Get the facts on education

11 May 2023

School statistics don’t show 140,000 children ‘never came back’ after pandemic disruption

A figure quoted in the Sun by Baroness Karren Brady is the number of pupils who missed at least 50% of sessions last summer, not the number who’ve disappeared completely.

School statistics don’t show 140,000 children ‘never came back’ after pandemic disruption

21 April 2023

The numbers behind the PM’s maths claims fact checked

We’ve dug into the figures behind Rishi Sunak’s claims about the negative impact of poor numeracy.

The numbers behind the PM’s maths claims fact checked

16 March 2023

Think tank figure does not show 100,000 children ‘never went back to school’ due to lockdown

Journalist Isabel Oakeshott twice claimed that 100,000 children left education permanently as a result of the pandemic.

Think tank figure does not show 100,000 children ‘never went back to school’ due to lockdown

19 January 2023

£95k average headteacher salary refers only to state secondary schools

The Daily Express repeated a claim made by education secretary Gillian Keegan last month about headteacher salaries, which failed to clarify the figure referred only to those in secondary schools

£95k average headteacher salary refers only to state secondary schools

13 January 2023

Claim ‘nine in 10’ teachers voted to strike is misleading

Teaching union NASUWT claimed that nine in 10 of its members voted to strike.

Claim ‘nine in 10’ teachers voted to strike is misleading

4 January 2023

Rishi Sunak’s New Year speech fact checked

We’ve looked at some of the claims made by the PM in his first speech of 2023.

Rishi Sunak’s New Year speech fact checked

23 June 2022

Public information film about the dangers of electricity has not been banned

A segment of a 1970s short film warning about the dangers of playing near electrical substations has not been banned.

Public information film about the dangers of electricity has not been banned

12 May 2022

Reports that ‘most teachers’ are suffering from depression are based on a self-selecting survey

The data comes from members of the NASUWT teaching union who chose to complete its survey, so it can’t reliably tell us about the wellbeing of teachers as a whole.

Reports that ‘most teachers’ are suffering from depression are based on a self-selecting survey

8 February 2022

We don’t know how many children aren’t on school rolls

The Children’s Commissioner for England recently claimed that 80,000 to 100,000 children weren’t on any school roll.

We don’t know how many children aren’t on school rolls

26 January 2022

Parents mostly against face masks in classrooms

A recent poll found two thirds of parents of secondary school pupils were against mask wearing in classrooms, but the results may not be representative of parents generally.

Parents mostly against face masks in classrooms

Education

School statistics don’t show 140,000 children ‘never came back’ after pandemic disruption

The numbers behind the PM’s maths claims fact checked

Think tank figure does not show 100,000 children ‘never went back to school’ due to lockdown

£95k average headteacher salary refers only to state secondary schools

Claim ‘nine in 10’ teachers voted to strike is misleading

Rishi Sunak’s New Year speech fact checked

Public information film about the dangers of electricity has not been banned

Reports that ‘most teachers’ are suffering from depression are based on a self-selecting survey

We don’t know how many children aren’t on school rolls

Parents mostly against face masks in classrooms

Full Fact fights bad information