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20 April 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

No ‘current’ plans to force schools into multi-academy trusts, says Williamson

There are “currently no plans” to legislate to force schools to join multi-academy trusts, the education secretary has said, after he revealed the government wanted “far more schools” in the clusters by 2025. Gavin Williamson told the Foundation for Education Development’s inaugural summit that partnerships between schools were “fundamental”, especially in the wake of the […]

Mandatory school attendance will ‘pit heads against parents’

The decision to reintroduce school attendance enforcement will “pit heads against parents” and risks costly legal action from families that include shielding members, it has been warned. All schools are due to reopen next week. The government has said attendance will be mandatory for primary pupils from Monday and for secondary pupils from the following […]

Williamson pledges to back teachers ‘all the way’ on exam grading

The education secretary has pledged to back teachers “all the way” in their efforts to award exam grades this summer, and accepted he will share the responsibility if there is a backlash on results days. In an exclusive interview with Schools Week this week, Gavin Williamson said the government was putting its “confidence and faith […]

Schools to get £10m Turing Scheme cash for 5,000 placements

Schools will receive £10 million in funding from the government’s Turing Scheme, Schools Week can reveal. £105 million in total has been promised to pay for 35,000 placements for the UK’s new international student exchange programme, which is set to get underway in September. In an interview with Schools Week’s sister paper FE Week, Ecorys, […]

Budget 2021 a ‘missed opportunity’ with no extra funding for schools

This year’s budget has been described as a “missed opportunity” for education after it failed to provide additional cash for schools. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget focused on measures to help the country recover economically from the pandemic, extending the furlough scheme until September and raising incentives to hire apprentices. But there was no extra funding […]

Watchdog fears public bodies will avoid statistical models following exam grading backlash

Public bodies may be “less willing” to use statistical models to support decisions in future after the system to award exam grades last year failed to “command public confidence”, the statistics watchdog has warned. A review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, found the grading system prompted […]

Data reveals huge variation in spring term school attendance across England

Attendance in schools has varied hugely across England this term, new data shows, with rates in the week before half term up to eight times higher in some parts of the country than in others. Analysis by Schools Week of government data on attendance by local authority area shows secondary attendance on February 11 ranged […]