Description

Exams, grades, league tables, Ofsted reports. All of them miss the point of school and together they are undermining our whole approach to education.

‘An essential read – as entertaining as it is insightful – for anyone who cares about the way we treat young people’ Observer
‘Deeply absorbing . . . Wright deserves the highest marks’ Financial Times
‘Such a compelling read, no matter your outlook’ Telegraph
‘Brilliantly illuminates the realities and blindspots of the system’ Jeffrey Boakye
‘A thoughtful and considered analysis . . . that asks searching questions . . . with sympathy and intelligence’ Michael Gove, The Times

What is school for? Drawing on his twenty years as a teacher, hundreds of interviews and his experience on the UK Government’s Social Mobility Commission, head teacher Sammy Wright exposes the fundamental misconception at the heart of our education system. By focussing on the grades pupils get in neatly siloed, academic subjects, we end up ranking them and our schools into winners and losers: some pupils are set on a trajectory to university – the rest are left ill-equipped for the world they actually face.

Wright’s entertaining and hugely important book shows that schools are – and should be – so much more than this. With wisdom and humour, balancing idealism and pragmatism, he sets out what a better way would look like and how we might get there.

‘Extraordinary and brilliant . . . the book education has been waiting for’ Laura McInerney, co-founder of Teacher Tapp

‘A tremendous book, like the best lesson ever – informed, funny, fair’ Richard Beard

*AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*

Publisher Review

A tremendous book, like the best lesson ever – informed, funny, fair – I’d defy any reader not to learn much of value, and not just about school — Richard Beard, author of Sad Little Men Extraordinary and brilliant, Exam Nation masterfully achieves a perfect mix of respectful storytelling and policy challenges, while coming up with real (sometimes uncomfortable) solutions. It stands alongside sociology classics like Learning to Labour. It is the book education has been waiting for — Laura McInerney, co-founder of Teacher Tapp, former editor of Schools Week Written with heart and humour, Exam Nation brilliantly illuminates the realities and blindspots of the exam system. It is not only essential reading for educators at every level, it is for anyone who wants to understand how the system actually operates and what it’s really set up to do. Full of knowledge and insight, this is a book that we all can learn from — Jeffrey Boakye, author of I Heard What You Said At last. A report from the front line of schooling that shows how British education has become swamped by the cult of the exam, a gargantuan and fanatical exercise in quantification that contributes little or nothing to preparing children for modern life — Simon Jenkins Finally. A book that tells the truth about Britain’s national exam obsession – and the harm it does — Anthony Seldon