Rod Bristow

Knowledge is the basis of thought. And every other skill. open.substack.com/pub/fillingthe…

The @UniofBradford has done it again - ranked number 1 for social mobility in the @LSBU English Social Mobility Index published by @HEPI_news. The impact the University of Bradford has on students’ lives is literally second to none.

Congratulations to @UniofBradford colleagues on this outstanding achievement reflecting Bradford’s core values of inclusion. Their system for 'Managing Risk for Impaired Laboratory Users' was described by judges as "incredibly impactful". bradford.ac.uk/news/archive/2…

Inside one of the first ‘no headline judgement’ Ofsted inspections tes.com/magazine/analy…

This is a wonderful achievement for all the pupils at Reach Academy Feltham and Feltham College. Congratulations to all - including @gabbiebristow! Ofsted has judged Reach Academy Feltham and Feltham College as outstanding in all six categories. felthamcollege.com/2024/10/16/ofs…

Education and Training are not the same thing - important distinction underscored by @FreyaThomasMonk. Vocational reforms must differentiate between education and training feweek.co.uk/vocational-ref…

Government growth and skills policies should target career-changers feweek.co.uk/government-gro…

I am honoured to have been appointed by the University of Bradford as its Chair of Council. I share this wonderful university's commitment to transform lives and give people the knowledge and skills they need to succeed and to contribute to society. bradford.ac.uk/news/archive/2…

An important perspective on inspection and accountability from Jon Coles.

@Tom_Richmond @EDSKthinktank I'm very sorry to hear this Tom. EDSK has done excellent work and made people 'think'. Congratulations on what you achieved and very best wishes for what comes next.

SOME PERSONAL / JOB NEWS…. Creating a new ‘think tank’ was always a little dream of mine. As expected, running a small non-profit organisation like the @EDSKthinktank has been hard work - really hard. Payroll, pensions, VAT, expenses, recruitment, marketing, fundraising, events, the website, company accounts, tax returns – the list of my responsibilities goes on and on, and that’s before I even get to the day job of writing and research. On top of that, I’ve had to steer EDSK through a pandemic, cost of living crisis and a fairly chaotic time in politics. The only other job I’ve done that matches the hours, demands and intensity of owning a small business is full-time teaching, only now I get 1-2 weeks holiday a year rather than 13 weeks. Then throw in the fact that since setting up EDSK I’ve become a husband and a dad, meaning that my priorities in life have changed and the endless stresses and strains of running a very small business feel rather different now to how they did when it all started. That is why I decided a little while ago that after the General Election it would be the right time to close down EDSK after almost six years – although I freely admit that I didn’t expect the Election to come so early! I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has been part of EDSK’s journey, particularly my long-time researcher Eleanor Regan and our amazing advisory board @BeckyFrancis7, @jonathansimons, @AndyWWestwood, @sarahjwaite, @SteveBesley and Ewart Keep who have expertly guided us along the way. A big thanks also to everyone who has taken the time to read our reports, attend our events, salute the puns in our report titles or share their insights and expertise with us – it’s all been enormously appreciated. I obviously never expected everyone to agree with all our recommendations for change, but hopefully our research, analysis and investigations into how to improve the lives of learners of all ages have been valuable. With any luck, our work will prove useful for years to come even when EDSK is no longer around. We have one final report coming out very soon, and I’ve got plenty of final admin to sort out in the coming weeks (what am I going to do with EDSK’s website? Or our podcast?!), but after that EDSK is all done. This should give me some time to think about what I will be doing next in my career, so if you have any suggestions then feel free to get in touch!

Great to see @bphillipsonMP & a@Jacqui_Smith1 both visiting colleges this week #LoveOurColleges

@allisonl @KingsCollegeLon @KingsECS @samsmidt Great discussion and stimulating talk from @fmarmole Thank you!

This evening I’m at @KingsCollegeLon @KingsECS event on The Future of Assessment in Higher Education. With an impressive panel of experts including Chris Harrison, Kevin Martin, @samsmidt

In a world of AI the future of assessment is a very big topic. Looking forward to hearing what is said here @KingsCollegeLon

The widening skills gap is a huge problem not going away anytime soon. Lack of skilled workers risks major infrastructure projects going over budget, PAC warns feweek.co.uk/lack-of-skille…

Useful perspective on AI in health with relevance to education: “First, it will require moving away from the idea that AI will solve everything everywhere all at once and accepting that AI is just one tool of many” open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/can…

Congratulations @professorliwei1 and all my colleagues at the UCL IOE on being ranked 1st in the world for Education. And to all UCL colleagues on being ranked 9th best university overall, placing UCL in the top 1% of institutions worldwide. ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2024/…

@halfon4harlowMP You are a great MP for Harlow @halfon4harlowMP , and a minister who cares deeply about their brief. You will be missed.

A personal statement from the Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Member of Parliament for Harlow and the villages and the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education. 👇 yourharlow.com/2024/03/26/exc…

Good insight into challenges in delivering high quality degree apprenticeships showing why they are great but also why they are not the complete answer to improving technical education. Other strategies are also needed. hepi.ac.uk/2024/03/26/the… via @HEPI_news

The ABS is superficially plausible but a better approach would be to significantly improve and promote existing pathways. Academic, Career and Occupational: ‘Clunky’ Advanced British Standard risks ‘blunt choice’ for students, leaders warn feweek.co.uk/clunky-advance…

Another typically balanced view from Phil Hill about what is really going on in online higher education partnerships onedtech.philhillaa.com/p/post-opm-ror… via @philonedtech