Dennis Hayes

Professor of Education at the University of Derby

We don't know what education is and, as a consequence, we do not know what debate means. Debate is at the heart of education and if there is a crisis about one there is a crisis about the other.

Professor Guy Claxton

World renowned authority on expandable intelligence; what it is, why it matters, and how to grow it

Where have we gone so wrong when Michael Gove acknowledges only two kinds of education - traditional (good) and progressive (bad) - and insists on turning the clock back to a form of testing that while having some benefits (rigour, an ability to discriminate amongst the 'brightest' ) self-evidently entails severe costs?

Chris M. Edwards

Assistant Headteacher, English and Maths teacher

Any student fortunate enough to have come away from the great GCSE grading fiasco of 2012 with higher than an A grade will, according to the criteria set out, have a solid grasp on the concept of irony.

Chris M. Edwards

Assistant Headteacher, English and Maths teacher

Effectively, we are everything you hate and everything you would like to abolish. We are the skidmark on the sparkling underpants of your brave new world of academies and free schools.

Ian Silvera

Freelance journalist interested in politics, welfare and investigative reporting

Should Olympic champion Usain Bolt share his gold medal with his 100 metre competitors? Should a CEO be paid the same as a trainee? Should all competitions be banned? It is unlikely that most people would say yes to the above questions, but there are a group of people who do just that. They are called 'cultural Marxists'.

Elliot Goddard

16-year-old-student, aspiring journalist

I was never very good at any of the sciences, but I don't regret taking them as I believe it is important to have a basic understanding of them. In the same way, it is important to have a basic understanding of mathematics as it will prove useful later on in life.

Bansi Kara

A Head of English in Hackney who believes in the possibility of change in education

In saving themselves, AQA and the other major exam boards have damaged students' chances of future success. What's in a C? It's not just a measure by which schools are placed in league tables - it is a passport to further education and higher education.

Alex Dyer

Director of Tutor House, a private tutoring company in Fulham, London, where he works full time. He is still tutoring and gives university and gap year advice

A spokesman from the Department for Education said, "It's right that minimum expectations of schools should continue to rise." In addition Michael Gove, the Education Secretary has said in the past that he wants to abolish GCSE's and introduce 'explicitly harder' O-Levels.

Marie Staunton

Chair of Raleigh International and of the Equality and Diversity Forum

Tomorrow, August 23rd, British girls are likely to yet again outperform boys in GCSE results. So why as I travel around the world am I so often told that girls are either not as bright or not as interested in school as boys? Perhaps because while girls are outperforming girls in the "Global North", in Latin America and in the Caribbean, the opposite is true in many developing countries.

Alex Dyer

Director of Tutor House, a private tutoring company in Fulham, London, where he works full time. He is still tutoring and gives university and gap year advice

Another factor to consider is what specific subjects do universities require for entry? Obvious ones like Medicine require Biology and Chemistry, not so obvious is Mathematics as a pre-requisite for some Psychology courses.