Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Low ratings for grammar-sponsored academies

Half of academies sponsored by grammar schools are rated as requiring improvement or inadequate, casting doubt on the effectiveness of government plans to get more selective schools running other nearby schools. Data released by the government on the day it called the general election shows that eight of the 18 schools sponsored by grammar schools […]

May and Hammond are the obstacles to progress in education

June’s general election is a make or break moment for schools and young people, says NAHT president and headteacher Anne Lyons. The good news about this surprise general election is that education has found its way to near the top of the agenda. Not since the heady days of 1997 have we seen this kind […]

Heads back CofE call to ban parents withdrawing children from RE

Headteachers have backed Church of England plans to ban parents from withdrawing their pupils from religious education, claiming it is being exploited by ‘interest groups’ and those seeking to incite religious hatred. Under current rules, parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE lessons and collective worship at all maintained schools, including those […]

Justine Greening pulls out of NAHT conference

Justine Greening will not address the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers this weekend after her visit was cancelled by the Department for Education. The education secretary was due to speak at the event in Telford on Saturday morning, but has pulled out at the last minute. Schools Week understands that her […]

Funding system for new schools ‘increasingly incoherent’, say MPs

Funding for new schools is delivered through an “increasingly incoherent” system, with the government frequently paying “over the odds” for sites and building schools without the “full suite of facilities”, a powerful committee of MPs has warned. In a new report, out today, the parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC) warns that while free schools are helping meet the […]

Labour pledges to bring back EMA with corporation tax hike

Labour will raise corporation tax to fund the re-introduction of the education maintenance allowance, the party has revealed today. The payments, aimed at supporting pupils from lower-income households who stay in education between the ages of 16 and 19, were scrapped in England by the coalition government in 2010, although they carried on in Wales, Scotland […]

Corbyn promises to halt rise of ‘super-size’ classes in latest Labour schools pledge

Jeremy Corbyn has claimed that children are being “crammed in classrooms like sardines” and pledged to keep class sizes down if he wins the general election, in the latest of a series of high-profile interventions on education issues. The Labour Party has released analysis of Department for Education data released in January which shows that more than half […]

Grammar schools white paper won’t be published until after election

Ministers will not publish the grammar schools white paper until after the snap general election on June 8, despite Justine Greening having recently pledged to release the publication within the “coming weeks”. The Department for Education (DfE) said “well-established restrictions” on government business during the purdah period in the run-up to local elections on May […]

NUT demands funding formula response before election

Kevin Courtney, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, says it would be an “absolute and total disgrace” if the government does not respond to its national funding formula consultation before the election. Theresa May’s announcement that there will be a snap general election on June 8 has cast doubts on whether the government […]