Education
Claim ‘nine in 10’ teachers voted to strike is misleading
Teaching union NASUWT claimed that nine in 10 of its members voted to strike. Read
Fact checks
Education
We fact check and explain issues about schools, teacher shortages, childcare, universities, and qualifications.
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. Read
Fact checks
Education
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. Read
Fact checks
Education
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. Read
Fact checks
Education
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. Read
Fact checks
Education
Iain Duncan Smith’s figures on school absence are out of date
The former Conservative leader claimed that more than 90,000 pupils are now absent from school. Read
Fact checks
Education
Observer Twitter poll data on air monitors is meaningless
The Observer has reported that only 8% of schools have received CO2 monitors, based on a meaningless Twitter poll. Read
Fact checks
Education
MailOnline muddles professorship ethnicity figures
The Royal Society found that 3.5% of black academic staff working in STEM were professors, not that 3.5% of professors were black. Read
Fact checks
Education
Claim that up to 135,000 children have not returned to school needs more context
Figures supposedly showing that between 95,000 and 135,000 children failed to return to school this term are based on a snapshot of just one day. Read
Fact checks
Education
A survey of diversity in children’s books is flawed
A BBC News article said 10% of children’s books have an ethnic minority character, but this figure comes from flawed research. Read
Fact checks
