Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Exams 2021: All the AS and A-level changes, subject by subject

The exams regulator Ofqual has confirmed the changes that will be made to AS and A-level assessments next year. The decisions were published in the outcome to a consultation on the proposals for exams in 2021, which was drawn up in response to concerns about the continuing impact of coronavirus. The changes proposed are supposed to address […]

Exams 2021: All the GCSE changes, subject by subject

The exams regulator Ofqual has confirmed the changes that will be made to GCSE assessments next year. The decisions were published in the outcome to a consultation on the proposals for exams in 2021, which was drawn up in response to concerns about the continuing impact of coronavirus. The changes proposed are supposed to address […]

Exams 2021: Ofqual confirms changes in certain subjects, but no decision yet on delaying exams

Schools will be offered a choice of topics on which their pupils will be examined in GCSE English literature, history and ancient history next year, Ofqual has announced. The exams regulator has published the outcome of its consultation on how GCSEs and A-levels will be assessed in 2021. However, no decision has been made on […]

School facilities hire firm goes into administration

A company that helps schools to rent out their sports halls, football pitches and classrooms is going into administration after business stopped “overnight” because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Manchester-based School Letting Solutions previously worked with more than 300 schools to generate additional income from their facilities. But the firm has had to call in administrators […]

Minimum secondary school per-pupil funding to rise to £5,150

Secondary schools will receive at least £5,150 for each pupil from 2021, the government has announced. Ministers have set out the minimum funding levels for schools that will apply under the second year of their three-year funding settlement. Schools in inner London are set for the lowest increase (2.3 per cent), while schools in the […]

Revealed: The 37 special and AP free schools approved by the DfE

Two areas promised special schools have missed out after competitions to find sponsors were unsuccessful. The Department for Education yesterday approved 37 new special and alternative provision schools to open from September 2022, providing more than 3,000 extra places. (See full list below). The government had promised to deliver schools in 39 areas to help […]

Concerns over school meals as two major caterers announce redundancies

Fears about the capacity of school catering teams to provide meals from September have been raised after two of England’s largest education catering firms announced plans to cut staff. Caterlink and Chartwells, which work with around 3,400 schools and colleges between them, both told Schools Week they were making redundancies in anticipation of falling demand […]

Reassure parents about safety of schools if you want them to return to work, heads tell PM

The government must reassure parents it is safe for their children to return to school if it wants people to return to work, a headteachers’ union has said. Boris Johnson announced today that the government will be relaxing its “work from home” advice from August 1, allowing employers to decide whether to ask staff to […]

Claudia Harris to step down as Careers and Enterprise Company CEO

The chief executive of the Careers and Enterprise Company is to step down to run a firm that supports mid-career switchers to train as software engineers. Claudia Harris, a former adviser to Tony Blair who was appointed as the CEC’s first leader five years ago, will leave this month to become CEO of Makers, a […]