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11 May 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

DfE to finally publish ‘summary’ of school condition data

The government will finally publish a summary report on the condition of England’s schools, a senior civil servant has confirmed, following repeated calls to make reports from a recent survey public. Officials have also said they hope to inform schools due to be rebuilt over the next 10 years where they sit in the queue, […]

DfE needs ‘proper lessons-learned’ Covid review, and 4 more demands from MPs

The Department for Education seems “surprisingly resistant” to the idea of conducting a “proper lessons-learned exercise” on its early response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of MPs has warned. The public accounts committee has published a report on support for children’s education during the Covid-19 pandemic. In it, MPs said the DfE had “no […]

Ofsted national education director Sean Harford to take early retirement

Ofsted’s national director of education Sean Harford is to stand down from his role to take early retirement, the watchdog has announced. Harford has worked at Ofsted since 2003, initially as a Her Majesty’s Inspector and then in a number of management roles. He has been in his current role since 2015, and was national […]

£10m ‘levelling up’ support will come from existing DfE budgets

None of the £10 million pledged today to improve the quality of teaching in four areas of England is new cash from the Treasury, and up to half of it will be given to expanding academy trusts, it has emerged. Boris Johnson announced today that the government’s “levelling up” agenda would include “more support” to […]

PM announces £18m opportunity areas expansion, and £10m to boost quality of teaching

An £18 million extension of the opportunity areas programme and £10 million to improve teaching quality in four other areas will form part of the government’s “levelling up” agenda, the prime minister has announced. But leaders this week spoke of their frustration with “piecemeal announcements being portrayed as though they are a grand vision”. Boris […]

Edtech demonstrator programme phase 2: What schools need to know

The Department for Education has confirmed plans for the second phase of its edtech demonstrator programme. Guidance published today gives more details of the scheme, including a list of 43 “demonstrator” schools and colleges, and how funding will be allocated and spent. It comes after Schools Week revealed that academy trust United Learning had been […]

NAHT: Leaders have spent 7 extra school days ‘propping up’ test and trace

The government faces calls to release leaders from the “burden” of running test and trace in their schools, after union figures showed they have spent on average seven extra school days on the task since September. The National Association of Head Teachers said a survey of 401 of its members had revealed the average leader […]

Institute of Teaching won’t take first trainees until 2023 after pilot year dropped

The government’s new Institute of Teaching won’t take on its first trainee teachers until 2023 after plans for a limited pilot next year were dropped. The Department for Education had originally stated in tender documents for the £121 million, six-year contract that the IoT would be expected to deliver a “pilot” initial teacher training (ITT) […]