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28 April 2026

Author: Alix Robertson

George Osborne to be questioned about pupil disadvantage in the north

Former chancellor George Osborne will be questioned by the parliamentary education committee about the state of education and support for disadvantaged pupils in the north of England. MPs will grill Osborne, now editor of the London Evening Standard, in his capacity as chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) on May 2. He will be […]

Ofqual’s 2017 exam survey: the main findings

Fewer people understand how GCSEs work since the new 9 to 1 grading system came in. The exams regulator Ofqual has published the results of its annual survey on perceptions of A-levels, GCSEs and other qualifications in England. The online study, conducted between October 24 and December 1 took opinions from almost 3,000 heads, teachers, […]

Computer science GCSE will be exam-only until 2020

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 January that the supervised coursework element of the GCSE won’t count towards pupils’ final grades in 2018 and 2019, the exams regulator has said today that the […]

People are struggling to understand the new 9 to 1 GCSE grading system

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 at large conducted between October 24 and December 1 last year found 62 per cent of respondents felt GCSEs are well understood by people, compared with 70 per […]

Academy autonomy ‘has no positive impact in the classroom’

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. Thirty per cent of academy senior leaders who took part in a poll on the additional autonomy that comes from academy status said it had “no effect” […]

Disadvantaged pupils’ maths attainment sees England fall behind

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 to new Education Policy Institute (EPI) research. Just one in 10 disadvantaged pupils in England achieve a grade 7, 8 or 9 in GCSE maths, while nearly twice […]

Don’t boycott SATs, heads tell parents

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 a boycott of key stage 2 SATs, which begin in primary schools in mid-May. The group has even published a template for a withdrawal letter for parents of […]

One in three reception children aren’t ‘school ready’, warns Teach First

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 education charity looked at the number of new reception pupils who fail to meet the level of social and emotional development, knowledge and skills needed to provide the foundation for good progress through […]