After National Standards

Abstract

The Labour-led government elected in 2017 quickly decided to get rid of National Standards and set up a Curriculum, Progress, and Achievement Ministerial Advisory Group in 2018. That group reported in 2019 and a related Ministry of Education work programme has begun. This provocation from May 2020 provides some background to the MAG, considers its organisation and membership, and briefly mentions some features of the report and the early response of government. The use of data and the struggle for researchers to keep up with multiple reviews are also discussed.