Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Remove incentives to ‘depress or inflate’ early years outcomes, Ofqual urges DfE

Ministers must review the way they present data on the performance of reception children to remove the incentives for schools to “depress or inflate outcomes”, the exams regulator has said. Ofqual has published its response to a government consultation on reforms to the early years foundation stage. The Department for Education has proposed a number […]

Government backs proposal to cut the cost of school uniforms

The government has announced it will back a draft law aimed at cutting the cost of school uniforms. Mike Amesbury, the MP for Weaver Vale and a shadow work and pensions minister, will introduce a private member’s bill today which seeks to put the Department for Education’s 2013 school uniform guidance on a statutory footing. […]

Lucy Powell, Ian Mearns to serve again on education committee

Former shadow education secretary Lucy Powell has been selected to serve again on the Parliamentary education committee, Schools Week has learned. Labour has also put forward Ian Mearns, a long-serving committee member, for another term. He served as a de facto deputy to chair Robert Halfon during the last Parliament. Labour has also nominated Fleur […]

Police probe finances of failed Schools Company academy trust

Police are investigating the finances of the failed Schools Company academy trust, according to reports. A BBC Inside Out South West investigation, which airs tonight, will report that Kent police are looking into the chain, which collapsed in 2018 after it was stripped of its four schools by ministers. The Schools Company Trust (SCT) ran […]

Schools increasingly tackling mental health in-house, survey finds

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 […]

Leading trust investigating claim pupil ‘encouraged’ to leave

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 […]

Plight of SEND families shames me, admits Halfon

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 […]

Pupil premium rates to rise for first time in 5 years

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 almost 2% lower than 2010 in today’s money, admits DfE

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 […]