LibGuides: Education: Websites

Key websites

Access to official documentation, present and past.

Department for Education
Provides detailed coverage of major government initiatives and reports in Education.
The school curriculum
Contains information on curriculum requirements for state schools.
The National Curriculum - Paperback Book
Buy paperback copies of official documents related to the curriculum here.
Digital Education Resource Archive (DERA)
UCL / Institute of Education's digital archive of education-related documents by government and related bodies.
Education England
Derek Gillard's website providing original source material and comment on the history of England's school system.

Statistics for education

Office for National Statistics
Official statistics in various themes including: Children, Education and Skills
Department for Education - Data, research and statistics
Official statistics from the Department for Education.

Education resources

AcademicInfo - Education
One of a series of subject information gateways forming part of Academic Info, a directory of Internet resources tailored to a higher education audience. Each subject guide is an annotated listing of the best general Internet sites in the field, as well as a gateway to more advanced research tools. Includes links to online publications, language and study aids, reference materials, database archives, virtual libraries, tutorials, as well as other educational materials. Compiled in the United States.
Autism Data
The National Autistic Society's free online database of published materials on autism.
BBC Bitesize
A collection of BBC video clips for use in the classroom - browse by school level, subject and topic.
Institute of Education Gateways and Portals
Some useful links to online resources relevant to Education available on the Internet.
Structure of European education systems
Online version of:
European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2020. The Structure of the European Education Systems
2020/21: Schematic Diagrams. Eurydice Facts and Figures. Luxembourg: Publications Office of
the European Union.

Organisations and institutions

CfBT Education Trust
A leading authority on school improvement and school inspection with expertise in supporting the teaching of English and other languages.
Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE)
Offers free online access to some of its publications. Also provides links to other organisations concerned with inclusion as well as statistical information on inclusive education.
Institute of Education (IOE), University of London
Leading centre for educational research in the UK.
National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN)
Links provided to other useful sites, information on news and events, full text of press releases.
National College for Teaching & Leadership
Supports continuing professional and leadership development, and school improvement. The agency was formed from the merger of the National College for School Leadership and the Teaching Agency in April 2013.
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)
An independent educational research institution.
National STEM Centre
The National STEM Centre is building the largest collection of resources for teachers of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the UK. Alongside contemporary resource materials including print, multimedia, and practical resources, is a growing archive collection, which showcases several decades of curriculum development. Many of these resources are freely available online from the National STEM Centre E-Library.
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) is officially the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England. This site provides summaries of recent inspections.
Signature
UK body promoting excellence in communication with deaf and deafblind people. (Formerly Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People). Offers nationally recognised qualifications, including in deaf awareness and British Sign Language (BSL). Buy publications from their shop or register for their online BSL homework service to practice and test yourself in BSL. The first unit and online dictionary is free.

Guides and tutorials

The Web
A brief guide to finding information which includes links to the main search engines.

Tips on evaluating websites

Before believing the information given on a web site, or quoting it in your essay or project, think about the following:

Authority

Who is responsible for the page/site?
Is it a reliable organisation (eg a well known university) or a subject expert?
Can you trust them?

Accuracy and reliability

Is the information correct?
Is the grammar and spelling correct?
Is it complete, or are they just giving one point of view?
Do they have their own agenda eg political organisations?
Is the information fact or opinion?

Currency

Can you tell how up-to-date it is?
Is it regularly updated?
You don't want to quote out-of-date information

Audience / relevance

Is the information of the right level to be quoted in your project? If it is aimed at the general public or school children it might not be!

Feel!

Is the site well structured and easy to navigate?
Are the links from the page up-to-date and valid?
If it is well designed and maintained then you can feel more confident about the information it provides

Secondary Data

Data sets in this section can be used for secondary data analysis.

UK Data Service
Provides access to statistics from the OECD, UNESCO and World Bank. Some data is freely available, however for some data sets you may need to register further to request permissions after initial login.
Department for Education - Data, research and statistics
Official statistics from the Department for Education.
Quandl
Quandl is a freely available index of over 7 million time-series datasets, covering subjects such as commodity prices, health statistics, education statistics, demographics, etc. Quandl pulls together its data from over 400 freely available sources. Data can be downloaded in a number of formats.
Eurostat
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union and provides access to data on all member countries as well as some data on candidate member countries.
Statista
Statista provides quantitative data and statistics on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources.
IRIS Database
Holds datasets from published research in language learning and teaching.

Video Resources in this area can be used for 'Virtual Lesson Observations'

Academic Video Online on Alexander Street [video] This link opens in a new window
Video material including documentaries, interviews, performances, news programmes and newsreels covering a variety of events and themes.
We also have access to Academic Video Online on ProQuest

Academic Video Online is a comprehensive source of video material including 70,000 titles with curricular relevance: documentaries, interviews, performances, news programmes, newsreels and more. Use the Alexander Street link for the best browsing experience.

Academic Video Online comprises some of the following channels:

-60 Minutes: 1997-2014
-American History
-Black Studies
-LGBT Studies
-The March of Time
-World History
-World Newsreels Online 1929-1966

Some of subjects covered are:

-Art & Architecture
-Criminal Justice & Public Safety
-Drama
-Education
-Engineering
-Environmental Studies
-History
-Literature
-Politics & Current Affairs
-Psychology
-Science
-Theatre

Help and guidance
Alexander Street Press resources help

How you may use the content
Permitted

-lecture presentations
-Blackboard - embed the video in your module or link to it
-student work

Tip! You may make clips and playlists with the videos

Not permitted

-publicly available websites
-public display in University
-any alteration, adaption or modification the video

CHILDES Database
contains video and audio of parent-child interactions and also some of child-child interactions. Particularly useful for investigating language development in young learners.
Edugains
Includes video of classroom settings which can be used for virtual lesson observations.
Agape Management
Video of classroom settings, useful for virtual lesson observations of behaviour management.

Basic Introduction to Secondary Data Analysis: Qualitative Data
A sociology screencast examining the use of secondary qualitative data (documents)
Basic Introduction to Secondary Data Analysis: Quantitative Data
A sociology screencast examining the use of quantitative secondary data, particularly focusing on official statistics.

Using Secondary Data in Educational and Social Research by Smith
ISBN: 9780335236930
Publication Date: 2008-09-01
Available as an eBook