Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

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 […]

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, […]