Author: Freddie Whittaker

A multi-millionaire property developer is facing criticism for a conflict of interest between two academy trusts he ran. Michael Dwan was found to have shared sensitive information about the impending closure of one of his schools with another academy trust he chairs and which was hoping to open a new school on the site. According […]

Northumberland county council has launched legal action to recover £230,000 given to Bright Tribe academy trust to take on a struggling school because the chain later walked away from the deal. Bright Tribe was paid to convert Haydon Bridge High School in Northumberland, but abandoned it last November, blaming the school’s deficit and low pupil […]

Leo Shapiro, the chief executive of exam board OCR, has stepped down after less than two years in post. Schools Week understands Shapiro left on Friday, but that he will continue to work for the Cambridge Assessment Group, OCR’s parent company. The exam board said Shapiro’s move is “part of a planned change to support […]

Whitehaven Academy, the troubled Cumbrian school at the centre of a row over the state of its buildings, is closed today after asbestos was disturbed on its site. The Bright Tribe Trust, which runs the school, said this morning that building materials containing asbestos were discovered “during a routine asbestos survey”, and that “swift and […]

The Department for Education has acknowledged that more needs to be done to help schools prepare for strict new data protection laws, with just over a month left before they come into force. Teachers and leaders have been complaining that the government has not properly briefed schools on the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which […]

Another University Technical College has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, taking the total number in the category to six. Following an inspection in mid-February, South Wiltshire UTC was told its leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for pupils and 16 to 19 study programmes were inadequate. Personal development, behaviour and welfare […]

MPs on the parliamentary education committee will hold an inquiry into support for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). The committee’s probe will examine the impact of “wide-reaching changes” to the SEND system introduced by the government in 2014. These reforms included a move to replace statements of SEND with education and health […]