Howard Gibson

In 2015 the Consumer Rights Act made universities ‘traders’ and students ‘consumers’. Academic literature on the adverse consequences of the law has been copious, with many critical of the ‘student-as-consumer’ metaphor and others concerned for the rise of ‘a culture of litigation’. One area that has remained outside the remit…

Today all state-maintained schools in England are required to ‘promote’ – not merely teach – ‘fundamental British values’. This ‘active duty’, to espouse the values of ‘democracy’ ‘the rule of law’ ‘equal treatment’ ‘individual liberty’ and ‘tolerance’, is inspected by OFSTED to ensure compliance (OFSTED, 2015). Already some schools have…