iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Players must eat a three bird roast 20 minutes before kickoff At least two of Shaun Goater, Paul Dickov and Uwe Rosler must be on the pitch at any moment in time Must play 442

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Man! This kind of filled in a 2 decade blank! My year 12 (well, non parallel A level maths teacher) showed us this. And the idea has kind of always been there but as a sort of fuzzy witchcraft I couldn't quite remember how to do! Made me crack a smile at least.

010

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Replaced "do you conceptualise fractions as a number exists on a number line, or as an operation between two numbers that needs to be completed", which had been my previous obsession.

120

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I got really fascinated by the conceptualisation of all this after a viral "divide by zero" situation a couple of years back. Genuinely started asking random colleagues and friends how they think about division. Wrote a bit about it - themarkscheme.co.uk/whats-the-pr...

themarkscheme.co.uk

The Formula of a Formula: What’s the problem with Division? (aka. Reconciling the different conceptualisations of division, and what happens when we divide by zero?) - The Mark Scheme

Why do students struggle with division? Can we divide by zero? Is knowledge of ‘sharing’ enough? SPOILERS: No it’s not.

120

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

As a teacher and as a parent, this makes me very happy.

001

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

For all the talk of the best schools and the worst schools in our system, and the issues with exam marking accuracy, at least what our students achieve, we can be assured of reasonable consistency. Even when comparing students from the 'very best' and the 'very worst' schools.

100

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Experiences of this week has made me appreciate the national curriculum and externally assessed qualifications even more than I already did. Some countries seem to have zero consistency. Seemingly 'equivalent' students in study and achievement that are so laughably different.

100

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Could not be happier at what this question I wrote threw up as discussion points in today's lesson. Even better than I had hoped. #mathstoday #alevelmaths

283

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Coming tomorrow! Making sense of the so called 'relentless' GCSE resit cycle, the proposed Level 1 'stepping stones' and what about Functional Skills? #edusky

020

Reposted by The Mark Scheme

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

We need to stop talking about Michaela: It's now time for 'what next'? The name's a bit clickbaity. There's been some fallout since I wrote most of this, so want to clarify there is zero negativity towards the school, it has sustained excellence - we just need to look beyond. LINK IN 3RD POST

111

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Remember, it's the 'student centred approach' where... YOU GET A B! YOU GET A B! EVERYBODY GETS A B!

static.klipy.com

Oprah's Iconic 'You Get A Car!' Moment

ALT: Oprah's Iconic 'You Get A Car!' Moment

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Some excerpts. I do make comment how the frenzy around the one individual school and magnification beyond relative footprint can cause problems in perspective...link in next post.

100

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

111

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Social class indicator. Are you “exceptionally brilliant”, “fearless” and “one of a kind”, or a “joker”, “salt of the earth” and do you “love your mum”? /’satire’ or something

010

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Pushing again - themarkscheme.co.uk/ks4-tech-ed/ Should schools need to think about regional needs? Does social mobility require geographical mobility? Is the KS4 to KS5 transition working as well as it could? (And is continually tinkering KS5 the way to fix it?) #edusky

000

Reposted by The Mark Scheme

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Link in next post. Please read, please share. A big read with some data, perspectives and justifications I've not seen elsewhere, such as KS4 as a lead to KS5. 1. Is it ‘actually’ going to be a dramatic change to curriculum? 2. Does a school need to focus on Regional Needs? ...

101

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Missed this the first time round, thanks for posting!

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I'm a nobody in FE who has an unhealthy obsession with the structures of education. My perceptions are likely skewed by what I see in FE, but I do think there does need to be tweaks in the system as the continuous shuffling and changing at KS5 in isolation isn't getting the desired results.

010

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

In the fallout, conversation has swung to vocations and what are thought of as ‘trades’, but they aren't what make the announcement. Could it become that, of course, but those roles are generally self filling without intervention. The labour market focus suggests this is trying to do something else.

110

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Sam has much more knowledge of the political world, I understand the skepticism (I have some of it as well), but I still don't foresee it being as hard a split as many envisage. On average a student ends up with 7.8 GCSEs, the core curriculum in the announcement accounts for around 5 or 6 still.

221

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

101

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Dropping something new tomorrow. It's a big one. #edusky

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

This is the issue with T Levels. The occupational aspect is a nightmare and proving incredibly difficult to scale.

