Freddie Whittaker

  • MPs granted rare debate on detail of DfE's school spending plans

    Leaders of two powerful parliamentary committees have been granted an opportunity to grill education ministers on the details of their budget planning. Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee and Robert Halfon, chair of the education committee teamed up with Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson and 52 other MPs to demand an…

    16.15 Feb. 21st, 2019 | News

  • Involve teachers in reform to make profession more 'intellectually attractive', urges OECD chief

    Ministers focus too much on financial incentives for teachers and not enough on making the profession “intellectually attractive”, the head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned. Andreas Schleicher, whose organisation runs the influential PISA tests, told the WISE@Paris forum today that a “heavy, industrial approach” to education in under-performing countries is…

    11.22 Feb. 21st, 2019 | News

  • Three in five young people believe education doesn't equip them for the job market

    Almost three in five young people believe the UK’s education system fails to equip them for the job market, a new poll shows. Meanwhile, more than three fifths of 18 to 25-year-olds believe education in the UK leaves them poorly-equipped to build a professional career path. Polling firm IPSOS surveyed thousands of young people, including…

    16.59 Feb. 20th, 2019 | News

  • Ignore government's proposed pay cap, unions urge review body

    The body that advises the government on teacher pay is being urged by unions to ignore ministers’ proposals for a two per cent cap on rises next year. The National Education Union, National Association of Head Teachers, Association of School and College Leaders and Voice the Union have written to the school teachers’ review body…

    0.01 Feb. 20th, 2019 | News

  • Hundreds of schools sought for new home learning trials

    Ministers will recruit hundreds of schools and nurseries to take part in trial programmes aimed at aiding home learning for pupils. The Department for Education has revealed that 375 schools and early years settings will be recruited for four new programmes which will provide “practical tools and advice” for nearly 6,000 parents in the north…

    0.01 Feb. 20th, 2019 | News

  • New yoga trial aims to tackle high exclusion rates

    Schools in Norfolk are turning to yoga in a bid to bring down exclusion rates. GP practice the Acle Medical Partnership is working with three schools on a new trial which will see pupils at risk of exclusion taught “the benefits of yoga and mindfulness” to help them cope with life, “both in and outside…

    16.21 Feb. 19th, 2019 | News

  • NASUWT accused of using 'anti-union' law to break a strike by its staff

    A teaching union stands accused of using a government law it campaigned against to break strike action by its own employees. Staff at NASUWT, England’s second-largest teaching union, have been blocked from holding further strikes based on a ballot of GMB union members held last year. Members of the GMB working at the Birmingham-based NASUWT…

    13.53 Feb. 19th, 2019 | News

  • Empty free school sites will be rented to property guardians

    Empty buildings snapped up for future free schools will be rented out as housing for young professionals. Company accounts for LocatEd, set up by the government to find sites for new free schools, reveal plans to introduce more property guardian schemes in “appropriate vacant properties” to make affordable living space available to the rental market.…

    5.00 Feb. 18th, 2019 | News

  • Halfon’s ‘reckless’ plan to scrap GCSEs a 'non-starter', says baccalaureate fan

    Calls to replace GCSEs and A-levels with a “holistic baccalaureate” have been branded a “non-starter” by an advocate of a similar model. Tom Sherrington, a trustee of the National Baccalaureate Trust, warned that “headline-grabbing” comments made this week by Robert Halfon, the chair of the education select committee, and a number of other high-profile leaders…

    7.00 Feb. 16th, 2019 | News

  • Timpson review to demand excluded pupils count in schools' results

    A landmark review of exclusions will demand the government revives plans to make schools retain responsibility for the results of pupils they exclude. Leaked documents show that the Timpson review will call for a “significant shift” for schools, alternative provision settings and councils, demanding that ministers “remove the potential” for heads to game the system…

    21.30 Feb. 14th, 2019 | News

  • AQA increases dominance of GCSE market as OCR slumps

    The exam board AQA now issues three in every five GCSE certificates after increasing its dominance of the market for the second year in a row. AQA’s share of the GCSE market reached 60 per cent in 2017-18, up from 52 per cent the year before and 46 per cent in 2015-16. The increase has…

    10.04 Feb. 14th, 2019 | News