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Articles by Loic Menzies
Elite Interviewing as an In-Betweener | PS: Political Science & Politics | Cambridge Core
Political elites are people who “exercise disproportionately high influence on the outcome of events or policies” (Pierce Reference Pierce2008, 119). Elites frequently have access to information that is not available from official sources (Al’Abri et al. Reference Al’Abri, Hogan, Lingard, Sellar, In Stacey and Mockler2024; Lilleker Reference Lilleker2003). Interviewing elites is therefore valuable to political scientists who study phenomena that take place behind closed doors.
Trust is the glue we need, but it needs to be built
Reza Schwitzer was previously Head of the Children’s Social Care Strategy at the DfE. He has an urgent warning for the sector: “We say the same thing every time: ‘we need to work together better.’ Well, we said that for Baby P. We said that for Victoria Climbié, and that was 20 years ago now.
Seven stories of autonomy and centralisation
In my last blog I argued that when mapping the way to educational equity, policymakers should be clear, not just about the evidence for their chosen approach, but also the underlying rationale behind it, including the values and preferences that underpin it. This was partly prompted by an interview with a former senior civil servant who argued that one of the problems with recent education policies has been a failure to reconcile tensions in the underlying theory of change.
Rediscovering teaching: my experience of returning to the classroom
https://teaching.blog.gov.uk/2022/01/26/rediscovering-teaching-my-experience-of-returning-to-the-classroom/ Loic Menzies is the former Chief Executive of the Centre for Education and Youth, who has answered the call for teachers to return to the classroom to support schools with staffing pressures. We’re inviting qualified ex-teachers to step in and help teach children and young people in school and college on a temporary basis and in this blog Loic describes his experience so far.
Drawing Teachers to Areas of Need: A path well-travelled is a path better-known
Ensuring that pupils in ‘left behind areas’ are taught by the best possible teachers is a commendable idea which could put some meat on what ‘levelling up’ means for education. Boris Johnson was therefore right to reignite this ambition on Wednesday. However his approach needs to build on a not-insignificant evidence base regarding how to achieve that goal.
Book review: Young people on the margins
Melissa Benn finds a book that’s both subtle and harrowing, and full of evidence-based lessons on preventing the marginalisation of vulnerable young people Young People On the Marginsis a valuable and lucid account of the multiple ways in which generations of vulnerable young people have been failed by our education system and by society itself, and what we might do about it.
School exclusions: what’s really happening?
Loic Menzies & Abi Angus 23rd April 2021 Anecdote and opinion dominate debates about children’s exclusion from school. But what does the evidence say about how we should approach this divisive issue?
Child Poverty can’t be the elephant in the room
For me, one of the hardest things about writing a book was knowing how to finish it. After briefly trying to convince myself ‘Young People on the Margins’ didn’t need a conclusion, I had to admit, the final chapter would be crucial. The CfEY team had set out to write a book because we felt it was time to pull together the underlying themes that linked together all the projects we’d worked on, and to point to what should happen next.
Locked-down but not Locked-in: Understanding the value of spending time outdoors as pupils return to school
Outdoor learning is one of those topics that is never short of evangelists; people for whom time spent outside is a pillar of their wellbeing and identity. However, according to a recent Natural England study, for many children, locked-down means locked-in: 73% of children from households with annual income below £17,000 spent less time outdoors since coronavirus, compared with 57% from households with an annual income above £17,000.
Generating political will for educational equity: When it’s all true. But it’s not all the truth.
Trump defeated, Dom Cummings in retreat from Downing Street – box in hand and tail between legs. It’s almost as if the wind has gone from the billowing sails of populism. Only time will tell whether November represented a blip in populism’s ascendency, or the start of a more existential crisis. However, the page is unlikely to be turned for good until populism’s opponents get better at translating their ideas into the political action.
Making Waves: Building a Better Future for Assessment - final report
In partnership with Pearson by Loic Menzies 1st December 2020 Download the report here Assessment is the central pillar of teaching. Without effective assessment learning remains a ‘black box’ with little or no reliable information about needs, progress and misconceptions. If we are serious about ensuring all students get the opportunity to excel in the classroom, we must ensure that teachers have the tools to develop and deploy effective assessment practices in the classroom.
White working class boys and Higher Education: widening participation
Target parents and primary school pupils to get more white working class boys into university Today we are publishing a new report, ‘The underrepresentation of white working class boys in higher education: the role of widening participation” commissioned by King’s College London’s Widening Participation Department.
