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12 May 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

DfE under pressure to explain how Carillion collapse affects schools

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 […]

NAO report on STEM skills: 7 important findings for schools

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 […]

UTCs have ‘failed to establish their position’, spending watchdog says

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 […]

Carillion, construction firm that works in hundreds of schools, to go into liquidation

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 […]

Head of unregistered private school banned from teaching over safeguarding concerns

The head of an unregistered private school in Birmingham has been banned from teaching after inspectors repeatedly raised safeguarding issues at his school over a number of years. The National College for Teaching and Leadership has released the report of its professional conduct panel investigation into Naveed Hussain, head and director of Bordesley Independent School. The probe was […]

Damian Hinds: The new sheriff in town

Damian Hinds, the Oxford-educated MP for East Hampshire, is the new education secretary, after a reshuffle that saw Justine Greening dramatically resign from the government. Hinds’s appointment was announced later than planned, coming shortly after 8pm on Monday, at the tail end of a major cabinet reshuffle fraught with communications blunders and rows between the […]

Damian Hinds pays tribute to Justine Greening as he meets DfE staff

The new education secretary has lauded his predecessor Justine Greening today, as he met staff at the Department for Education for the first time. Damian Hinds reportedly told gathered staff at Sanctuary Buildings that he had “big shoes to fill”, and reiterated his commitment to improving social mobility, one of Greening’s key policies. Insiders said […]

Durand’s legal fees trebled in 2017, accounts reveal

Accounts of the troubled Durand Academy Trust show the organisation almost trebled its legal and professional fees in 2017. According to the annual accounts of the chain, which runs Durand Academy in south London, legal and professional fees incurred by the trust increased from around £210,000 in 2016 to more than £620,000 in 2018. It […]

Nadhim Zahawi becomes education minister

Nadhim Zahawi, the MP for Stratford-upon-Avon has become an education minister in today’s reshuffle. Downing Street has confirmed that Zahawi, who co-founded the polling company YouGov and is a former government apprenticeship tsar, will serve as a parliamentary undersecretary of state, or a junior minister, at the DfE. It is not yet known what Zahawi’s […]