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1 June 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

We won’t know if opportunity areas have worked until at least 2021

The government won’t be able to gauge the impact of a £72 million project to boost social mobility in 12 “opportunity areas” until after 2020, its own research has found. John Rodger, a partner with York Consulting hired by the government to evaluate the success of the  programme, has warned that expectations “may be set […]

How to apply for re-marks and appeal A-level results

Pupils across England will get their A-level results on Thursday, and while most of them celebrate, their exams officers, teachers and school leaders will be deciding what to do about those who haven’t got the results they had been expecting. Each exam board takes a slightly different approach to the re-marking and appeals process, so […]

School pupils move into three former UTC sites

Three former University Technical College sites will become schools next month after closing their doors earlier this year. UTCs in Oldham, Daventry and Greenwich all closed this summer following serious problems with pupil recruitment. It means that seven of the controversial 14-to-19 institutions have now closed in the six years since the project’s inception in […]

High Court ruling threatens Ofsted’s ability to publish negative reports

Schools receiving negative Ofsted reports are now more likely to attempt to block them, solicitors have warned in the wake of a landmark High Court ruling. Durand Academy last week succeeded in its effort to quash an ‘inadequate’ grade handed out by the inspectorate earlier this year, and Lee Bolton Monier-Williams, the firm that acted on its […]

Boys’ A-level performance set to rise this year, predicts academic

This year’s A-level results are expected to show a surge in performance among boys, despite a fall in top grades overall due to changes in the way the exams are sat. Previous trends indicate that boys could “improve their position relative to girls” this year, according to Alan Smithers from the University of Buckingham’s Centre […]

Judge: Durand management may have taken ‘eye off the ball’ over EFA squabble

Management at the under-fire Durand Academy may have taken its eyes “off the ball” due to an ongoing conflict with the Education Funding Agency, a judge has said. The school has won a legal bid at the High Court to have its ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating quashed, after a judicial review found that the watchdog’s complaints procedure […]

Pay scales for teachers and leaders in England and Wales from September 2017

The new teacher and school leadership pay rates for 2017-18 have been confirmed by the Department for Education. Last month, the DfE accepted the recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body, issued in July this year, to keep pay rises for teachers capped at 1 per cent. While local authority-maintained schools are required to follow […]

Former Birmingham governor Waseem Yaqub banned from running schools

A former governor who was banned from his school’s campus for obstructing the work of his replacements has been barred from running schools by Justine Greening. Waseem Yaqub, the former chair of governors at Birmingham’s Al-Hijrah School, cannot now be a governor of any school, according to a prohibition order issued by the education secretary more […]

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 […]