Objective: Gender-sensitive approaches to increasing men's physical activity (PA) through sports settings have shown promise across cultural contexts. We examined changes to men's walking and the contribution of walking towards selfreported PA after participating in the men-only European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) programme before exploring men's…

Accountability policy and its negative effects on teachers' working lives and retention is internationally recognised as a problem in education with school evaluation and inspection being a particular issue, particularly in England. Research suggests that the school inspection system Ofsted impacts negatively on the health and well-being of staff…

Professional development for the further education sector (FE) in England, whether commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), or the Department for Education (DfE), is typically formal learning. There are usually measurable outcomes, and practitioners are asked to identify changes to their practice. The focus on outcomes means…

This paper reasserts the significance and centrality of the body in experiences of learning and assessment in A-level drama. Drawing on data gathered from semi-structured interviews with A-level drama students and teachers, the findings highlight the importance of embodiment in ways of learning in drama education and problematises the impact of…

The ability to draw visual representations such as diagrams and graphs is considered fundamental to science learning. Science exams therefore often include questions which require students to draw a visual representation, or to augment a partially provided one. The design features of such questions (e.g., layout of diagrams, amount of answer…

Teachers, examiners and assessment experts know from experience that some candidates annotate exam questions. "Annotation" includes anything the candidate writes or draws outside of the designated response space, such as underlining, jotting, circling, sketching and calculating. Annotations are of interest because they may evidence…

The shortcomings of the current English secondary school history curriculum have been widely discussed since its inception in 2013. Less widely explored, however, are the narratives underpinning a key classroom resource: textbooks. In this paper, I review nine history textbooks currently in use in schools across the country, drawing on…

Studies reporting flexible assessment strategies and their impact across different modes of study remain limited with little emphasis placed on the role these arrangements play in devising authentic assessment processes. This paper synthesises recent research work depicting flexible design principles and practice strategies for how educators might…

In June 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the Early Years Education Recovery funding, a £180m package of support to help the sector recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. It comprised training programmes, qualifications, guidance and targeted whole setting support, delivered through a series of complimentary work programmes. This…

In England, examinations for general qualifications (GCSE, AS and A level) were cancelled in summer 2020 and summer 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced with contingency measures involving teacher judgements. For summer 2020, the intention was to calculate grades using rankings provided by centres, prior attainment data for the…

The relationship between research, policy and practice in the field of education has long been the focus of much discussion and debate. In the UK context, the growing weight attributed to research impact in the Research Excellence Framework has further intensified interest in how academics can promote the application of their research in…

The problem of educational achievement by boys and young men is a long-standing and big one that has been largely ignored by policymakers. This new HEPI report considers the consequences for individuals and society and proposes: (1) adopting a 'boy positive' environment in schools; (2) expanding proven grassroots initiatives that help boys; (3)…

Purpose: This study evaluated the feasibility of the "Start to Move" (S2M) digital assessment of children's fundamental movement skills being implemented by primary school teachers within PE lessons. Methods: Nine primary school teachers in the United Kingdom trialed S2M weekly over a 6-week period. Posttrial surveys and interviews were…

Caregivers can experience significant challenges following their child's autism diagnosis and often seek informational, relational and emotional support. Post-diagnostic support for caregivers has received relatively little research attention and represents a significant gap in the international evidence base. We used an iterative codesign process…