Author: Freddie Whittaker

Academy trusts give too much control to “ambitious” leaders and offer them huge six-figure salaries in the mistaken belief that it will attract the best candidates, says the leader of one of England’s fastest-growing chains. Frank Norris, the director of the Co-operative Academies Trust, told Schools Week the governance structures of trusts that allowed their […]

Labour’s proposed ban on related-party transactions will apply only to linked commercial companies, Schools Week has learned. The party announced proposals to ban such transactions – deals between academy trusts or schools and linked private companies – on Sunday. It has now confirmed that the policy will be extended to local authority-maintained schools and academies. […]

The education secretary Damian Hinds has apologised to the families affected by the Whitehaven Academy scandal, and pledged to “do everything we can to stop it happening again”. In an exclusive interview with Schools Week ahead of the Conservative Party conference, Hinds said images of the Cumbria school’s squalid facilities depicted in a recent BBC […]

An academy trust set up by veteran Labour politician Frank Field and Tory donor David Ross has announced it is taking on its first school. The Frank Field Education Trust (FFET) is the brainchild of Field, the MP for Birkenhead, and Ross, the millionaire founder of Carphone Warehouse, who chairs the New Schools Network. The […]

A lower proportion of pupils met the government’s “expected standard” in key stage 1 reading teacher assessments this year, while results for maths improved slightly. In 2018, 75 per cent of pupils were said to be working at the expected standard in reading, compared to 76 per cent in 2017. But the proportion of pupils […]

The proportion of pupils meeting the government’s “expected standard” in the year 1 phonics screening check has increased to 82 per cent. Last year, 81 per cent met the standard in year 1. The proportion of pupils meeting the standard by the end of year 2 remains stable at 92 per cent. The proportion of […]

Damian Hinds has criticised Labour’s plans to put a halt to the academies programme, labelling them as “reckless”. The education secretary said returning academies and free schools to local authority oversight would “turn the clock back on the successful education reforms we have enacted”, and on “the 1.9 million more children at good or outstanding schools”. […]