘easy ride’ by Labour. Michael Gove’s departure left a lot of unfinished business on academies, qualifications, apprenticeships and fair funding. A new Conservative-led government is very likely to see these through. But what Labour would do is far from clear since so far it has offered only bits and pieces.

Download: The Coalition Effect, 2010-2015 (PDF)

The Ins and Outs of Selective Secondary Schools

London: Civitas, pages 194-205, March 2015

There has to be selection in education since people differ greatly in their talents, interests and aspirations. Fifteen would be a good age allowing for an array of interconnected three-year pathways across the academic and occupational.

Download: The Ins and Outs of Selective Secondary Schools