David James
David James is a deputy head at a leading independent school and a classroom teacher in the state sector, who writes about education policy and school life from the vantage point of daily leadership in schools. His coverage focuses on how assessment, academic standards and the politics of schooling shape the prospects of working-class pupils and the future of independent and state schools. He contributes regular commentary on education to UnHerd, The Critic, CapX and the national press.
Exams, Assessment and Academic Standards
James writes on exams and assessment with a consistent concern for rigour and fairness, especially for working-class pupils. In UnHerd he has argued that moving exams online betrays those students, treating the shift to digital assessment not as a neutral upgrade but as a change that amplifies disparities in access to equipment, connectivity and quiet study space.
He develops the theme of standards in The Critic, where he critiques efforts to bend outcomes so more pupils gain qualifications, warning that making classroom content easier undermines the value of those qualifications and the integrity of teaching.
In CapX he has examined ministerial reforms through pieces such as his assessment of Nick Gibb’s departure from government, using that moment to weigh the impact of policies on curriculum coherence and pupil attainment. Across these outlets he returns to the link between exam design, grading policy and the lived reality of pupils and teachers, treating assessment as the core mechanism through which education systems either widen or narrow opportunity.
Independent Schools and Social Mobility
James writes about independent schools from inside their leadership, but with an eye on their role in a wider system that includes state schools and disadvantaged communities. As deputy head in the independent sector, he draws on direct experience of how these schools organise teaching, pastoral care and qualifications, and he contrasts that practice with the pressures he sees in the state sector.
In The Critic he has defended independent schools against ideological attacks from the Left, arguing in one piece that political campaigns to curtail or penalise them risk damaging educational diversity and the opportunities they can offer to pupils. His coverage of independent schools often pivots on social mobility: he explores how scholarship schemes, curriculum choices and expectations around behaviour and work ethic can shape trajectories for pupils from a range of backgrounds. In his book work, including a recent title on lessons from schools doing things differently, he extends this interest in school-level innovation into a broader argument about what can be learned across sectors when leaders are willing to experiment.
The result is coverage that is sympathetic to independent schools but grounded in practical questions about access, standards and the system-wide effects of policy proposals.
Teaching Unions and the Politics of Schooling
James follows the internal politics of teaching unions closely and treats them as major actors in the education system rather than background institutions.
In UnHerd he has written on the country’s largest teaching union, describing its recent moves as an attempt at a power grab that would extend its influence over classroom practice and school governance. In that piece he traces how union leadership frames issues such as workload, inspections and curriculum, and he contrasts those positions with the interests of classroom teachers and school leaders trying to maintain standards.
His writing connects union strategy to wider political forces, showing how negotiations, ballots and public campaigns translate into concrete changes in what happens in lessons, in exam halls and in the relationships between schools and parents.
Because he writes as a serving senior leader, his treatment of unions combines an understanding of policy with a practical sense of how directives and agreements land in staffrooms and governing bodies. The tone is analytical rather than partisan, but he is clear about the risks he sees when union power is used to obstruct reforms that, in his view, benefit pupils and uphold academic expectations.
School Leadership and Classroom Experience
James’s commentary is shaped by long experience in schools and by roles that span teaching, leadership and system-level work. Professional biographies describe more than twenty-five years in independent schools and a current role as deputy head, combined with ongoing classroom teaching in the state sector. He has taught English for many years, giving him a subject-based lens on curriculum, reading and writing standards, and the cultural content offered to pupils.
His experience includes work as a GCSE English Language examiner and as a school inspector, which informs his detailed attention to how assessments are constructed and how schools are judged.
He has served in advisory and residency roles with education bodies, adding familiarity with how central authorities design and implement policy frameworks. Alongside his journalism he has written and edited several books on education and literature, positioning him as a commentator who engages deeply with both classroom practice and the intellectual traditions that underpin schooling. This combination of senior leadership, inspection work and authorship means his articles tend to move quickly from headline policy debates to the day-to-day realities facing teachers, pupils and school leaders.
4 more education journalists.
Bridie Short
Bridie Short reports on how learning environments shape young people’s experiences and their engagement with wider issues. She writes about education for Lynn News, a local news publication with a focus on community stories. Her coverage centres on classrooms and other learning settings, with attention to the people and events that define daily life there. She has written about drama students paying homage to the climate emergency with a performance, framing their creative response as part of their educational experience and blending arts coverage with an education lens. Her education reporting sits within a broader community news agenda, linking school and college stories to general news. Her pieces are grounded in concrete events and activities, showing what students and staff are doing rather than focusing on abstract policy.
Catherine Strohfeldt
Catherine Strohfeldt reports how education policy, money and behaviour collide in Queensland classrooms and childcare services, focusing on what government decisions mean for students, families and teachers day to day. She is an education reporter at Brisbane Times covering schools, universities and early learning alongside related state policy. She often starts with a single school, subject or provider to explain shifts in funding, discipline and workforce conditions, treating suspension statistics, surveys and on-the-ground accounts as complementary evidence. Her work links school fees, capital funding and teacher pay deals to who can access which schools and on what terms. Her beat extends into childcare chains in crisis and university leadership and governance. She also covers Queensland government, planning and environmental issues, showing how housing, health and coastal decisions reshape the communities in her education reporting.
Charles Bliss
Charles Bliss is a features-led reporter at the Eastern Daily Press whose distinct focus is education told through human stories about schools, pupils and the adults who work with them. He writes about what it feels like to be in a classroom or school community, using specific events, characters and concrete activity to show how reading, creativity and wellbeing are encouraged in young people. His education coverage centres children and teachers rather than policy, turning visits, campaigns and workshops into narrative pieces with practical detail. He gives particular weight to wellbeing, mental health and sensory learning, linking health, psychology and horticulture through tangible examples. Alongside education he covers health, environment, behaviour, everyday guidance and local innovation, using plain explanation, step-by-step advice and narrative structure to show how people learn, adapt and look after each other in their communities.
Conor Duffy
Conor Duffy stands out for linking education policy to the daily lives of students, parents and teachers, treating the classroom as part of a wider social system. He is the ABC’s national education and parenting reporter. His beat spans schools, universities and family life. He covers education policy, test scores, rankings, funding, teacher workload, behaviour, school refusal, student wellbeing and parenting stress. He reports on NAPLAN, university rankings, the Job Ready Graduates legislation and the cost of humanities degrees. He also covers privacy and school data. His reporting combines hard data, policy detail and personal stories. He has also done foreign, environment and investigative work for the ABC, including as North America correspondent, and has worked across Lateline, 7.30 and AM.