Author Archives: Paul Bradshaw

About Paul Bradshaw

Founder of Help Me Investigate. I'm a visiting professor at City University London's School of Journalism, and run an MA in Online Journalism at Birmingham City University. I publish the Online Journalism Blog, and am the co-author of the Online Journalism Handbook and Magazine Editing (3rd edition). I have a particular interest in Freedom of Information and data journalism.

Investigating a “toxic waste dump” school – Sheila Oliver

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

Tweet Sheila Oliver has been investigating the decision to build a school on contaminated land over at sheilaoliver.org/toxic-waste-dump-school-.html – the processes that should have been followed… “After much harranguing by local residents the Council grudgingly carried out contamination investigations. These were completely … Continue reading →

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Pupil attendance – data and ideas

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetKath Torney has been investigating pupil attendance in Northern Ireland. She explains: Figures on attendance rates for every primary, secondary and grammar school have been released to The Detail by the Department of Education (DENI) in response to a Freedom … Continue reading →

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Useful education links for May 15th through June 12th

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

Tweet These are the education links we found interesting between May 15th and June 12th: Key Gove adviser blocked civil servants’ free school inquiries – Office of the Independent Adjudicator – OIA Homepage – The Higher Education Act 2004 required … Continue reading →

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Lead: do academy employee contracts include a “no strike clause”?

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetA former employee of the Ashcroft Technology Academy is interviewed on The Green Benches blog and suggests that contracts included a “no strike clause”. The interview covers a number of employment conditions, including less holiday than in state schools; longer … Continue reading →

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Can you do anything with schools performance data for Northern Ireland?

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetKathryn Torney at TheDetail.tv has been using FOI requests to look into school performance in Northern Ireland. She’s agreed to share her data on Help Me Investigate Education – let us know if you use it for your own work … Continue reading →

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Document: Conducting inspections of children’s homes

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetOfsted have just published a guidance document on inspecting children’s homes, which should be of interest if you’re investigating, or planning to investigate, that area. Guidance documents like these can be key in demonstrating the difference between what people should … Continue reading →

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Question: “Almost £1bn” spent on keeping students in university – where does it go?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetAs part of an investigation, one of my students came across a statistic from 2008 that mentioned spending on preventing students from dropping out of university: “A report by MPs on the powerful Commons public accounts committee [said] more than … Continue reading →

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Data: EU education spending

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetThe Guardian have compiled some useful data on EU spending, which includes spending on education. This is tucked away under the category of “Citizenship, freedom, security and justice” where education spending sits alongside asylum and culture. The full data is available … Continue reading →

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Receive email or RSS alerts on education reports, consultations and links

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetInfo4local.gov.uk is a useful government website providing feeds and email alerts on a range of services – including education. The registration page for email alerts gives an indication of how narrowly or widely your free subscription can cover – from … Continue reading →

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James Ball on how UCAS gather ‘deprivation’ stats on applications

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetJames Ball has written an illuminating piece on the recent UCAS statistics and reports which suggested that applications from wealthy students had dropped much more than those from poorer students. He adds some important context on precisely which applicants the data … Continue reading →

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Link: Boris Johnson advertises for unpaid intern (and some legal context)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetGraduate Fog do some straightforward digging to reveal that London Mayor Boris Johnson, who “attacked young jobseekers for lacking the “appetite” to find work”: “Is busy recruiting for his own unpaid intern to help with his Back Boris 2012 campaign … Continue reading →

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Relaunched crime map includes ‘public buildings’ – including schools and universities

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Paul Bradshaw

TweetThe relaunched Police.uk crime website includes a new feature which allows you to find details of crimes near schools, universities and colleges. Type in the name of an institution and you’ll get a map around that area. But if you … Continue reading →

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