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12 May 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

£1bn schools coronavirus ‘catch-up’ package revealed

The government will spend £1 billion on an education “catch-up plan”, with a large chunk of the cash going directly to schools. Under proposals outlined today, state primary and secondary schools will split £650 million in additional funding for the 2020-21 academic year to help their pupils catch up on education missed as a result […]

Tributes paid to ‘distinguished’ trade unionist Fred Jarvis

Fred Jarvis, a pillar of the trade union movement who served as general secretary of the National Union of Teachers and president of the National Union of Students, has died at the age of 95. Jarvis, also a former president of the Trades Union Congress, served as NUT general secretary from 1975 to 1989, and […]

Coronavirus: Teach First drops 120 trainees as schools halt recruitment

Teach First has dropped 120 of its trainees after failing to match all of this year’s cohort with schools. Trainees said they had been told in a “generic email” to either defer their places or leave the programme, despite some having already quit jobs in preparation. We are hugely sorry that we’re not able to […]

Government sets up £120m ‘Covid summer food fund’ after free meal vouchers U-turn

The government has said it will provide free school meal vouchers over the summer holidays in a significant U-turn, following mounting pressure led by footballer Marcus Rashford. Until today, ministers had been adamant that the scheme, which has replaced school lunches for many disadvantaged children during partial closures, would end when schools break up in […]

Pressure mounts on ministers as study shows fifth of pupils do no schoolwork at home

Children not in school during the lockdown have been spending an average of 2.5 hours a day doing schoolwork, new research suggests. According to the UCL Institute of Education, which conducted the study, the figure is around half that suggested by previous research, “implying that learning losses are much greater than previously thought”. One fifth […]

Schools told they can’t claim back costs of preventative cleaning

The government’s exceptional costs reimbursement scheme must be extended to cover preventative measures as school reopen in the coronavirus outbreak, headteachers’ unions have said. Leaders of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) told Schools Week the scope of the scheme drawn up by the Department […]

Coronavirus: Six things we learned from Ofqual about exams in 2020 and 2021

Exams were the focus of an education select committee hearing this week, with senior staff appearing from the exams’ regulator Ofqual. Here’s what we found out.   1. Consultation on 2021 exam plans due before summer break Sally Collier, the chief regulator of Ofqual, told MPs schools needed to know what was happening with next […]