Why Covid means a rethink of school league tables is needed
League tables are here to stay, but a different approach could reduce volatility and have long-term benefits for schoo leaders too, write John Jerrim and Loic Menzies Unions and head teachers have said it would be unfair to compare schools’ performance next year, given the uneven impact of lockdown. They are right. There is clear evidence that there have been considerable disparities in education under Covid and that disadvantaged pupils have been systematically disadvantaged.
Can Summer Schools Help Disadvantaged Pupils Bounce Back from Covid?
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Progression to University by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Pupils
PRESS RELEASE: ‘Respectable Racism’ Holding Back Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Pupils Pupils from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds estimated ten times less likely to go to university compared to peers. New research by LKMco, in partnership with Kings College London’s Widening Participation department reveals barriers ‘at every level’ that combine to make Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils one of the most under-represented groups in UK universities.
Supporting Vulnerable Young People through Covid-19: Report
In partnership with Ambition Institute by Loic Menzies 3rd April 2020 Download the report here Schools leaders and teachers are showing remarkable ingenuity and dedication in rising to the challenge of Covid-19 and we hope that sharing their emerging experiences and responses will provide a helping hand. This report provides a short summary of the roundtable discussion that took place on Friday 27th March’.
Supporting vulnerable young people through Covid: How can we work together to take on the challenge?
By Loic Menzies (Chief Executive of the Centre for Education and Youth) and Tom Rees (Executive Director of School Leadership at Ambition Institute) Uncharted territory It goes without saying that the education and youth sector is in uncharted territory at the moment. Over the last week, we have spoken with many head teachers and MAT leaders across the country. All of them are working with incredible determination and devotion, rising to the challenge of serving their pupils and communities.
Why it's time to axe the Ofsted 'outstanding' grade
The future of Ofsted may not have been the biggest fault line between parties during the recent general election, but there was certainly clear blue water between them, with Boris Johnson supporting the inspectorate strongly and, in so doing, distancing himself from Labour and the Lib Dems' scorched-earth policy of abolishing Ofsted in its current form. Johnson even went as far as supporting "no-notice" school inspections.
Why it's time to axe the Ofsted 'outstanding' grade
The future of Ofsted may not have been the biggest fault line between parties during the recent general election, but there was certainly clear blue water between them, with Boris Johnson supporting the inspectorate strongly and, in so doing, distancing himself from Labour and the Lib Dems’ scorched-earth policy of abolishing Ofsted in its current form. Johnson even went as far as supporting “no-notice” school inspections.
Do schools understand being poor at Christmas?
A recent House of Commons Briefing Paper suggests that on current trends, by 2021/22, the share of children in relative low income after housing costs will be at its highest for as far back as there is consistent data (the 1960s)[i]. This is an increasingly common challenge for schools, and Christmas can make things even harder for poorer pupils. When home-life is stressful, being holed up together for two weeks surrounded by talk of presents can be unbearable.
Big questions over the quality of alternative provision
New analysis by The Centre for Education and Youth reveals that previous research may have underestimated the proportion of our most vulnerable and challenging pupils educated in poor settings. Until now, figures have generally referred to the proportion of institutionsjudged good or outstanding. Figure four from However, our analysis shows that in fact, nearly a quarter of pupils in AP/PRUs are taught in grade 3 or 4 settings.
Customised Schools: Laura McInerney
Laura McInerney is the Guardian’s education columnist and co-founder of the daily survey tool, Teacher Tapp. Formerly a teacher for six years in East London, she was the Centre for Education and Youth’s first ever regular blogger before being taken to court by the education secretary for asking difficult questions about free schools. This only encouraged her, and so she switched into journalism full-time and went on to become the editor of Schools Week.
LKMco is now The Centre for Education and Youth: A new name for our second decade
After a long and exciting build up, today we are announcing our new name. We are The Centre for Education and Youth. Over the last ten years, LKMco has played a central role in the big debates that have shaped the education and youth sectors. At a policy level, we not only nudged things in a better direction than they might have gone otherwise, we also shaped concrete changes.
