Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Requests for KS2 SATs marking reviews fall

The Department for Education has reported a fall in the proportion of SATs marks that prompted reviews of marking this year. New figures released today show that in 2018, review applications were made for 1 per cent of total tests taken at key stage 2, down from 1.4 per cent last year. The proportion of […]

Schools need at least £4bn more funding, MPs told

Headteachers and union leaders have told MPs that schools need between £4 billion and £8 million added to their annual budgets to cope with rising costs. Appearing in front of the parliamentary education committee, witnesses from across the schools community gave their estimates for the increase to the core schools budget that’s needed. Although the […]

Age is ‘no barrier’ to teachers’ ability, finds long-awaited working longer review

The age of teachers has no “noticeable effect” on pupil performance, but school staff need more support and clearer guidance to support an age-diverse workforce, according to a new report into the effectiveness of older teachers. The long-awaited teachers working longer report has finally been published today, four years after it was commissioned by Nicky Morgan. […]

Ofqual: ‘Not possible’ to use non-exam assessment in computer science

Non-exam assessments may never return to computer science GCSEs, after Ofqual admitted it is “not possible” to use them to assess programming skills in a way that is “manageable, reliable and fair”. The supervised coursework element of the qualification has already been removed for pupils taking their exams in 2019 and 2020, after tasks from […]

Unions make ‘unprecedented’ move over school spending, as new figures show funding down £1.7bn

Heads and teachers will be consulted together on potential action over school spending in an “unprecedented” move by unions, as it was revealed that per-pupil funding is set to plummet by almost £1.7 billion in real terms. The National Education Union, National Association of Head Teachers and Association of School and College Leaders have broken […]

Firm behind first for-profit free school is still losing money

The private company behind the country’s first for-profit free school has made a loss for the third year in a row, documents reveal. Accounts for the year to June 30, show IES International English Schools UK, which runs IES Breckland free school in Brandon, Suffolk, made an operating loss of £34,500 in 2018. The company […]

Halfon: Give schools their own NHS-style 10 year plan

Education needs a ten-year funding plan like the one drawn up for the NHS, the chair of the parliamentary education committee has said. Writing in Schools Week, Robert Halfon (pictured), a former education minister and Conservative Party deputy chairman, said it was “inexplicable and astonishing” that the health service can have a ten-year funding and […]

The problem with Hammond’s ‘little extras’ budget pledge

The chancellor’s £400 million capital “bonus” for schools to buy “little extras” could end up with brand-new schools being handed as much cash as those where the “roof is falling in”. Philip Hammond said the money, a one-off injection this year in the form of grants, would be “useful” to fund things like “whiteboards and […]

DfE to shell out £10m for 200 ‘external experts’

The Department for Education will spend £10 million on 200 “external experts” to advise it on policy areas including safeguarding, free schools and the curriculum. A tender document published this week reveals that the department is searching for organisations to run a “register of external experts” made up of “individuals who have expertise and experience […]