Author: Freddie Whittaker

The government will not support a draft law to force councils to provide free meals and activities for poor pupils in school holidays, but will carry out research into whether or not government intervention to prevent “holiday hunger” is needed, a minister has announced. Nadhim Zahawi, the children’s minister, told MPs today that research to […]

A new research school will be founded in Ipswich, the education secretary will announce today. In his first major policy announcement since taking the role last week, Damian Hinds handed £200,000 to Highfield Nursery School to found a research hub with the  Kesgrave and Farlingaye teaching school alliance, and the Springfield teaching school alliance The […]

Almost all university technical colleges missed their recruitment targets and were overpaid by the government last year, leaving them with a combined debt of over £11 million, Schools Week can reveal. In fact the Education and Skills Funding Agency is attempting to claw cash back from 39 of 44 UTCs still open in 2016-17. Alarmingly, […]

A coalition of teaching unions has called for an urgent review of teachers and leaders’ pay, demanding a “cost of living” pay increase for all school staff. The National Education Union and Voice have teamed up with leadership bodies ASCL and NAHT to make a joint submission to the School Teachers Review Body, which makes […]

The government should publish “scorecards” for academy trusts and base decisions on whether they are allowed to grow both on educational and financial performance, an influential group of MPs has said. The parliamentary education committee has warned of a “lack of joined-up accountability in the school system”, particularly over failed trusts like the doomed Wakefield […]

The new education secretary Damian Hinds is under pressure to release information about the impact of Carillion’s collapse on schools. It was announced on Monday morning that the construction firm, which works closely with the government on a huge range of outsourced projects, is to go into liquidation, threatening thousands of jobs. The company works […]

The National Audit Office has published a wide-ranging report on science, technology, engineering and maths skills. Here are some of the most important things for schools… 1. Some STEM teacher recruitment efforts are proving successful… According to early research, a £67 million maths and physics teacher supply package put in place by the government is […]

Many of the government’s multimillion-pound university technical colleges have “failed to establish their position in the educational landscape”, and other new institutions are at risk of going the same way, according to the National Audit Office. An investigation into the delivery of science, technology, engineering and maths skills by the government spending watchdog found that […]

A firm that provides facilities maintenance, cleaning and catering services to hundreds of schools is to go into liquidation, leaving thousands of jobs at risk. The government has confirmed this morning that public funding will be provided to maintain the public services run by Carillion, after it failed to reach an agreement with officials to […]