Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Starmer: Government risks ‘robbing a generation of their future’

The government risks “robbing a generation of young people of their future” unless it addresses concerns about unfairness in the issuing of exam grades this year, Sir Keir Starmer has warned. The leader of the opposition has warned that “thousands of hard-working young people risk having their futures decided on the basis of their postcode”. […]

Coronavirus: Don’t ‘read too much’ into ‘work in progress’ data on transmission in schools, says minister

A health minister has warned against reading “too much” into data from an incomplete study on the transmission of coronavirus in schools. Edward Argar’s intervention follows claims from his colleague the education secretary that the unpublished research supports the government’s drive to get all pupils back in September. Early findings from an ongoing Public Health […]

Scotland withdraws all downgraded exam grades

Scotland will withdraw around a quarter of standardised exam grades issued last week, in a move that raises questions for the UK government ahead of A-level and GCSE results days. In a major climbdown, John Swinney, the Scottish education minister, today announced that more than 124,000 centre-assessment grades that were downgraded during the standardisation process will […]

Hold places for appealing A-level students, minister tells universities

Universities should hold places for pupils who choose to appeal against their A-level grades, the government has said. In a further sign the government is gearing up for an outcry over standardised grades similar to that seen in Scotland last week, universities minister Michelle Donelan has written to university vice-chancellors to urge them to be […]

What Oak Academy has done well, and how it can do better

The Oak National Academy has gone from nothing to national institution in just a few months. Here, its principal Matt Hood sets out his end of year report. As teachers, we all know the power of feedback in helping our pupils improve. So as the end of term finally arrived, we worked with ImpactEd to […]

Government to hand councils £40m to help with home-to-school transport

Councils will receive £40 million in funding from the government to help get children to school in September amid warnings of huge problems with transporting pupils safely. Announcing the funding today, the Department for Education said it would be used “to ease pressure on public transport as children return in September”. Councils will be able […]

Heads call for exam appeal fees to be waived as schools brace for deluge of challenges

Fees should not be charged for appeals against exam results this year to ensure there is a “level playing field” for all pupils who want to challenge their results, a headteachers’ union has said. The Association of School and College Leaders said it would “favour fees not being charged for appeals” this year, given the […]

Four things we learned from the EPI’s analysis of 2021-22 school funding allocations

Efforts to “level-up” school funding in England will benefit better-off pupils more than their poorer peers, according to new analysis by the Education Policy Institute. The think tank has published analysis of school funding allocations for 2021-22. The government is now in its third year of allocating funding to councils based on its new national […]

Pupils required to self-isolate will not be marked ‘absent’, DfE confirms

Pupils who do not attend school because they have to self-isolate or quarantine will not be recorded as absent, the Department for Education has clarified. Schools have been told to record non-attendance by pupils who are required by law or government guideance to stay away with “code X”, which does not count as an absence […]