Author: Freddie Whittaker

An academy run by the doomed Education Fellowship Trust has still not been transferred to its new sponsor, 20 months after the government first threatened it with intervention. The Wrenn Academy in Wellingborough is the last school left on TEFT’s roster after 11 others were rebrokered to new trusts following financial problems and concerns over […]

The Department for Education faces being reported to the Information Commissioner if it does not agree to delete data collected on pupils’ nationality and country of birth over the past two years. More than 20 human rights and privacy campaign groups have signed a letter to Damian Hinds, the education secretary, urging him to destroy […]

The number of possible illegal schools identified by Ofsted has risen to 420, up from 359 in March. However, only 55 schools have been closed or ceased to operate illegally since the watchdog established a special team to deal with the issue in 2016. Of the 55 settings that have closed or ceased operating illegally, […]

There is “no evidence” that migration to the UK from Europe reduces the educational outcomes of non-migrant children or the choice of schools on offer to parents, according to an influential committee that advises the government. Research by the Migration Advisory Committee found that there is “no statistically significant relationship” between a higher migrant share […]

The Labour Party will tackle the “national scandal” of off-rolling, an illegal practice that “lets down thousands of young people”, the shadow education secretary has said. Ahead of the party’s annual conference, Angela Rayner told Schools Week the fact that schools are “incentivised” to remove underperforming pupils before they sit their GCSEs is “a disgrace”. […]

A Panorama investigation this week accused the Bright Tribe academy trust of making repeated false claims for building and maintenance grants. Schools Week can now reveal at least two more trusts have misused the same funds, and that academies minister, Lord Agnew, responded to concerns about such misuse by admitting “there will always be bad […]

A new multi-million pound government scheme will seek to bring more “career changers” into the classroom. The Department for Education recently invited organisations to tender for two teacher recruitment and retention support services, with contracts totalling £20.5 million between them. The first contract, worth around £13.5 million, is for a company to “aid the recruitment, […]

Veteran Labour politician Frank Field and high-profile Tory donor David Ross have been granted permission to jointly open a free school with a view to taking control of some existing schools later this year. The Frank Field Education Trust is the brainchild of the MP for Birkenhead, and Ross, the millionaire founder of Carphone Warehouse, […]

The new teacher and school leadership pay rates for 2018-19 have been confirmed by the Department for Education. In July, the DfE announced pay rises of 3.5 per cent for those teachers on the unqualified and main pay scales, 2 per cent for those on the upper pay scale and 1.5 per cent for those on leadership […]