The government is under pressure to increase the money it gives schools to pay for free meals for infant pupils. The Lead Association for Catering in Education (LACA),...
News
Not a single failing school became an academy less than nine months after an inspection in at least 26 local authorities over the past three years, Schools Week...
A bankrupt county council siphoned off £9 million meant for school improvements in a desperate bid to prop up its depleted reserves, it has been revealed. Northamptonshire county...
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Computer science GCSEs will continue to be assessed purely on exams until 2020 after tasks from the test were leaked online, Ofqual has announced. Following its announcement in...
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Thirty-six teacher-training organisations have been approved to deliver apprenticeships after the Department for Education opened a secret application window just for them. Seventeen academy trusts, 11 schools, three...
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The Charity Commission has played down rumours it is taking a stronger stance on safeguarding at private and unregistered schools after opening more investigations in the past four...
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The Department for Education has acknowledged that more needs to be done to help schools prepare for strict new data protection laws, with just over a month left...
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Ofsted will save more than £2 million by giving ‘good’ schools – and those with “serious weaknesses” – an extra year between inspections, Schools Week can exclusively reveal....
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The parliamentary education committee has launched an inquiry into school and sixth-form funding, to consider whether a 10-year plan is needed to preserve “high quality” education. The inquiry,...
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Understanding of how GCSEs work dropped after the new 9 to 1 grading system came in. A survey of almost 3,000 heads, teachers, parents, universities and the public...
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Another University Technical College has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, taking the total number in the category to six. Following an inspection in mid-February, South Wiltshire UTC was...
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Almost half of academy leaders believe that the extra autonomy granted to academies has no positive impact in the classroom, according to new analysis by the Sutton Trust....
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England needs to double the number of disadvantaged pupils who achieve the top GCSE grades in maths to catch up with the best-performing countries around the world, according...
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MPs on the parliamentary education committee will hold an inquiry into support for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). The committee’s probe will examine the impact...
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Ofqual will not limit the number of teacher-examiners at private schools, despite a wave of cheating allegations at some of the country’s most prestigious schools last summer. The regulator...
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Chief executives at multi-academy trusts must stop and make changes as they develop or risk undermining their ability to improve schools sustainably, according to new research. A report...
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Ofsted has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on meals in restaurants, nights in hotels, overseas travel and in bars, according to its credit card bill. The watchdog...
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Pupil referral units in Dorset are turning away some excluded pupils after the local authority ran out of money to fund them. Dorset county council says its learning...
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The government-backed company tasked with buying sites for new schools is looking at providing housing for teachers in new developments, its chief executive has revealed. Lara Newman (pictured...
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Leading figures from the special educational needs community have backed calls for a “bill of rights” to protect pupils excluded from school, but want it to be more...
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Headteachers have warned parents not to take part in a planned boycott of this year’s SATs. The campaign group Let Our Kids Be Kids is gearing up for...
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The National Union of Teachers and Association of Teachers and Lecturers held their last conferences as separate unions over the Easter break. The two sections will meet as...
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The Careers & Enterprise Company published its first official implementation plan this week, but what does it mean for schools? Samantha King reports. From September, schools will be...
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Schools should be forced to run related-party transactions past the government for prior approval, a powerful parliamentary committee has recommended – dividing opinion among unions and lobbying groups....
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In 2017, the government passed a law forcing every organisation with 250 or more employees to publish specific figures about the difference in pay between genders, both on...
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Chief executives at some small academy trusts are raking in salaries as high as those with 10 times the schools under their control. Exclusive Schools Week analysis has...
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Nearly one in three children who start primary school in England at the age of five are not “school ready”, according to new analysis by Teach First. The...
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Schools with “serious weaknesses” will get an additional year to turn around their fortunes under changes announced by Ofsted today. The watchdog will increase the maximum time between...
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One in four participants in the government’s doomed ‘Troops to Teachers’ course quit before earning their teaching qualification, Schools Week has learned, raising questions over the decision to...
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Just six per cent of would-be trainee teachers locked out of the pre-qualifying test for their courses under old government rules have applied to take the tests again...
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The government is under mounting pressure to reveal detailed plans for its new teacher vacancy website and explain how exactly it will help schools save money. Ministers promised...
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The proportion of women appointed to leadership roles in schools is rising, but men are still being promoted more quickly, new analysis shows. The Department for Education has...
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The first application round for the £140 million strategic school improvement fund was neither fair nor transparent according to an independent evaluation of the process. An evaluation conducted by...