011

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

...because they happen to say the words “learning style” on a webpage. Whilst many are lining up and raving about an institution that says “we are now identifying the best resource for each kid” as the future of schooling. 2/2

120

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

1/2 #edusky in education we have a real problem with deciding “words” are bad and not what they actually represent. So we have people kicking off at universities trying to support students to navigate the different types of resources that are available to them

110

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Confession time! I was in Birmingham on Saturday doing my part to uphold Great British culture...

Gardeners World Live at the Birmingham NEC

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Some beautiful values cropping up near the end of the paper

010

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Clarity would obviously be preferable. But I can see the argument they could make as to why it wasn't.

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Oh yeah! Definitely some mad dimension stuff going on across both parts of the parametric either way, but conceptualise as a vector and it's part and parcel of mechanics. I just feel the convention of mathematics is there, beyond just "what is done on exam papers usually" that this would be radians

100

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Just to clear a bit more, as I posted late and didn't properly explain. If t was degrees, dx/dt could become [metres per degree-second], a nonsensical unit.

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

I guess think of it this way, if y was not trigonometric would there be any thoughts that t could be in degrees when x = 10✓t?

200

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

To be honest I hadn't noticed that about the Q! Not something one of my log brought up about it, although I did have a couple say they tried to differentiate for the 1 mark pt.a. I guess the argument that the x equation means degrees are not possible for t, but that does seem out of routine

110

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Strange question in that a lot was going on, but you needed to do very little with all that information. I did like how pt.b explicitly asking for solution 2 could be foreshadowing to Q7 down the line.

100

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

We're probably a bit sick by now, but is the fallout to Edexcel A Level Maths Paper 1 justified? We're talking accessibility, the FA cup 4th round and what the reaction tells us about how to best prepare learners for exams... themarkscheme.co.uk/edexchell-20... #alevelmaths

180

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Relative difficulty wise, it is a step up from the last couple of years. More questions that prevent you from progressing if you missed earlier parts. Also, how many questions were accessible to learners with AS skills? I think 1, maybe 2? Last year I think it was about 7 questions on paper 1?

020

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

As for substitution. Maybe with a trapezium rule problem, or just parametric integration.

010

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Reaction seems based on "superficial" difficulty. There were a number of what many students would categorise as "difficult topics" (a range of integration etc). There's no Factor Theorem but 4 Q's on integration. It doesn't matter that the parts Q is more "straightforward' than it could have been.

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Two tier ____ (fill in the blank) lands well, and part of it is because people can just use it where they perceive that someone else other than them is the benefactor of something. A perfect voxpop for stirring anger, and a quick label to justify a viewpoint without rationale.

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Hi! Nice to see a friendly face still around. Yeah been good, just very busy. This place logged me out randomly one day, I forgot password, couldn't be bothered to reset for a long time. Cheese and wine is a good Saturday! Hope you're doing well.

010

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Some thought around the Millburn review 1) How will NEET young people cost the UK £125billion? 2) Is the situation getting worse? Is it unique? 3) Are 27 non-EU under 25’s hired for every young brit since 2020? 4) Is the report critical of schools? themarkscheme.co.uk/milburn-misc... #edusky

themarkscheme.co.uk

The Milburn Review - Misconceptions arising from the interim report into NEET young people - The Mark Scheme

We’re reviewing a number of misconceptions that have stemmed from the Milburn Review’s interim report

110

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

I NEED A MUSIC REC. Working on a project, full day at a PC, headphones in, avoid distraction. Efficiency is vital! I want some atmospheric/drone music similar to Eluvium. Tone is very important. As a lot of the stuff I've tried that algorithms throw up is far too "harsh". Serenity is key. Any ideas?

100

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

#ALevelMaths Happy Resultsplus refresh day to all those who celebrate

031

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Trying to entirely replace vocational programmes with occupational programmes is never going to work at the scale that would be required. Following it to its logical end, there's a huge risk of ingraining geographical inequalities even if it was "successful".

040

Reposted by The Mark Scheme

Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 23/07/2025

They’re not reducing pollution – they’re redefining it. The Environment Agency’s own rules mean most sewage dumps don’t count. This isn’t regulation. It’s cover. @eastangliabylines.co.uk

eastangliabylines.co.uk

Most sewage discharges aren’t classified as pollution incidents

Huge numbers of chemical discharges into our waterways are not being classified as a pollution incidents

8272149

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Can't quite explain it, but it's giving "live action Wind In the Willows" vibes

000

The Mark Scheme @themarkscheme.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Can't quite explain it, but it's giving "live action Wind In The Willows" vibes

010