Author: Freddie Whittaker

Schools are increasingly taking matters into their own hands when it comes to dealing with mental health issues among their pupils, a new survey has revealed. A poll by the NAHT school leaders’ union and children’s mental health charity Place2Be found 66 per cent of schools reported commissioning their own professional help for pupils. A […]

England’s largest academy trust has launched an investigation into an allegation that a vulnerable child was “encouraged” to leave one of its schools. United Learning said it was “investigating with urgency” after receiving an allegation relating to a pupil studying at one of its Avonbourne academies in Bournemouth, Dorset. We also know that while most […]

Ministers must issue a “serious response” to the education committee’s landmark SEND report, Robert Halfon has said, as he admitted the plight of families had “shamed” him. The newly re-elected chair of the Parliamentary education committee also believes direct inspection of academy trusts has “got to happen” and hit out at small-scale cash pledges by […]

The amount of money schools receive to support their poorest pupils is to increase for the first time in five years. The Department for Education has announced that the pupil premium rate will increase from April by £25 for primary pupils (from £1,320 to £1,345) and £20 for secondary pupils (from £935 to £955). Pupil […]

Per-pupil funding is currently 1.9 per cent lower than it was in 2010 in real-terms, the government has admitted. New statistics published by the Department for Education lay bare the extent of real-terms cuts to school budgets over the past decade. In 2019-20, schools received on average £5,940 per pupil. The amount they received in […]

The government’s new teacher training application portal will replace UCAS’s system by 2021, ministers have announced. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has today announced the launch of “DfE Apply”, an online government-run service that lets would-be trainee teachers and teacher training providers manage applications. Last year’s teacher recruitment and retention strategy pledged to “radically simplify […]

The exam board AQA breached rules relating to the re-marking of exams again last autumn – despite having just been handed the largest ever fine by Ofqual for the same offence across earlier years. But the company will not be handed an additional fine for the latest incidents, after being ordered to shell out more […]

Up to three quarters of universities and colleges appear to have ended the controversial practice of “conditional unconditional” offers, the University and College Admissions Service has said. Just over a quarter of school leavers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received a “conditional unconditional” offer in 2019, up from just 20.9 per cent last year. […]

Downing Street will launch a new website to challenge the union’s School Cuts service, as a new law to force councils to pass on minimum funding levels to schools is brought before Parliament. The prime minister’s office said parents will be able to find out how much extra funding their local school is due to […]