Loic Menzies, from LKMco, looks at research methods
These three studies used different methods to explore phenomena affecting young people, whether transitions and attainment, special needs and disability, or family life. Bart Shaw and Dr Will Cook previewed study findings that shows pupils’ perception of their academic ability dips dramatically once they start secondary school. This comes from an ongoing project that LKMco is collaborating on with Manchester Metropolitan University, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
Breaking the Link? Attainment, poverty and rural schools
The relationship between disadvantage and attainment varies considerably between different parts of England. Combining datasets shows that poverty has a particularly pernicious effect on educational attainment in some area-types, particularly the rural areas shown in green, below. Free School Meals aren’t the only ingredient In recent years there has been increasing recognition that the relationship between deprivation and educational achievement is not as simple as we once thought.
'Defending parents' rights in the sex ed debate is a straw man'
When Katie Hopkins tweeted “The British government wants to force-feed their trans narrative down the throats of four- and five-year-olds in the UK”, she went on to erroneously claim that the government was forcing children in nappies to learn about “trans relationships”. One pressure group was quick to retweet her comments with the hashtag #parentpower.
The DfE's Recruitment and Retention Strategy: The good the bad and the ugly...
Today’s recruitment and retention strategy from the DfE is a welcome step in tackling a challenge that has cast a long shadow over the sector. It is premised on a suprisingly humble admission that there needs to be “an adjustment of focus, recognising that greater attention must be given to ensuring that teaching is a profession where people are supported to stay and thrive”.
Genetics and Education: Examining the arguments
A frightening proposition Four years ago I sat in the House of Commons being quizzed by the Education Select Committee. Sat next to me was Professor Robert Plomin of Kings College London. Much of what he said about the relationship between genes and educational attainment seemed to threaten my deeply held beliefs about education – if not humanity. I’ve always believed that differences between pupils are largely down to opportunities rather than anything innate.
Teachers are Humans: What does that mean for school leaders trying to recruit and retain them? - LKMco
The DfE is due to announce its recruitment and retention strategy soon, but there’s no reason why schools should wait for policy makers to maximise their chances of recruiting the teachers they need. This is the third in a series of blogs exploring actions teachers and leaders can take to help weather the recruitment and retention crisis (see also here and here). It sets out four key lessons for school leaders drawn from our research on teacher motivations. 1.
Special Educational Needs and Mental Health top of the education agenda today
Home » Blog » Media » Special Educational Needs and Mental Health top of the education agenda today Special Educational Needs and Mental Health top of the education agenda today Loic Menzies is Director of LKMco. He specialises in education policy and research, youth development and social enterprise.
Announcing our New Board and Latest Recruits!
We are very excited to announce that in preparation for our tenth anniversary in September 2019, we are transforming our governance by bringing together a new Board of passionate, heavy-hitters with a broad mix of senior-level experience.
Struggling schools bearing the brunt of school funding cuts
Combining yesterday’s provisional GCSE results with data from the School Cuts website reveals that it is England’s lowest performing schools that are facing the biggest drops in per-pupil funding. The secondary schools who performed least well according to yesterday’s data are losing an average of £237 per pupil (a 4.1% drop in per pupil funding) whilst the highest performing are losing £186 per pupil (a 3.5% drop).
Making Waves: Maybe it's you who has the answer!
Home » Blog » General » Making Waves: Maybe it’s you who has the answer! We are very excited to be launching a new 18 month project with Pearson, exploring: The project is kicking off with our first ever ‘crowd-sourcing’ campaign, asking teachers, schools and groups of schools to tell us about any innovative solutions they are currently trialling or implementing.
Understanding young people's happiness and wellbeing
Today’s report from the Children’s Society on young people’s well-being is essential reading. It is thoroughly researched, robust and insightful. Below I summarise six of the report’s most interesting findings. There have been significant drops in young people’s happiness with their lives since around 2009 but this comes on the back of significant increases in the preceding decade.
Adventure and the Outdoors: Fair access for all young people
If we want to prepare young people to live fulfilling lives, it is worth reflecting on what makes our own lives fulfilling. Research can tell us a fair bit about that, but in this blog I want to provide a personal reflection on that question, particularly focusing on the role the outdoors and adventure have played in my life, and why I would like all young people to have such opportunities.
Who cares about education and young people?
Stunning new analysis of Parliamentary transcripts shows that female MPs are twice as likely as men to refer to education in their speeches. The analysis, which can be found with some stunning visualisations here is based on analysis of 1.2 million speeches delivered by men and women who have served in the House of Commons since 1970. The gender gap in speeches is even more striking when it comes to child poverty where there is a 460% gap.
