By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
Nick Gibb, Minister of State at the Department for Education, failed a SATs grammar question for 11-year-olds on radio today.
He had spent the day defending the primary school exams system, which many parents think puts too much pressure on their offspring.
However, he manage to get a question wrong, which features on the very tests he thinks eleven-year-olds should ace.
Martha Kearney: Let me give you this sentence, “I went to the cinema after I’d eaten my dinner”. Is the word “after” there being used as a subordinating conjunction or as a preposition?
Nick Gibb: Well, it’s a proposition. “After” – it’s…
MK: [Laughing]: I don’t think it is…
NG: “After” is a preposition, it can be used in some contexts as a, as a, word that coordinates a subclause, but this isn’t about me, Martha…
MK: No, I think, in this sentence it’s being used a subordinating conjunction!
NG: Fine. This isn’t about me. This is about ensuring that future generations of children, unlike me, incidentally, who was not taught grammar at primary school…
MK: Perhaps not!
NG: …we need to make sure that future generations are taught grammar properly.
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
