Author: Freddie Whittaker

Ministers have launched a new group to explore the benefits artificial intelligence can bring to the classroom. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said the impact of AI technologies in the classroom “still remains largely unevidenced”, and wants to find out more about how it can help schools. Responding to a written parliamentary question from the […]

The government is hampering improvement in school effectiveness in the north of England, the leaders of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership have warned MPs. Lord Jim O’Neill, a former Treasury minister and vice-chair of the NPP and Henri Murison, the organisation’s director, warned of problems with the government’s opportunity areas programme and “chaos” in the regional schools […]

Boris Johnson’s pledge to ensure every secondary school in England gets £5,000 per pupil could amount to as little as just under £50 million extra funding – or a 0.1 per cent increase in overall school spending. Writing in the Telegraph, the Tory leadership frontrunner said it was “simply not sustainable that funding per pupil […]

A former primary school head and an ex-Downing Street education adviser have been appointed as interim regional schools commissioners. Dame Kate Dethridge will replace Martin Post in north west London and south central England in August, and Katherine Cowell will take the post in the north of England in July, replacing Janet Renou. Both Post […]

The number of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued to pupils in England has risen by 11 per cent in a year, continuing an upward trend seen over the past four years. New government data shows that there were 354,000 children and young people with education, health and care plans maintained by local authorities […]

All schools must have access to new careers hubs and be held to account for the advice and guidance they provide, a landmark review of post-18 education has said. The review, by Philip Augar (pictured below), mostly focuses on further and higher education, but also warns of “weaknesses in the provision of information, advice and […]

The Department for Education and the government’s Insolvency Service have signed an agreement to regularly share information about academy trusts – making it easier to ban trustees who flout the rules. A new memorandum of understanding (MoU) seeks to “facilitate the regular exchange of information” between the two organisations, which “need to be able to […]

Campaigners and parents will march on Downing Street today to demand an increase in SEND funding. The SEND National Crisis campaign wants the government to better meet the needs of SEND pupils, and bridge the estimated £1.2 billion shortfall in high needs funding in England that has opened up since 2015. This is clearly a […]