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11 May 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

Why we shouldn’t rush to scrap GCSEs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

We need a debate about the future of education post-Covid-19, but that shouldn’t mean a rush to abolish things like GCSEs, writes Tim Oates. A lot has changed over the past year. The effect of Covid has been seismic for individuals, industries and countries around the globe. But there is now hope that mass vaccination […]

Unions reject teacher pay freeze and call on STRB to defy government

Four education unions representing hundreds of thousands of teachers and leaders have rejected the government’s pay freeze for 2021, and called on the School Teachers’ Review Body to defy ministers’ wishes and recommend a rise. The ASCL and NAHT leadership unions, along with the National Education Union and Voice, warned in a joint statement today […]

Children’s commissioner to warn of over-focus on school improvement in critical last speech

Ministers should commit to making children “better-off” rather than talking about increasing numbers attending ‘good’ or better schools, the outgoing children’s commissioner will say tomorrow. Anne Longfield will use her last speech in the role to launch a broadside against government, claiming she has often had to “force officials and ministers to the table” to […]

Primary school attendance now six times higher than in the last lockdown

Almost one in four primary pupils were in school last week, with attendance rates among younger pupils now six times higher than in the first lockdown. Data published by the Department for Education today shows primary school attendance reached 24 per cent on February 11, up from 23 per cent the week before. Attendance rates […]

DfE faces £263k bonus bill for staff who helped set up mass testing scheme

The Department for Education faces a bill of up to £263,000 after asking staff to work over Christmas to prepare for its ill-fated schools mass testing programme. It was reported in December that the DfE had offered staff a “one-off £1,000 bonus” to help set up the programme over the break. But the mass testing […]

Heads demand transparency over £1 billion school rebuilding programme

Leaders want transparency from ministers over how they select rebuilding projects after it emerged two schools getting a share of £1 billion in capital funding had major building works recently. The 50 schools being rebuilt in the first phase of a ten-year, 500-school rebuilding programme, were announced last week. We don’t know where we stand […]

Report 11-plus results and link them to pupil data, say campaigners and academics

Academies have backed calls from campaigners for 11-plus entry test data to be shared with government and linked to pupil records so the fairness of the assessments can be evaluated. A letter from Comprehensive Future, backed by 24 well-known academics and educationalists, calls for the grammar school entry test data to be “subjected to the […]

Covid-19: Trainees can get qualified teacher status based on progress again this year

Trainee teachers unable to complete their courses because of Covid disruption will once again be able to achieve qualified teacher status based on their progress, new guidance has confirmed. The Department for Education has updated its guidance to state that initial teacher training providers will be able to recommend trainees for QTS if they are […]