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ATL has voted to stop parents “selectively” withdrawing their children from religious education lessons, claiming the practice is increasingly fuelled by antisemitism and Islamaphobia. Members of the union...
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The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has been chosen to deliver the controversial new baseline test for reception children, which will be rolled out to all schools by...
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Eleven of the schools previously run by the collapsed Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT) have officially transferred to new sponsors. WCAT announced last September that it was giving up all...
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The government has written to all multi-academy trusts that are paying a salary of £100,000 to £150,000 to multiple employees, to ask them to justify why they are...
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Funding cuts mean schools are struggling to provide proper support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, the National Education Union has warned. In a survey of 901...
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The government has abandoned a years-old proposal to force out-of-school settings to register with councils following a fierce backlash from faith leaders. Instead, a voluntary code of practice...
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The government is consulting on whether schools should be fined if pupils are taken off their rolls to be educated at home. A consultation on home education launched today...
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Multi-academy trusts are getting away with “the fraudulent misuse of public money” while Ofsted and schools commissioners fight a turf war, a union leader has warned. Dr Mary...
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If the government does not reduce teacher workload, the National Education Union will take action, one of its leaders has warned. Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary...
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Dr Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the ATL, delivered a powerful speech to the union’s last conference in Liverpool this morning. Here’s what she said. I...
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The government must “bear some responsibility” for the rise in the number of pupils with mental ill-health, the National Education Union has said. According to the union, growing...
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Funding to help the most talented pupils get a place at private music, dance and drama schools has been extended, but unions have warned the majority of children...
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A careers programme which links Jobcentre staff with pupils does not have enough resources to expand, despite a positive response from teachers at many of the 1,200 schools...
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Schools will no longer be forced to collect data on their pupils’ nationality and country of birth following a major U-turn by the government, Schools Week can exclusively...
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The National Education Union will discuss proposals for a union-run supply teacher vacancy service after members demanded action on agencies that make exorbitant charges on schools but pay...
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A former adviser to Michael Gove is leaving Teach First to head up the overseas operation for a leading multi-academy trust. Sam Freedman, an executive director at Teach...
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Pressure to boost pupil test scores and exam grades is to blame for the workload woes of three in four teachers, according to a National Education Union survey....
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School support staff are being forced to work unpaid overtime as a result of increasing workload and dwindling staffing levels, a new survey has found. Dr Mary Bousted,...
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The chief executive of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has resigned over safeguarding failings at one of the charity’s special schools. Sally Harvey’s decision to step...
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As many as one in eight children stand to lose their entitlement to free school meals under new eligibility criteria introduced by the government, according to a leading...
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Women working for academy trusts in England earn 31 per cent less than men, new research shows. According to Education Datalab, the median gender pay gap at the...
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A Catholic boarding school under investigation over its handling of abuse allegations has been stripped of its safeguarding responsibilities by the Charity Commission. An interim manager has been...
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The union-led school funding campaign credited with bringing the issue to the forefront of last year’s general election campaign is not over, Kevin Courtney said today. During a...
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Kevin Courtney, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, addressed the organisation’s last ever conference in Brighton this afternoon. Here’s what he said… President, Conference...
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An Essex grammar school has been ordered to age-weight the results of its 11-plus entry exam after the admissions watchdog found that the test disadvantages summer-born children. In...
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The Labour Party will today launch a consultation on its plans for a National Education Service. Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, will announce the “NES roadshow”, an...
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More than a fifth of school staff are worried that pupils eligible for free school meals are not claiming them. A poll of 900 National Education Union members...
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The government stands accused of starving councils of cash to help SEND pupils, after the number of pupils without a school place more than doubled in a year....
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The National Union of Teachers has committed to ballot its members for strike action next year if teachers aren’t granted a 5 per cent pay rise. The union...
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Schools are increasingly cutting support for SEND pupils, particularly at primary level, a union survey has found. Seventy-seven per cent of primary school teachers and 55 per cent...
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Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman “overstepped the mark” in her comments about pupils wearing the hijab, according to a leading teaching union, which plans to issue new guidance...
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Rules on related-party transactions are “too weak to prevent abuse,” a powerful Commons committee has concluded. The public accounts committee today published its assessment of academy trust finances...
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The government has announced £514 million to help expand and improve buildings and facilities at around 1,300 academies and sixth-form colleges. The ‘Condition improvement fund’ supports expansion building...
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Two academies have been warned their funding could be cut as a result of multiple problems, including a “culture of bullying” at one and of “poor behaviour” at...
