by Amanda Spielman | Oct 6, 2025 | Articles, Fifth Edition, Leadership and Reflections, Policy Insights
Amanda Spielman, former Chief Inspector of Schools, describes how she approached the challenge at Ofsted “What does impartiality mean and how should it look in practice?” These questions constantly preoccupied me during my seven years as Chief Inspector of Schools,... 
by Lucy Heywood | Oct 1, 2025 | A Day in the Life of…, Articles, Fifth Edition, International Perspectives
Lucy Heywood describes a day in the life of Victoria Harrison – and her “Ambassadog”, Otto Victoria Harrison, Britain’s first blind Ambassador, has been in post in Slovenia for just over a year. Her historic appointment in August 2024 was the culmination... 
by Fred Perry | Sep 23, 2025 | Articles, Economy and Industry, Fifth Edition, The Budget Collection
Fred Perry describes how business, the regions and even other countries were involved in shaping a key government policy Since the turn of the 21st century, UK governments have launched over a dozen industrial strategies, growth plans or similar initiatives.... 
by Tim Dickson | Jul 3, 2025 | Articles, Fourth Edition
Opportunities to adapt – and to improve lives In the private sector, ‘transformation’ consultants and chief executives of beleaguered companies often talk about ‘burning platforms’, dire situations they can turn to advantage by requiring obstructive employees and... 
by Lucy Smith | Jun 30, 2025 | Articles, Fourth Edition, International Perspectives, Policy Insights, The Budget Collection, The Top Articles of 2025
Lucy Smith, this year’s Heywood Fellow, says other countries may be leading the way Short-termism, blind spots, lack of planning by the British state. These are not new problems. In his 1946 essay In Front of Your Nose, George Orwell wrote of the widespread habit in... 
by Susan Acland-Hood and Simon Blake | Jun 25, 2025 | Articles, Data, Tech and Innovation, Fourth Edition
Susan Acland-Hood and Simon Blake explain how Covid prompted a new approach to tackling absence rates in schools in England “It was identifying the leaves that helped us see the wood for the trees,” says Beth Gibson, assistant principal of the Queen Elizabeth Academy,...
