Andrew Otty

Bottom 10% of GCSE retakers missing out on subject success A decade of GCSE resits and curriculum reforms saw England’s young adults surging up global skills rankings

"Between 2012 and 2023, young adults in England went from being one of the worst-performing groups in the OECD for literacy and numeracy to one of the best, making improvements on a scale not seen across other countries or other age groups in England."
feweek.co.uk/bottom-10-pe...

The AI hallucination: tech will add problems, not solve them Why the government’s latest AI initiatives are little more than shiny distractions

"Your AI-enthusiast colleagues are busy convincing everyone that you don’t need non-contact time because AI can do your planning, marking, and feedback."

In FE Week, I'm warning that AI will not reduce teacher workload. It will devalue teacher time.

feweek.co.uk/the-ai-hallu...

⬇️ 'We need to curtail well-resourced but inexpert vested interests being given excessive air time'
Andrew Otty on the influence of 'inexpert vested interests' in FE curriculums

⬇️ Andrew Otty says the best lessons he's ever seen were
"almost always built around source material I would never imagine showing up in the exam. 🥋 After all, Daniel LaRusso didn’t have to wax a car in the All-Valley Karate Tournament."

GCSE resits need ‘wax on, wax off’, not more exam tinkering Forcing GCSE resit students into high-stakes exams without proper foundation sets them up to lose

In @feweek.bsky.social I'm warning that the excessive air time devoted to qualification and assessment tinkering pulls focus away from the far more important matter of actually teaching.

feweek.co.uk/gcse-resits-...

I'm proud to be a founding member of the English and Maths Coalition (EMC).

We believe that all learners can succeed in, and enjoy, English and maths.

Join us (it's free) and help resist the watering down of post-16 support.
www.englishandmaths.org

English and maths coalition launched to fight functional skills reform Group of experts accuses the government of 'watering down' standards

📝 A campaign group demanding a U-turn on the scrapping of enforced English and maths resits for adult apprentices has been launched feweek.co.uk/lw-and-exper...

🤖 'Neither they, nor the technology know what they don't know'
💻 The widespread adoption of AI in FE colleges will widen the disadvantage gap, warns
Andrew Otty

AI evangelism is class war, this is the last chance to resist Edtech bros push AI as the future of education. But when the hype fades, disadvantaged students pay the price

"Those clueless about pedagogy are advocating we hand it over to AI, because neither they nor the technology know what they don’t know."

In @feweek.bsky.social I'm talking about how a thoughtless rush to AI in education will widen the disadvantage gap.

feweek.co.uk/the-ai-evang...

⬇️ The decision to axe functional skills requirement for adults apprentices exposes yet another failure in DfE workforce planning, says Andrew Otty

⬇️ Ministers used the fanfare of National Apprenticeship Week to axe functional skills requirement for adults—but its consequences are anything but celebratory, says Andrew Otty

Chaos and contradictions: Francis review response round-up Responses to the curriculum and assessment review show some glaring contradictions

"Alternative qualifications? Four maths papers? Prescribed texts in English? The curriculum and assessment review could change the course of the GCSE resit policy."

See my round-up of Curriculum Review proposals in @feweek.bsky.social

feweek.co.uk/chaos-and-co...

🗞️This week's FE Week front page:

DfE to slash £30m from adult education

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#TomorrowsPapersToday

It is 🙈

No teaching experience? You’ll fit right in at the DfE The dangers posed by generalist civil servants at DfE

"It is a simulation of governance that has no concern for young people."

In @feweek.bsky.social I'm reflecting on the dangers of leaving education policy in the hands of those with no relevant experience.

feweek.co.uk/no-teaching-...

What I was pointing out was a fact about contracts. School teachers will say the same thing about working beyond their 1265 hours.

As NASUWT become the latest union to ballot over college teacher pay, a timely Uncivil Servant piece from @education720.bsky.social tells us:

- college 16-19s get fewer teaching hours
- arguments are made badly
- despite everything, there are still inefficiencies

feweek.co.uk/five-steps-t...

Five steps to fix FE pay The FE sector’s influence on the government is clearly lacking but there are some easy-win solutions

My first FE Week column of 2025, on the disadvantaged-funding gap that is the real barrier to better FE pay.

feweek.co.uk/five-steps-t...

Harry Potter and the curse of education policymakers Must we keep repeating the same error Rowling made in the final book of her sorcerers' saga?

🎄 For a Hogwarts-themed Christmas take on FE's incredible character arc as the unlikely hero of English and maths, join me in FE Week 🎅

feweek.co.uk/harry-potter...

🗞️This week's FE Week front page:

SEND transport in crisis

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#TomorrowsPapersToday

"The kind of student who needs to just disappear."

The awful mindset behind the funding 'tolerance' for GCSE resits, which allows the students who need most support in English and maths to be 'disappeared', perfectly illustrated in this scene from Freaks and Geeks.

The Staffroom: How we're re-engaging learners through poetry A national poetry competition is bringing new life to English as a language art - and learners love it

Love this positive resits piece by Philip Trivett. It's so important we hear these experiences from frontline practitioners, rather than the absurdly negative rhetoric of the non-teacher commentators who've never actually even seen a resit class in real life.

feweek.co.uk/reconnecting...

What Just Dance taught me about our assessment system Everyone wrote off my physical skills. Let's not do the same to our young academics

"When I traded the 20,000 steps per day of teaching for the vegetative existence of a civil servant, I invested in Just Dance.

Even though I was very very bad at it, it was still fun. I kept at it.

GCSE resits can learn a lot from Just Dance."

feweek.co.uk/what-would-b...

Colleges have been on the case for ten years. That's why E&M achievement is the highest it's ever been and the disadvantage gap narrows in 16-19.

What does the C in ASCL stand for? Have you "forgotten"?

Sounds like someone at ASCL needs to resit their maths.

This is silly lobbying soundbites becoming so entrenched that the facts are lost. It is not a 'forgotten third' if over 80% are achieving in each subject by 19.

#loveourcolleges

A hat trick of terrible ideas.
- Turn the whole of KS4 into exams with no actual time to teach.
- Scrap the only policy closing the disadvantage gap.
- Create some poundshop quals rather than actually teach disadvantaged kids properly.

4. New Government needs a renewed focus on English, maths & ESOL for all. Don't drop requirements in e.g. apprenticeships because they're difficult - make them work wherever possible. Multiply may end, but essential skills needs to be a priority. Have a high ambition for all. #EMESEOLConf24

For students' sake, we can't give up on English resits Those who worry about the resit policy's mental health impact have got it the wrong way round

"I became an English teacher because I believe stories have the power to change lives. I have seen them do so seismically, redrawing young people’s trajectories. And I have seen them do so subtly, providing moments of joy, hope, and curiosity."

feweek.co.uk/why-i-wont-g...

Is Coding the Most Important Modern Language? In this article, Andrew argues against relying on AI as a quick fix in education, instead advocating for teaching coding alongside literacy. He draws from…

I'm going 'full nerd' in FE News, talking about my Amstrad, Big Trak, and the 80s.

I've been reliving the programming fun of my youth while working with CodiPlay.com to bring a coding-education suite of app, teaching platform, and robotics kits, to classrooms.

www.fenews.co.uk/exclusive/is...

Funding alert! Let Teachers SHINE wants to hear YOUR brilliant ideas. Apply now and get the funding and support you need to make them happen! Applications are now open. See letteachersshine.org.uk #EduSky