Keir Starmer, school harmer

Twin studies are one of the most useful exercises in scientific inquiry. Take two biologically identical children who are brought up in different environments, and study their progress through life. Pioneered by Francis Galton in the late 19th century, they can demonstrate how much of our destiny is dictated by nature or nurture.

This government is precise in seeking to destroy the policies that have given children the best education possible

Over the past two decades we have been conducting a twin study on an epic scale across these islands. Children in England have been educated in accordance with one set of principles. Children in Wales and Scotland have been in schools following a very different route.

In England, schools have been given greater autonomy, and at the same time have faced sharper accountability. The majority of secondary schools and nearly half of primaries are academies – with the freedom to pay good teachers more and set higher standards than are required by law. Alongside those academies, hundreds of new free schools – educational start-ups with teachers, not bureaucrats, in control – have been established. The curriculum in England has been tilted away from the pursuit of generic ‘skills’ and towards the acquisition of greater knowledge. League tables have allowed us to identify which schools perform best, with a particular focus on identifying those that help children from poorer backgrounds to make the most progress. The same measures have also ensured that poorly performing schools can be identified, their leadership replaced, and their pupils given a better chance in life.

In Wales and Scotland, those principles have not applied. No academies. No autonomy over pay and standards. No league tables. No additional rigour and stretch in the curriculum – indeed quite the opposite: a move away from a knowledge-rich approach towards greater ‘relevance’ and ‘diversity’.