Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Reshuffle rumours suggest Justine Greening could depart DfE

School business leaders and heads have called for stability in the Department for Education’s ministerial team, as rumours begin to circulate that Justine Greening could be removed from her role as education secretary. Leaders are concerned that 18 months of hard work and relationship-building with Greening could go to waste if she is replaced. There […]

New Year’s Honours 2018: Knighthood for MP who led grammar schools campaign

An influential Conservative MP who led the charge for the return of selective education has been given a knighthood, months after the government abandoned its plans for new grammar schools in England. Graham Brady, the MP for Altrincham and Sale West and chair of the powerful 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, has been recognised in […]

MPs to hold inquiry into school mental health support plans

The government’s proposals for additional mental health support for school pupils are to be scrutinised in an inquiry by MPs. The parliamentary education and health committees will hold a joint inquiry into the plans set out in the government’s green paper earlier this month. The committee will begin holding hearings in January. Under proposals set […]

Labour demands free school meals for all pupils on universal credit

Free school meals should be provided to all pupils from households claiming universal credit, Labour has said, as a consultation on the future of the system enters its final weeks. The shadow education secretary Angela Rayner and shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams have issued a joint statement demanding that plans to introduce a […]

AQA to review staff training after grade change debacle

The exam board AQA has announced plans to review its training for staff who review exam marks, following an investigation by Ofqual into a huge rise in the number of GCSE grades changed this year. Ofqual has published an undertaking made by the exam board, in which it admits to not having “acted sufficiently” to […]

Access to the best secondary schools ‘hasn’t improved since 2010’

Access to high-performing secondary schools has not improved since 2010, and has become more geographically unequal, according to a report by the Education Policy Institute. The think-tank compared the availability of places in “high-performing secondary schools” – those with good value-added scores over a four-year period. It found that around a fifth of local authority […]

Majority of Bright Tribe’s £1m ‘northern hub’ funding spent on senior staff

The Bright Tribe academy trust has already spent “the majority” of a £1 million grant to help to encourage expansion in the north of England, despite taking on only three schools in the region, Lord Agnew has revealed. The academies minister has written to members of the parliamentary education committee in response to questions asked […]

52% rise in GCSE grade changes happened because exam boards ‘didn’t follow rules’

The sharp rise in the number of GCSE grades that were changed at marking review this year came about because some exam boards “didn’t follow rules”, the head of the exams regulator has said. Sally Collier, the chief regulator of Ofqual, told MPs on the parliamentary education committee this morning that the 52-per-cent increase in […]

Teachers weigh in on the new sex education curriculum

Teachers are being asked for their views on what should be included in the new sex and relationships education curriculum. The government has launched a “call for evidence” to help update guidance on what should be taught when the subject becomes compulsory in all schools in 2019. Parliament voted earlier this year to make relationships […]