Alix Robertson | Schools Week

FSM pupils falling away in phonics

The achievement gap in phonics has grown between pupils qualifying for free school meals and their wealthier peers, government data has revealed. In this summer’s exams, 68 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals met the expected standard in phonics, compared with 84 per cent of all other pupils. This marked a one-percentage-point […]

KS1 Results: Phonics results static as reading, writing and maths rise

Results in reading, writing, maths and science in key stage 1 assessments have risen this year, while results in the phonics check have stayed largely the same, new Department for Education data has shown. The government’s latest release on the phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments in England for 2017 shows the proportion […]

DfE placed on UK Statistics Authority watch list

The Department for Education has been cautioned by the UK Statistics Authority for delaying data releases and providing unclear information to the public. It has been censured in particular for the way it published data on academy transfers, reported extensively by Schools Week. The “extended timeframe between promising the release of data and its publication was […]

English GCSE mismatch puts university offers at risk

Pupils are in danger of missing out on higher education due to a “mismatch” between university expectations and the new GCSE reforms, Schools Week has learned. Schools were previously judged on pupils’ achievements in English language at GSCE level, but this year’s changes to the exams now see English literature used as an equal mark […]

Petition over teacher pension gender inequality gathers pace

A petition to force the government to equalise the way teachers’ pensions transfer to their partners is gathering strength. Under the current system male teachers who accrued pension between 1972 and 1988 can pass 50 per cent of the final amount to their wives if they die after retirement, but this privilege does not extend […]

DfE won’t answer on massaged transfer figures

UPDATE Following publication of this story, the Department for Education provided this response: “Some costs weren’t included in the data because they do not relate directly to the transfer of an academy. These costs would have applied even if the academy didn’t transfer so it would not have been appropriate to include them in the […]

Literacy strongest predictor of science grades

A new report on socioeconomic status (SES) and science learning has found literacy is “the strongest and most consistent predictor of pupils’ scientific attainment”. Reading and writing skills are particularly important for helping pupils to understand scientific vocabulary and prepare their own scientific reports, according to the research from the University of Oxford. The Education […]

University-backed academy trust praised for ‘rapid’ improvement

Ofsted has praised the University of Chichester Academy Trust for “rapidly” improving its schools with “well-targeted challenge and support”. In a letter sent following inspections at several of the trusts schools, inspectors praised the university for being “fully committed” to its academy trust, bucking a recent trend for criticism of university-led academy trusts, several of which […]

The Expandables: which academy trusts are supersizing?

To kick off the first term of 2017-18, Schools Week has delved into the data on academy trust expansion over the last year. Although the headlines have been full of trusts shedding their schools, populations are booming at many others. We set out to find out what is driving this growth. Twenty academy trusts grew […]