Author: Freddie Whittaker

School leaders’ lack of understanding of counselling and psychotherapy is making it difficult for them to commission mental health support for their pupils, new research has found. A joint survey of 655 leaders and 1,198 health workers in schools by children’s mental health charity Place2Be revealed that 45 per cent of school leaders have found […]

The government will proceed with its plans to change the threshold for free school meals eligibility under universal credit, children’s minister Nadhim Zahawi has announced. It means a new £7,400 earnings threshold, proposed in a consultation launched last November, will be introduced. The government estimates an extra 50,000 pupils will become eligible for free school […]

Eight local councils are not confident that schools in their area have lawful admissions arrangements, according to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. In her annual report, Shan Scott said her findings were “concerning”, especially in light of the growing importance of councils’ role in objecting to schools’ admissions rules when they believe they break […]

Ministers are under increasing pressure to say whether they will make personal, social, health and economics (PSHE) lessons compulsory, amid apprehension about the extra resources schools will need to teach the subject. Labour wants clarity from Nick Gibb, the schools minister, who has refused to say exactly how cash-strapped schools will be supported to deliver […]

An “invaluable” online forum that supports thousands of special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) has been unavailable for months because of an IT error at the Department for Education. The National SENCO Forum normally gives SENCOs access to help from colleagues around the country through an email chain. The forum has been going since 1995, and […]

The government has launched a new advice service for schools to help them get value for money when buying in services. Pilots of the scheme have started today in the north west and south west of England, with free advice and guidance on buying services like catering, cleaning or technology support on offer. According to the […]

Academies stand to lose £353 million by 2020 as a result of cuts to the Education Services Grant, official government estimates reveal. A technical note on schools’ costs published today sets out how the decision to scrap the grant will affect academies over the next three years. This year, academies have lost £105 million as a […]

Schools should be measured on the “employability and success” of their pupils when they reach the age of 25, according to the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. The organisation, set up and chaired by the former chancellor George Osborne, has released a report, ‘Educating the North’, in which it calls for schools, colleges and universities to be measured […]

The government is under pressure to reveal more about its efforts to boost teacher recruitment and retention following a landmark report by an influential committee of MPs. The parliamentary public accounts committee has today published a report on its inquiry into Retaining and developing the teaching workforce, which was held last November, and includes seven […]