Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

MATs should be inspected, but it isn’t going to happen any time soon

With more than half of all pupils now educated in academies it is only logical that multi academy trusts (MATs), which play such a pivotal role in the system, should be subject to the rigours of Ofsted, writes Frank Norris. Schools, colleges and local authorities are all inspected so it does not make sense that […]

Teacher pay deal ‘the worst of all worlds’, say heads

Schools face having to cut their budgets in order to afford next year’s teacher pay settlement, headteachers have warned. Leadership unions ASCL and NAHT have both condemned the government’s announcement of a 2.75 per cent increase in pay for teachers and leaders. Leaders will have to cut elsewhere in their budgets in order to find […]

Teacher pay 2019-20: What do schools need to know?

The government has confirmed teacher pay arrangements from September, but schools face having to fund most of the pay rise from existing budgets. Here is what schools need to know. 1. Who gets what rise? Unlike last year, when the government ignored STRB calls for a 3.5 per cent rise across the board and […]

Government STRB response 2019: 2.75% pay rise across all grades, but it’s not fully-funded

Pay for all teachers and school leaders will rise by up to 2.75 per cent next year, but the government won’t fund the entire increase. In its response to the annual report of the School Teachers’ Review Body, the Department for Education confirmed it accepted “in full” the recommendations of the body. This steady decline […]

82 per cent of headteachers prefer Hunt to Johnson, poll finds

Four-in-five headteachers believe Jeremy Hunt would make the best Conservative prime minister, a new poll has revealed. A survey by school information service The Key found 82 per cent of school leaders would prefer Hunt to win the Conservative leadership campaign. Voting for Conservative Party members closes this week, with a new prime minister expected […]

Indecent proposals: 111 curriculum suggestions made to schools this year

Schools have been told they should teach pupils how to examine X-rated movies, get a good night’s sleep and edit Wikipedia. The weird and wonderful suggestions are some of the 111 calls from campaigners this year alone about what should be taught in schools – equating to nearly four new suggestions each week. Others calls […]

£17m on offer for academy trust expansion – but it’ll depend on EBacc entries

The government will hand £17 million in additional funding to academy trusts to help “strong and high-potential” chains to take on more schools – but eligibility for some trusts will depend on EBacc entries. Damian Hinds, the education secretary, today announced the creation of a new trust capacity fund, the latest in a series of […]

Teachers ‘to get 2.75% pay rise’ – reports

UPDATE: The government has now confirmed its plans for teacher pay in 2019-20. You can read about it here. The government is planning to hand teachers and other school staff a 2.75 per cent pay rise, according to reports. The Times reports that the Treasury will unveil a £2 billion public sector pay deal […]

9,000 pupils were entered for the wrong science paper

Around 9,000 pupils were entered for the wrong science GCSE paper last year, analysis by Ofqual has revealed. Last summer, it emerged Ofqual had been forced to lower the pass grade for GCSE science higher tier exams amid concerns a large number of pupils would receive an “unclassified” grade. It has now emerged that this […]