Alix Robertson | Schools Week

DfE fails to hit female leadership coaching target

The Department for Education is almost a year behind on its target to link 1,000 women teachers with 1,000 coaches, through its scheme to encourage more female school leaders. Launched by the DfE and National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) in March 2016, the Women Leading in Education (WLE) programme promised to 1,000 connections […]

Academy trust with ‘very small’ schools warned over ‘limited capacity’ for improvement

A church-led academy trust in Leicester has been warned it has “limited capacity” to improve its schools because many of them are “very small”. Ofsted said the Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust is not improving pupil outcomes fast enough, and has failed to establish a “clear purpose and direction” for its schools, after a focused inspection […]

School catering staff feel excluded, undervalued and poorly trained

Over a third of school caterers feel excluded as members of staff and more than a quarter feel undervalued, a survey has revealed. Research by the trade union Unison found that 35 per cent of kitchen staff felt excluded in their schools, and 27 per cent admitted they didn’t feel valued within the school meals […]

NCTL can’t be sure teacher training grants used correctly, warns auditor

So many teacher training providers failed to produce accurate data about their trainees that the National Audit Office has said it cannot be sure funds are being used correctly and so has given a negative judgement of the National College for Teaching and Leadership accounts. The NCTL, an executive agency of the Department for Education, […]

Plans to widen access to grammar schools delayed by reshuffle

Plans for a formal agreement between grammar schools and the government to widen access for disadvantaged pupils have been interrupted by the appointment of a new education secretary. Last year, the schools minister Nick Gibb said the Grammar School Heads Association would “codify” a commitment to improving admission rates for disadvantaged pupils in a “formal […]

Botched computing test won’t count towards final GCSE grades, Ofqual confirms

A 20-hour non-examined assessment in computer science will not count towards pupils’ final GCSE grades in 2018 or 2019 after tasks from the test were leaked online, Ofqual has confirmed. The regulator proposed changes to the assessment, currently worth 20 per cent of the overall grade, after it discovered that tasks and detailed solutions were posted on […]

Staff exam malpractice up by 150%

The number of school staff penalised for helping students cheat in exams has boomed this year, rising by around 150 per cent, but the number of penalties issued to schools and colleges has fallen. Ofqual figures published today show that 895 penalties were issued to school and college staff for malpractice during GCSEs and A-levels this year, up […]

Now Teach charity gets £350,000 DfE funding to expand into Hastings

Now Teach, the organisation founded by former Financial Times journalist Lucy Kellaway to encourage professionals to become teachers later in life, is to receive £350,000 in government funding. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has today announced that the money will allow the charity to expand out of London and start work in Hastings, one of […]