Eighteen schools put 124 children forward for free GCSE maths through the holidays. No single school had enough children to fill a class. Eighteen together did. Between 20 July and 28 August, Purple Ruler gave away 1,258 hours of small-group GCSE maths, counted one child at a time. It cost the eighteen schools nothing and the 124 families nothing, because it was never meant to be sold. What that looked like on the ground was this. At nine o'clock on a Tuesday morning in the m

The common wisdom is that the more complex a child’s needs, the less online teaching can do for them. A specialist school in Cambridgeshire found the opposite, and here is how it worked. A Purple Ruler partner story, with The Centre School, part of the Astrea Academy Trust, in Cottenham, Cambridgeshire. Ask most people in special education whether a child with the most complex needs can be taught online, and the answer comes back fast: no. The more anxious the pupil, the more

Why English school trusts are moving alternative provision in-house — building inclusion centres that cut cost, strengthen safeguarding, and bridge students back into mainstream learning.

The Global Paradox of Language Support in Schools Across very different education systems, a similar problem is emerging. In the United States, language policy assumes that every school can provide structured English language development. In the United Kingdom, a similar expectation exists. Schools are responsible for integrating a rapidly growing population of English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners, including refugees or asylum seekers, into mainstream classrooms.

When The White Horse Federation set out to strengthen support for its most vulnerable learners, it chose to bring alternative provision together into one coordinated, trust-wide model. This is the story of that transition, and the partnership with Purple Ruler that made it possible. A Trust-Wide Vision for Inclusion The White Horse Federation is a multi-academy trust responsible for the education of pupils across a family of schools. Like every trust, it is committed to keepi

In April, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson described the lack of male teachers in UK classrooms as a “defining issue of our time.” Her concern is part of a wider public debate around the behaviour and wellbeing of boys, particularly in relation to rising misogyny online and disengagement in schools. The proposed solution, echoed across policy commentary and the press, is straightforward: bring more men into teaching. At a glance, the argument is appealing. Teenage boys

Online teaching is often mistaken for a digital replica of the traditional classroom—a tutor on a screen, running through a lesson plan...

Education is often viewed as a simple transaction—knowledge is imparted by teachers and absorbed by students. But when a child resists...