Author: Freddie Whittaker

A single-academy trust in West Yorkshire has been warned it faces closure if it does not improve after Ofsted found it was not taking effective action to get better. Unless Castle Hall Academy Trust can prove to schools commissioners that it can “achieve rapid and sustained improvement”, it will be issued with a termination warning […]

The education secretary will take questions from MPs when he appears in front of the parliamentary education committee next week. Damian Hinds, who has been in the role for just over two months, will attend an accountability hearing on Wednesday morning. The committee said Hinds will face questions from across his brief, but is likely […]

New times-tables tests for nine-year-olds will cost the Department for Education more than £5 million to implement, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the government expects to have spent more than £2.8 million on the online tests between April 2015 and the end of this month, and […]

The proportion of secondary schools that are full or over capacity has risen for the first time in at least seven years. Government statistics released this morning show that 16.2 per cent of secondary schools were full or over-capacity in 2017, up from 14.4 per cent in 2016, a rise of 12.5 per cent. The […]

A company that runs apprenticeship training for schools has been branded “not fit for purpose” by Ofsted after inspectors found apprentices did not “learn anything new” on its courses. The Key6 Group, which was set up by former headteacher Dr Jerry Grundy and runs an ‘apprentices in schools’ programme, began “swiftly” recruiting after it was […]

Up to 10 schools are being sought to take part in a trial of a scheme aimed at persuading former teachers to return to the classroom. The government wants to find lead schools in the west Midlands and south-east for its programme, which will have a budget of at least £298,000 and will “test the best […]

Labour has lost its bid to extend eligibility for free school meals to pupils from all households claiming universal credit. The party forced a vote in the House of Commons on changes proposed by the government that will see a new £7,400 earnings threshold for free school meals eligibility introduced for those claiming the new […]

The education secretary made an “error” when he claimed in parliament that schools would get a real-terms increase in per-pupil funding, the Department for Education has admitted, following an investigation by the statistics watchdog. Damian Hinds was reported to the UK Statistics Authority after he claimed on January 29 that “real-terms funding per pupil is […]

Small schools will end up subsidising businesses to the tune of £80 million under plans announced by the chancellor in the spring statement, according to school leaders’ union the NAHT. Philip Hammond announced this afternoon that small businesses will be handed £80 million in funding to help them recruit apprentices under the apprenticeship levy. Small […]