News

DfE staff offered £1k bonuses to work on school testing prep over Christmas

Department for Education staff have been offered £1,000 bonuses to work over Christmas on preparations for mass testing in...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

Unions tell ministers mass testing plans are ‘inoperable’, and pledge to back schools who refuse

Unions and professional associations have said they will fully back schools that are “unable” to deliver mass testing from...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

What did we learn from Nick Gibb about mass-testing in schools?

The schools minister Nick Gibb has set out further details about the government’s mass-testing programme for schools, which is...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

Schools find new ways to help their communities at a time of crisis

From lunch deliveries and food banks to mobile libraries and “reverse” advent calendars, schools have stepped up to the...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

Non-exam-year secondary pupils to switch to online learning for first week back in January

Most secondary school pupils who are not preparing for exams will learn at home for the first week of...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

‘No plans’ to lengthen Christmas holidays but talks going on about ‘how’ pupils will return

The government doesn’t have “any plans to lengthen” the Christmas holidays, but “conversations” are ongoing about “how” pupils will...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

Exam appeals soared in 2020 following process change

The number of appeals against GCSE and A-level exam grades soared this year as a result of the exams...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

Tell us how grade inflation can be ‘washed out’, MPs urge Williamson

MPs have demanded to know how 2020 grade inflation will eventually be “washed out” of the exams system. In...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker
News

Teachers report rise in non-Covid persistent absence

Three in ten teachers have reported a surge in non-Covid-related persistent absences, with the problem more acute in the...

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker