Best Schools - Pisa boss Andreas Schleicher says that UK private schools excel in teaching 21st century skills

The head of the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), today gave evidence to the Commons Education Select Committee about the fourth industrial revolution.

He said: “The challenge for education is not to develop a kind of second-class robot, but to focus on those skills where humans have an advantage, which is perspective-taking, which is looking at problems from multiple angles, making judgement."

He added: “The fact [that such skills] don’t get recognised in exam systems means often that teachers treat them as a ‘nice to have’ except, of course, in your private schools; if you look at the big differentiator here, what they [independent schools] are largely about is those kinds of 21st century skills. It’s all about character development.”

Considered one of the most influential voices in world education, Schleicher also tells MPs arts subjects could become more important than maths and that exams in England should become less high-stakes for teachers, but more high-stakes for pupils.

A linguistics course, pulling in English, MFL and the classics, could fix our tongue-tied curriculum, says former chief master of King Edward’s School in Birmingham

John Claughton, former chief master of King Edward’s School in Birmingham, offers "two modest proposals" on how languages can be saved in schools. He notes how partnerships between state and independent schools can be an advantage in lesson delivery and building pupils' excitement for the subject.