Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Revealed: What Ofqual’s explosive board minutes tell us about the exams fiasco

The ill-fated exams “triple lock” policy that sparked a chain of events culminating in pupils instead being awarded their centre-assessed grades was announced before Ofqual had been able to even sign it off. The exams regulator has today published its long-awaited board minutes that give a behind-the-scenes account of this year’s exams fiasco. They also […]

Consider allowing pupils to wear additional clothing indoors, DfE tells schools

Schools should consider allowing pupils to wear “additional, suitable indoor items of clothing” during the winter as classrooms get colder because of the need for ventilation, the Department for Education has said. In updated action for schools guidance published today, the DfE said increased ventilation “may make school buildings cooler than usual over the winter […]

Gibb ‘misspoke’ when he said all schools were in ‘tier 1’

The schools minister “misspoke” when he told MPs yesterday that all schools are at tier one of the government’s contain framework, the Department for Education has clarified. When asked during an education select committee hearing yesterday how the tiers in the contain framework interact with the separate system of tiers of national lockdown, Nick Gibb […]

Nick Gibb at education committee: 7 things we learned

Schools minister Nick Gibb has suggested some grade inflation will be allowed again next year to cater for lockdown learning losses, but revealed he’s more worried about making exams fair for pupils in worst-hit areas who are more likely to have missed school since September. Education select committee MPs grilled Gibb for over two hours […]

Wes Streeting appointed shadow schools minister

A former president of the National Union of Students has been appointed as the shadow schools minister. Wes Streeting, the Labour MP for Ilford North, replaces Margaret Greenwood, who resigned from the front bench yesterday to vote against the so-called “Spycops” bill. Streeting, who was previously the shadow exchequer secretary to the Treasury, tweeted tonight […]

Schools forced to rethink teacher training after ‘short-sighted’ grant cut

Schools are being forced to rethink whether their entire teacher training programmes are “viable” after the government took an axe to the level of teacher training bursaries and grants from next year. All bursaries previously offered to teacher trainees in shortage subjects have either been reduced or scrapped, while the much-vaunted early-career payments of up […]

MATs miss apprenticeship targets requirement, but DfE softens stance

The Department for Education looks to have relaxed the requirement for public bodies to publish their progress towards the 2.3 per cent apprenticeship target, claiming it is merely “good practice”. It comes after an investigation by sister title FE Week found multi-academy trusts had failed to meet a new government requirement to publicise what percentage […]

Private schools group branded ‘insensitive’ over partnership with debt collection agency

A new “partnership” between an organisation representing more than 500 private schools and a debt collection agency could result in hard-up parents being “hounded” for unpaid fees during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Independent Schools Association (ISA) announced this week that Frontline Collections has become a “gold preferred supplier” to its members. It will seek to […]

Leading AP academy trust to close

A leading academy trust for excluded and vulnerable learners is to close and give up its seven schools after its financial position became “unsustainable”. The TBAP trust has confirmed it will relinquish its alternative provision schools in London and Cambridgeshire, and that the move had been approved by the academies minister, Baroness Berridge. It follows […]