Science: Unlocking Potential

Dr Caroline Oprandi Keeping you up to date with science and technology at PACA

Several years back when I was studying at the University of Brighton I had to purchase textbooks related to the UK’s GCSE and A Level Science national curriculum. However, it was rather annoying to discover that I soon had to purchase yet more books from the publisher Nelson Thornes because the textbooks had become outdated due to the changing AQA Examination Board specifications. AQA state on their website:
“Many educational books and digital resources are published each year to support new specifications and it can be a challenge for teachers to find the right resource for their students.”
It then occurred to me that whoever owns Nelson Thornes (now sold) must be making vast sums of money out of the changes in the national curriculum since schools will need to update their textbooks regularly. After a bit of research I found out that Nelson Thornes were in fact owned by the group: Infinitas Learning. Infinitas Learning itself is a portfolio company owned by the Hedge Fund Management Group Bridgepoint. This is what Bridgepoint have to say about Infinitas Learning:
“Infinitas offers bundled packages of content such as textbooks, teaching aids, testing and assessment tools and revision aids in both electronic and traditional format. With strong brands and market leadership positions in the markets in which it operates, Infinitas represents a strategic platform from which to consolidate a growing sector supported by increased government spending on education and curriculum changes. There are also increased growth opportunities in the e-learning, supplemental materials and testing and assessment segments.”
The other major exam board is Edexcel, owned by Pearson. It’s no surprise then, that in order to get the best Edexcel grades you will need to buy Pearson books.

Nelson Thornes has been sold to Oxford University Press. The review of the merger by the Office of Fair Trading had this to say in the report: “So the upshot is that with the forever changing exam board requirements schools have to update their textbooks regularly. In secondary schools, curriculum changes affect the content that schools and exam boards must cover. The extent of the change will determine whether new resources are needed.”
A few years back Oxford University Press was ordered to pay nearly £1.9m after two subsidiary companies bribed government officials for contracts to supply school textbooks in East Africa. Supplying textbooks to schools has obviously become a very lucrative business.
The national curriculum was first introduced for state schools in 1988 to ensure that state schools of all local education authorities have a common curriculum and furthermore enabled the compilation of league tables. The league tables were then intended to encourage parents to choose schools based on their measured ability to teach the national curriculum. The national curriculum does not apply to independent schools. Brighton College has this to say about the national curriculum:
“The college is not obliged to follow the national curriculum and chooses not to. We believe that our own innovative and imaginative curriculum better prepares children for GCSEs, A Levels and beyond.”
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