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31 May 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

School rebuilding programme: Second set of 50 schools named

The government has named 50 schools chosen in the second round of its school rebuilding programme. Ministers pledged last year to rebuild 500 schools over the next decade, and in February announced the names of the first 50 schools which will share £1 billion in capital funding. Now the second set of 50 schools have […]

Exams 2021: AQA to return 26% of fees paid by schools

Exam board AQA has confirmed it will once again return just 26 per cent of entry fees paid this year after saving £45 million. In a statement today the board said it was returning all of the money it saved to schools “because, as we’ve always said, we’d never want to benefit financially from the […]

National Food Strategy: The recommendations for schools

A government-commissioned report has recommended a raft of measures for schools to improve pupil nutrition and food education. The national food strategy, commissioned in 2019 and led by school food plan co-author Henry Dimbleby, has published its second report today. In it, the strategy recommends schools be “required” to work with accreditation schemes on the […]

Great professional development for all teachers? It’s more affordable than you think

How much would it cost to give teachers a formal entitlement to continuing professional development? Not as much as you might think, writes James Zuccollo. Professional development for teachers is a surprisingly controversial topic. It is widely believed by policy wonks and researchers to have enormous potential, yet many teachers consider it a distraction. How […]

Exam boards ask schools for staff contacts available ‘throughout the summer’

Exam boards have asked schools to identify staff who will be available “throughout the summer”, fuelling fears leaders won’t get a proper break during the holiday. If the exams officer…will not be available throughout the summer, we’d be grateful if you could provide details for additional contacts In a recent email to schools, OCR, which […]

Level 3 qualifications review: Reprieve for some BTECs

BTECs will survive the government’s bonfire of level 3 qualifications if they can demonstrate there is a “real need” for them, it has been announced. The Department for Education has today confirmed a new streamlined system for students finishing their GCSEs will be phased in between 2023 and 2025. This will involve stripping public funding […]

REAch2 Academy Trust boss Sir Steve Lancashire to stand down in 2022

Sir Steve Lancashire, the founder and chief executive of the REAch2 Academy Trust, is to step down next year. The trust’s board announced today that Lancashire, who has run the 60-school chain since its foundation in 2012, will step down as CEO from September next year. REAch2 is the largest primary academy trust in the […]

More than 1 in 10 pupils absent as isolation rises again

More than one in ten pupils were absent from school last week because of Covid, after the number of pupils self-isolating rose again. According to the Department for Education’s attendance survey data, around 839,100 children, or 11.2 per cent of the total pupil population, were absent from state schools for Covid-related reasons on July 8. […]