Aibu to think education at the moment is a race to the bottom?

I'm not sure it's a race to the bottom, but I do frequently become irritated by a one size fits all approach to learning and development. If a child shows aptitude in music or art, but not so much in maths and English, then nurture their passion and ability in those things and dial down the pressure to succeed in all areas. Accept that all children are different, with different interests and abilities. But that goes as much for parents as it does for teachers.

Secondary schools are very different from each other.

There are very selective grammar schools and they will be stretching their students.

There are massive comps where students will be in mixed ability groups.

There are failing schools where few students go because of their bad reputation and they struggle to get staff.

All schools are different.

Think you’re getting y7 (ie age 11-12) mixed up with 7 year old.
Op I don’t think you can judge it based on homework alone. What else is happening at the school that makes you concerned? I do worry about the national state of education in general due to funding and teachers leaving in droves.

you have a right to be concerned. What’s behaviour like in the school? You can contact school leaders and ask for a discussion. Maybe they’re thinking about increasing the rigour and expectations and what they need is a glimmer of hope that some parents will be supportive.

My year 7 rarely has homework- I’m glad about it. I had 3 pieces a day at high school and it was ridiculous. He gets time to chill, meet friends and do his sports clubs and enjoy being 11.

My 7 year old never has homework but I'm not too bothered at her age. I don't disagree though although I don't think homework is the barometer to measure by - my 9 year old has a tutor as he's clearly falling through the cracks in his disruptive class.

Well it's going to be school dependent surely. My Y8 has had homework set every day since Y7, his maths homework alone takes over an hour. The school has pretty high standards and performs very well (state, non selective).

homework often is just a box ticking exercise anyway. Unless it adds something to the learning then it is pointless.

I would be focusing more on what is happening in the classroom rather than using homework as a judgement factor.

Also once they get into GCSE sets it tends to get better in all schools. It is year 8 that I struggled the most with all of mine as they are in no man’s land and nobody seems to care what they are up to.

I think you just have to accept that you have to sign them up to various websites now. Try Dr Frost for Maths, Seneca for Science, we also have a DuoLingo subscription. You have to DiY it but at least there is great tech now and libraries are still free. Reading kindle a hit here too and there are free library apps. So whilst state education is challenged there are tons of free resources.
DDs state grammar has just lost a ton of the best teachers. But what can you do other than fill the gaps yourself.