News

Ofqual rolls over £300k legal costs war chest as exams return

Moving back to exams has ‘transferred the risk of exceptional legal costs’

Schools Week Reporter
Schools Week Reporter
Ofsted

‘Put the blinkers on and ignore Ofsted’ says government social mobility tsar

Katharine Birbalsingh says she doesn’t see inspectorate as a ‘force for good’

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Ofsted

Labour will ‘look at’ Ofsted grades as part of watchdog reforms

Shadow education secretary says parents don’t always have a ‘clear sense’ of what school ratings mean

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Teacher pay

Teacher pay: 8 interesting findings from the DfE’s STRB evidence

Ministers’ submission includes analysis of the teacher recruitment and retention market, as well as staff pay trends

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Teacher pay

Pay reforms leave women teachers out of pocket

Decline in progression after 2014 reforms ‘more pronounced’ for part-time staff, DfE analysis finds

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
Schools

Stop ‘clogging’ curriculum with ‘reams of guidance’, Barton tells ministers

Union leader says it’s time to ‘strip back our national curriculum to its essential core’

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker


Schools

PFI firm makes millions as taxpayers pay £870,000 a year for empty school

Wirral council faces eye-watering annual PFI bills despite Kingsway Academy lying empty since 2018

Tom Belger
Tom Belger
Schools

DfE to help schools on PFI handover – but guidance ‘too late’

Government guidance admits hundreds of projects risk ‘disruption’ and paying twice for repairs when PFI deals eventually expire

Tom Belger
Tom Belger
Schools

The head taking on PFI firms over new school ‘riddled’ with leaks

Newman RC College held back funds from PFI firms and threatened legal action against a council over repeated building…

Tom Belger
Tom Belger
SEND

High Court issues council ‘wake-up call’ on special needs delays

Children were waiting over a year for their care plans to be updated

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth
Academies

AET issued government warning over troubled school

Trust told it must show ‘capacity to deliver rapid and sustained improvement’

Schools Week Reporter
Schools Week Reporter
Covid

‘Extreme concern’ Covid inquiry won’t focus enough on education

Inquiry chair urges public to respond to consultation

Samantha Booth
Samantha Booth