Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Labour leadership Q&A: Rebecca Long-Bailey

Less than a month remains until the end of the Labour leadership contest, with party members across the country currently voting on who they want to replace Jeremy Corbyn. We asked each of the three candidates the same six questions on education policy issues that have dominated Labour politics in recent years, to find out […]

Labour leadership Q&A: Sir Keir Starmer

Labour leadership Q&A: Lisa Nandy

Do what’s best for pupils, even if government doesn’t like it, Barton tells heads

Schools leaders should defy the government and snub GCSE English to help the “forgotten third” of pupils destined to fail, the leader of the ASCL union has said. Geoff Barton, once a maverick headteacher who railed against Ofsted and said he would have to be dragged “kicking and screaming” into running an academy, has been […]

No school closures yet as government moves to coronavirus ‘delay’ phase

Closing schools at this stage in the spread of the coronavirus epidemic could do “more harm than good”, Boris Johnson has warned, as he announced closures are not yet on the cards despite an escalation of the government’s response. The prime minister yesterday reiterated advice that schools “should only close if they are specifically advised […]

A-level drop-out rate continues to rise

Drop-out rates among pupils studying for their A-levels and other 16 to 19 qualifications rose across the board last year. New data from the Department for Education shows the retention rate at A-level fell to 91.3 per cent in 2019, down from 92.5 per cent the previous year and 96.1 per cent in 2016. Retention […]

Budget 2020: What do schools need to know?

The chancellor Rishi Sunak has delivered his budget address in Parliament. Here are the announcements relevant to schools. 1. Freelance workers affected by coronavirus can claim benefits more easily Supply teachers and other freelancers in the education sector will be able to access benefits more easily if they cannot work due to coronavirus. Sunak, […]

Help us nationalise more private schools, head tells DfE

A leader who converted his prestigious private school into a state school has said the government should set up a dedicated unit to help others to follow suit. Hans Broekman, the principal of Liverpool College, told an event in London this week that it was “actually very difficult for an independent school to join the […]

Academy boss Jo Saxton appointed policy adviser to Gavin Williamson

The chief executive of the Turner Schools academy trust has been appointed as an adviser to the education secretary. Dr Jo Saxton will advise Gavin Williamson and Baroness Berridge, the academies minister, on policy issues, according to the trust’s website. She will be employed as a civil servant, not a special adviser. Saxton established Turner […]