Question 1

What is the EPA?

Accepted Answer

The Education Policy Alliance is a grass-roots think tank dedicated to creating an education system that works for all young people.

We consult with a wide range of people to evaluate current practice and to generate and evaluate new ideas for policy.

Our work is rooted in a vision of the near future that places human flourishing at the heart of the education system.

Question 2

What does the EPA do?

Accepted Answer

We work to generate and evaluate education policy. We are interested in education policy globally, but our work currently focuses on the English system. Initially, we have identified five areas for policy development:

• Ofsted and accountability
 • Mental health and wellbeing
 • Recruitment and retention
 • Autonomy, innovation and diversification
 • The policy environment

In the coming months, we will publish a consultation paper and a survey for each of these policy areas. During the period of consultation,  we will seek to harness the collective wisdom and expertise of people throughout the educational ecosystem: mainstream and alternative educators, teachers and leaders, teaching assistants, governors, psychologists, researchers, charity workers, youth workers, arts educators, careers educators, home educators, parents and carers, and children and young people. Once the consultation period has concluded, we will write a policy proposal for each of these five areas.

We are a voluntary organisation with no political affiliation. We aim to work with policymakers from all parties to create a joined-up, richly informed approach to creating and implementing education policy.

Question 3

Why do we need to change the education system?

Accepted Answer

We believe that education is humanity’s best bet for a brighter future. However, the English education system currently does not work for many young people (or adults). To share a few areas of immediate concern:

• There are currently around 1.7 million persistent absentees from school in the UK
 • There is a spiralling mental health crisis among young people and adults alike
 • There is an ongoing and worsening crisis relating to the recruitment and retention of teachers and school leaders
 • There are serious concerns about the way in which the Ofsted grading system impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and school leaders
 • The assessment system brands around one-third of school leavers as failures

Taken together, these problems present an urgent case for rethinking education policy and implementation. We believe that the best way to achieve this is to involve people from throughout the educational ecosystem in designing and implementing solutions to these problems.

Question 4

How can I get involved?

Accepted Answer

You can get involved in the following ways:

• Read the consultation papers as they are published 
 • Share your thoughts on the consultation papers using the accompanying surveys (you can contribute anonymously or otherwise)
 • Share them with your friends and colleagues, or on a social media platform of your choosing, and encourage them to share their thoughts (and to share it with others) also
 • Join our mailing list (see below)

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