In October 2007 the Department of Education and the Department for Employment and Learning launched the draft document Preparing for Success for consultation. The aim was to make policy proposals for the future development of Careers Education,Information,Advice and Guidance and to set out a strategy that...

This report, edited by Wynne Harlen in 2009, sets out the principles that should underpin the science education of all students throughout their schooling. It argues that students should be helped to develop ‘big ideas’ of science and about science that will enable them to understand the scientific aspects of the...

A Catalyst article about the human gut and the many microbes it hosts, mainly bacteria. Probiotics are live bacterial ingredients or supplements designed to multiply in the colon and have an impact on health. A prebiotic is a carbohydrate that is not digestible by humans. The article examines the role they play,...

This ACME report from June 2016 looks at problem solving in mathematics, with particular focus on summative assessment.

Within the report ACME welcomes the strong emphasis on problem solving in recent reforms. It calls for "strong collaboration between the mathematics community, the Department for Education...

A Catalyst article describing how process chemists work in the pharmaceutical industry, devising methods of making new drugs. Process chemists are a link in the chain from an initial idea to a new drug making it to the market. It generally takes at least 10 years from an idea by a medicinal chemist to a new...

Published in 2014, an OECD report on data from the PISA survey looked at homework among 15-year-olds and asked whether homework perpetuates inequalities in education. According to the report, in 2012 students in the 38 countries covered by the survey spent an average of an hour less on their weekly homework than...

This CLIS report was intended to provide a longer term perspective on changes taking place in students’ understanding over the compulsory school years. The aim of the study was to inform teachers and curriculum designers about the ideas that students bring to and...

This book describes young people’s attitudes, beliefs, motivations and behaviours that affect their decisions on subject choice and career paths to add depth to the current understanding of how young people perceive STEM careers.

Four phases of research activity with young people; qualitative, social...

This resource considers how different subject areas can explicitly promote the learning of social and emotional skills. It provides an outline of how social and emotional skills are linked to subjects both in general terms and more specifically within each of the 2008 National Curriculum programmes of study. The...

This Catalyst article looks at the pterosaurs, which were flying reptiles, and which died out along with the dinosaurs. Analysis of the fossil record has increased scientists' knowledge of these creatures and how they lived. Bird watching during the Mesozoic Era, the expanse of time stretching between 245 and 65...

A Catalyst article explaining what happens when a scientist makes an exciting and new discovery. How do scientists manage to tell as many people as possible, and how can they be sure that someone else has not beaten them to it? Writing and publishing research in scientific journals is a long standing and popular...

A Catalyst article about Quantum Tunnelling Composite, a material discovered in 1997 and whose resistance decreases dramatically under pressure. How does it work and what uses will it have? The material has been carefully characterised (to understand its composition and how it works), and its first applications...

This strategy report looks at students' need for high quality information, advice and guidance (IAG) to help them make decisions and enable them to access the support and opportunities they need. This strategy sets out the steps that are being taken to improve the IAG offered, the importance of responding to a...

The British Science Association has been running the STEM enrichment programme for young people for almost 30 years.  This report is the first quantitative evidence of the impact of extra-curricular STEM interventions.

The report reveals that undertaking a CREST Silver Award appears to have a significant...

The questions in this framework can help governing bodies identify areas to celebrate or challenge in their schools, enabling them to work with their senior leaders to drive improvement. This framework aims to enable governors to perform at their best, exemplifying an approach which could benefit all curriculum...