Skip to content
21 April 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

Heads must issue absence fines so poor don’t ‘suffer’, claims Williamson

Pupils from the most disadvantaged backgrounds will suffer if the government does not enforce mandatory attendance in schools, the education secretary has claimed. Responding to a question from Schools Week at the Downing Street press briefing on Thursday, Gavin Williamson said if the government did not have an expectation of “every child to be in […]

DfE confirms September back-to-school plans

Limits on attendance will be lifted from September, and schools will be expected to deliver their “full curriculum”, the government has confirmed. Routine Ofsted visits will also not resume until 2021 under plans for the full reopening of schools set out by Gavin Williamson today. The Department for Education has also provided new guidance for […]

Heads’ faith in A-levels slumps

Headteachers’ faith in AS and A-levels slumped after last year’s exam series, a new survey shows. Ofqual has published its latest perceptions survey, which is based on YouGov polling of various stakeholders, including 292 school leaders, last autumn. Although the survey shows little change in attitudes among school leaders towards GCSEs, faith in AS and […]

Revealed: The DfE’s reformed early learning goals for reception pupils from 2021

The government has confirmed changes to the early learning goals, which are used to assess pupils at the end of reception. Here are the final ELGs, as set out in the Department for Education’s response to its consultation on the changes. The reforms become statutory from September 2021.   Communication and Language 1. Listening, Attention […]

DfE to scrap LA-moderation of EYFS profile, despite calls for its retention

The government is to proceed with plans to scrap statutory moderation of the early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) by local authorities, despite pleas to keep it in place. The Department for Education has published its response to a consultation on the EYFSP, which is how pupils’ development and learning is assessed at the end […]

Dropping GCSEs only for ‘exceptional circumstances’, leaked DfE guidance states

School leaders will be told to only allow GCSE students to drop a subject in “exceptional circumstances” next year, according to draft guidance on the reopening of schools. Leaked details of the proposals were first revealed yesterday by HuffPost UK, which reported that the guidance set out how “some pupils may have to drop some […]

Three in four secondary schools reopen to more pupils

Almost three in four secondary schools began face-to-face support for year 10 and 12 pupils last week, while almost nine in ten primary schools had reopened more widely. The latest attendance data from the Department for Education shows 89 per cent of schools normally open to reception, year 1 and year 6 pupils had reopened […]

Oak National Academy could collect ‘basic data’ on users, says chair

The Oak National Academy could begin to collect “some basic data” about its users, its chair has said. Ian Bauckham told a Westminster Education Forum event on education technology this morning that there was a “huge level of interest in the data that we could collect”, and said the site may “move into the realm of […]