Overview

Following a lengthy period of consultation and planning, the Cambridge Primary Review (CPR) was launched in October 2006 as a fully independent enquiry into the condition and future of primary education in England. The Review has been supported since its inception by generous grants from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. The scope of the Review and the depth of its evidence have made it the most comprehensive enquiry into English primary education since the Plowden report of 1967. Between October 2007 and February 2009 the Review published 31 interim reports, including 28 surveys of published research, 39 briefings, 14 media releases and several newspaper articles. The Review's 608-page final report Children, their World, their Education: final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review was published on 16 October 2009, together with an 850-page companion volume, The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys. Both books are published by Routledge. The final report was accompanied by a briefing paper, a media release and a widely-disseminated introductory booklet.

The Review's work has fallen into four distinct phases:

  • January 2004 – September 2006 : consultation and planning.
  • October 2006 – September 2009 : implementation and interim reporting.
  • October 2009 – September 2010 : publication, dissemination and discussion of the final report.
  • October 2010 – September 2012 : building on the CPR through professional networking and policy engagement.

The Review was initiated and has been directed since its inception by Professor Robin Alexander, Fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Education Emeritus at the University of Warwick. During the implementation phase (2006-9), the work of the Review's central team at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education was supported by 66 research consultants in 21 university departments, a 20-strong advisory committee chaired by Dame Gillian Pugh, a management group chaired by Hilary Hodgson, and a communications strategy led by Dr Richard Margrave.

Following its 2004-6 consultations, the CPR concentrated on ten broad themes central to which were questions of value, purpose, process, content and quality in England's primary schools. The Review combined analysis of the current system with exploration of the national and global challenges which lie ahead; and it considered how, in the interests of both children and society, primary education should respond to these.

The Review was firmly grounded in both national and international evidence. There were four evidential strands:

  • 1052 formal written submissions from individuals and organisations that wished to contribute, together with thousands of emails offering evidence, opinions and suggestions;
  • over 250 meetings with a wide range of groups, including the 87 regional 'community soundings' with groups of children, teachers, parents and community representatives and a large number of sessions with national stakeholders, both professional and political;
  • systematic searches and re-assessments of official data from DCSF (now DfE), Ofsted, QCA, TDA and the OECD;
  • 28 comprehensive surveys and evaluations, commissioned from leading national experts, of over 3000 sources of published research relating to the Review's ten themes.

This range of evidence enabled the Review to be authoritative yet responsive, evidence-based yet visionary.

The CPR's dissemination phase (2009-10) was led by Robin Alexander and Julia Flutter, with support from members of the Advisory Committee, contributors to the final report and many others. The dissemination programme included major conferences under the Review's own auspices which culminated in the a set of primary education policy priorities for the parties contesting the 2010 general election, together with numerous events organised by others.

Teachers, teacher educators and local authority representatives who attended the CPR's dissemination conferences supported the Review's ideas and recommendations and indicated their eagerness to take them forward. At the same time, many expressed the fear that they could not do so without 'permission' from their Ofsted inspectors and/or local authority school improvement partners or – in the case of ITT providers – from TDA. It is in response to this unease that the CPR's National Primary Network has been set up. Led by Alison Peacock, Head Teacher of The Wroxham Primary School, Potters Bar, and supported by six regional centres and a steering committee, the network will encourage, support and disseminate the work of those teachers and teacher educators who are keen to explore, test, apply or build upon the CPR's evidence, ideas and proposals.