Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Releasing SATs marking guidance ‘would increase teacher workload’, claim ministers

The government has refused to release its SATs marking guidance, claiming it would increase teachers’ workloads and increase pupil stress. The Standards and Testing Agency says it will not release the guidance under the Freedom of Information act, and claims it could lead to teaching to the test. Criticism and confusion over this year’s key […]

Confusion reigns over new rules for independent coursework reviews

Schools will have to commission independent reviews of GCSE coursework marks if pupils ask, according to new rules imposed by exam boards. Updated guidance from the Joint Council for Qualifications obliges schools to use an “independent assessor” to review marks of non-exam assessments (NEAs) when asked to do so by pupils from now on. But […]

Government finally confirms U-turn on free primary school breakfasts policy

Plans to offer free breakfasts to all primary school pupils have been cancelled, in yet another government U-turn on a major manifesto pledge. The children’s minister Robert Goodwill has confirmed that the government will not be pursuing the policy, following repeated questions from the shadow education secretary Angela Rayner and other MPs. In its manifesto ahead […]

Labour: More than 600,000 pupils taught by unqualified teachers

The government has been accused of failure over teacher recruitment and retention after it was revealed that more than 600,000 pupils in England are now taught by unqualified teachers. The number of teachers in state-funded English schools without QTS rose to 24,000 in 2016, a figure that has grown by 62 per cent since the […]

Change to EBacc measure breaks DfE’s own rules

The government’s plans to change the way schools are measured from 2018 appear to conflict with its own rules on accountability reform. On Wednesday, Justine Greening announced that schools will be measured in a new way from 2018 on the English Baccalaureate, a change which will affect pupils already midway through their GCSE courses. However, […]

Leaked list reveals winners of Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund

A collaboration between academy chain heavyweights to set up a higher education institution to train expert teachers has won funding in the first round of the Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund, according to a leaked list of winners. The names of projects due to split the government’s teacher development funding pot have surfaced after a […]

Government presses on with non-graduate teaching apprenticeship

Ministers are pressing ahead with proposals for an apprenticeship that would allow non-graduate teaching assistants to become qualified teachers, even though access to conventional teacher training would still be restricted to those with university degrees. Anne Milton (pictured), the minister for skills, has confirmed that the government is “developing an appropriate degree apprenticeship” that will […]

Private schools rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted reach seven-year high

The proportion of private schools rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted has reached a seven-year high, official statistics reveal. New Ofsted figures on inspection outcomes of the 983 private schools in England which fall under the watchdog’s remit show that 13 per cent were rated ‘inadequate’ as of March 31 this year. This compares with 11 per […]

Smith review: Not enough capacity for maths to 18

Schools and colleges do not currently have the capacity to teach all pupils maths until they are 18, but could have within a decade, according to Adrian Smith’s long-awaited review of post-16 maths. Smith, who was commissioned last March to look into the feasibility of compulsory maths study for all pupils up to the age of […]