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The government has published more warning notices that it has issued to underperforming private schools, two years after a Schools Week campaign first pressed to make them public. The...
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The sponsors for 14 new special free schools have been announced, at a time when many special schools are struggling to meet high demand for places. The new...
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A primary academy in Lincolnshire faces closure for a recent run of terrible results – including the fact that less than 10 per cent of pupils reached the expected...
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A single-academy trust in Gloucestershire will close after its improvement plan failed to convince the government – leaving trustees just 15 days to try to reverse the decision....
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A higher proportion of looked-after pupils were absent from school last year, and more got suspensions, new data reveals. The government has released stats on the attainment, absence...
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The 87 academy trusts whose chief executive pay has been challenged by the government can be named for the first time. Schools Week can exclusively reveal the trusts...
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The government has announced a £2 million funding pot to research ways poorer pupils can benefit from “enriching activities” and healthy food in the school holidays. Organisations can...
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Mark Lehain has been appointed interim director at the New Schools Network following Toby Young’s departure. Lehain, who also leads the Parents and Teachers for Excellence group which...
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School leaders will be supported into joint headship roles by a new organisation, partly in response to how “enormous” the job has now become. The Shared Headship Network...
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Grammar schools do not have better pupil attainment than other state schools and should be closed for the negative impact they have on social mobility, a new study...
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Northern schools feel unsupported by their regional schools commissioners, who fail to communicate “any plan” for the area, according to a new report from the children’s commissioner. Anne...
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Universities are being sought by the government to open specialist post-16 free schools to encourage more pupils to study maths at A-level. The government will also provide £350,000...
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Five new or expanded centres attached to mainstream schools will be created for pupils with special educational needs in Newham, east London, as part of a multi-million pound...
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The parliamentary ombudsman is to investigate the government’s handling of a school closure in Coventry. Clare McArthur, a campaigner and former teacher, has complained about the way Department...
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Schools struggle to get pupils seen by qualified mental health professionals because training for counsellors focuses too much on treating adults, warns the head of a children’s mental...
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A Plymouth-based academy specialising in marine science and engineering has been warned that it may have its funding terminated and be transferred to another trust, as a result...
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A university technical college which owed the government over half a million pounds after it overestimated its pupil numbers has been served with a financial notice to improve...
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A Norwich-based multi-academy trust has been issued with a financial notice to improve by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, after it failed to adequately boost its “weak”...
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The annual Teach First Innovation Awards exist to give a leg up to start-ups that want to tackle inequality in education. Now in their fifth year, the awards...
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Toby Young has resigned from the New Schools Network due to ongoing “media attention” about his continued role as director. The charity, which is partly funded by the...
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Higher salaries for maths and science teachers would have prevented the recruitment crisis in those subjects, according to new research. The current shortages of secondary science and maths...
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Half of schools are not yet ready to meet their legal duty to appoint a data protection officer, although the deadline for an appointment is fast approaching. New...
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More than 500 academies got millions of pounds of extra cash because the government funded them on a model usually reserved for new schools, Schools Week can reveal....
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A director at the troubled Bright Tribe Trust has resigned days after his UTC was criticised by the government for paying out hundreds of thousands of pounds to...
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Our annual analysis of chief executive pay in the largest academy chains once again reveals huge variations, including between men and women, and pay per pupil and school....
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The percentage of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people signing up to train with the education charity Teach First has almost doubled in the last three years. The...
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Using calculators in maths lessons doesn’t erode pupils’ skills and may actually make them better at problem solving, according to new research from the Education Endowment Foundation. The...
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Two schools formerly run by the Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT) have found a new sponsor, leaving just two still without a home. The Department for Education has...
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Unauthorised pupil absence rates have reached the highest on record, new government figures show. Statistics released today show that the rate of unauthorised pupil absence rose from 1.1 per...
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The number of fines issued to parents for unauthorised pupil absence has fallen by 5.4 per cent. 149,321 penalty notices were issued in 2016-17, down from 157,879 in...
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MPs have told the government to beef up its social mobility commission and appoint a “minister for social justice” to help tackle inequality in education. The parliamentary education...
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A leading education researcher wants a new tax on private tutoring services, to help “level the playing field” for lower-income pupils trying to get into grammar schools. Such...
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Damian Hinds faced his first interrogation by the parliamentary education committee this morning. He used the opportunity not to answer questions on whether he wants to allow inspections...
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More than 90 per cent of headteachers expect their schools to rack up an unmanageable budget deficit in the near future, a poll has revealed. Twenty-one per cent...