Free Schools and Chip Shops: seven years on
Seven years ago Michael Gove prophesised the dawn of a new era in which parents around the country set up new schools in chip shops. Of course things didn’t exactly turn out that way. The proportion of schools set up by parents has now dropped to fewer than one in five and a study by the NFER concluded that most could not be described as “innovative.” So, how much of what’s happened in the last is a surprise?
What Does It Take For A Child To Get Help With Their Mental Health?
Our new report published today lays bare the scale and severity of the UK’s Youth Mental health crisis, showing that children in desperate need are being refused help. One young person was told a suicide attempt was ‘not serious enough’ for them to access support and another to put their ‘chin up’.
EdFest 2018! LKMco out in force at this year's Education Festival
It’s going to be a busy few days for LKMco at this year’s Festival of Education. Five of the team will be there and we will be involved in eight sessions. Things kick off with Kate presenting findings from our recent study with Ambition School Leadership of MAT strategies and operations. She will be joined by Libby Nicholas and James Toop who will be responding to the findings. The panel takes place at 11am on Thursday.
Top 10 Dumbest University Rankings Ever
There really are some daft university rankings out there. And seemingly a new one arrives on the scene every week. Many of these I find extremely annoying as this previous ranking of rankings by level of irritation helpfully demonstrates. Leaving aside the mainstream league tables (many of which are fundamentally silly too) there are still some really spectacularly awful rankings around.
Getting research into policy: the role of think tanks
Last week I joined a panel at the Kaleidoscope conference in Cambridge University’s Faculty of Education. The session, which also featured Rob Loe and Hwa Yue Yi, focused on the role of think tanks in education research and policy. The panel was asked to comment on four questions: Potential: What do think tanks and similar organisations have to contribute to education? Pitfalls: What are some of the main challenges/obstacles to the work they do?
The 2019 Guardian University top ranking: strictly roots
Half term fun at the top – the most exciting and unpredictable university ranking of the season is out and to the surprise of absolutely no-one, Cambridge is up town top ranking yet again with Oxford and St Andrews in 2nd and 3rd, again. Leeds has jumped a massive four places to enter the top 10, displacing Surrey (21) and UCL (11). There is little change among the other top 10 universities.
Art’s foundations are crumbling
Universities need to join the battle to preserve creative subjects, as tightening funding and league-table reforms force down the number of applicants with arts GCSEs. According to research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), if the same proportion of sixteen-year-olds had taken at least one arts qualification in 2016 as in 2014, nearly 20,000 more pupils would have accessed an arts subject. This drop in numbers will have profound consequences for arts courses in English universities.
Do struggling schools improve?
It is an article of faith amongst those of us with a passion for school improvement that schools can improve. It is therefore worrying that research by Andy Smarick and Tom Loveless in America shows only a small proportion of schools achieve turnaround (also here). Having seen so many successful turnarounds, I find Smarick’s work hard to square with my (anecdotal) experience and optimism. I’ve therefore looked at the UK figures to see what story they tell.
School Funding: It's all fine guv. Honest.
I’ve never really written much about school funding and cuts, largely because it’s not something I know a huge amount about. However it’s increasingly clear to most people in the education sector that funding is not an issue that can be shied away from any longer. Unless you’re the government… A quick look at the following graphs from Friday’s EPI report would give most people who care about improving education cause for alarm.
The future for examining
Home » Blog » Reports » The future for examining The future for examining Loic Menzies is Director of LKMco. He specialises in education policy and research, youth development and social enterprise. He was previously a tutor for Canterbury Christ Church’s Faculty of Education, an Associate Senior Manager and Head of History and Social Sciences at St. George’s R.C. School in North West London and a youth worker. He holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Magdalen College, Oxford.
You searched for Teacher confidence assessment
New report calls for better accountability measures, more support for teachers, and greater understanding of assessment across education sector. Government, schools and assessment bodies must do more to put assessment at the heart of great teaching. Report analyses assessment systems across the world and features contributions from world-leading experts. All trainee teachers should be tested on … Read more I had the pleasure of delivering a session at the annual WomenEd ‘unconference’ last weekend.
Learning Away - The state of school residentials in England 2017
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Ofsted’s new strategy: Where are they going next? - LKMco
Home » Blog » General » Ofsted’s new strategy: Where are they going next? Over the last 6 months Anna and I have had the privilege of participating in a series of meetings exploring Ofsted’s future direction. It’s therefore very exciting to see the finished product of a major strategy review launched today. In this blog I want to highlight 10 key extracts. There has been increasing talk in recent years of cutting Ofsted’s grading system to a ‘pass/fail’ statement.
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