Category
Because qualifications in England are delivered by competing awarding organisations rather than by the state — a market structure, overseen by a regulator whose job is to ensure that the same grade
An Access to Higher Education Diploma is a qualification designed specifically for adults without the usual entry qualifications, taken in a year full-time, and accepted by universities in place of
It is far more common than people assume, and the consequences depend heavily on when you do it — the financial position in particular changes at specific points in the year, and acting before those
By a formula set by each university individually, weighting modules by level and credit — which is why two students with identical marks at different institutions can receive different
Adjustments to how an exam is taken — extra time, a reader, a scribe, a separate room, rest breaks, assistive technology — intended to remove a disadvantage without giving an advantage. That
Through one of several routes to qualified teacher status, which differ mainly in whether you train mostly at a university or mostly in a school, and in whether you are paid while training. The
The finding that a substantial proportion of published research findings cannot be reproduced when the studies are repeated — documented most prominently in psychology and medicine, and subsequently
Tenure is a form of permanent appointment protecting an academic from dismissal except for defined serious cause — and in the form it takes in the United States, it does not exist in the UK, which is
Reviews research involving people, their data or their tissue before it begins, to assess whether the risks to participants are justified and properly managed — a prior approval requirement, not a
How they are reviewed, how quickly they appear, and how much they count — and the answer varies enormously by discipline, which is the source of most cross-field misunderstanding. Journal article.
Considerably more than the research itself — and the largest single component is frequently people, with a substantial additional amount going to the institution rather than to the project. The
Whether the method is specified in advance and reproducible. A literature review surveys what has been written; a systematic review follows a pre-registered protocol designed to find and appraise all
Making research papers freely readable rather than behind a subscription — and the argument for it is straightforward, while the mechanisms for paying for it have created new problems. The case for
Two widely used metrics — one measuring a journal, one measuring a researcher — both extensively criticised and both still consequential for careers and funding. Journal impact factor. The average
A postdoctoral researcher is someone with a doctorate employed on a fixed-term research contract — and the structural reason the position is precarious is straightforward arithmetic that nobody
A doctorate is awarded for an original contribution to knowledge, and the viva voce is the oral examination at which that contribution is defended — a process that differs substantially from every
Yes. Term-time absence without authorisation can result in a penalty notice, and the rules were tightened and made more consistent across England from August 2024. The legal position. Parents have a
Two are lawful formal processes with defined procedures; the third is unlawful and describes removing a pupil informally to avoid those procedures. Suspension (formerly fixed-period exclusion). A
A measure of how much progress pupils make between the end of primary school and their GCSEs, compared with pupils who started at a similar level nationally — designed to judge the school's
Provides strategic oversight of a school and holds its leadership to account — a voluntary, unpaid role with genuine legal responsibility that most people assume is largely ceremonial. The three core
Educating a child outside school, which is lawful in the UK — and the legal duty is frequently misunderstood, because it is not a duty to send a child to school. The actual legal duty. Parents must
Additional funding given to schools in England for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, intended to close the attainment gap between them and their peers. Who it is paid for: pupils who are
Places are allocated by published oversubscription criteria, applied in order, when a school receives more applications than places — and "catchment" is only one of several possible criteria, not a
Three different things frequently confused, because two describe governance and one describes selection. The governance categories: Maintained school. Funded and overseen by the local authority,