Author: Freddie Whittaker

Investment in teachers and school leaders is needed to transform social mobility, the Justine Greening has claimed in a speech in which she set out her thoughts on Brexit. However, no new initiatives or funding were announced during the address at the Social Mobility Commission conference this morning. Schools face real-terms cuts of up to £3 […]

The government will consult on a proposal to scrap key stage 1 SATs which could be replaced with a new baseline test at reception in order to create a more “stable and proportionate” primary assessment system. Justine Greening, the education secretary, first announced she would seek views on changes to primary testing last year. In […]

A-level classes need at least 11.7 pupils to make them financially viable, a study has found. The research, carried out by the Isos Partnership on behalf of the Department for Education, also found there may be a case for more active national management of the A-level market – including a reduction in qualifications, in order to […]

The government have a “collective delusion” about the scope for further cuts in schools, the Public Accounts Committee has said in response to its investigation into school funding. A report by the parliamentary committee, released today, states that pupils’ futures are at risk and that the Department for Education is not well-placed to act swiftly […]

The government has abandoned its plan to make a grade 5 the new ‘good’ GCSE pass grade which was aimed at bringing England into line with global competitors. In 2015, the government announced the new grade 5 – due to be awarded for the first time this summer – would be the new “good pass” level. It […]

An academy boss who claimed for a luxury car lease on expenses has now been criticised by the government for breaching funding rules after removing his trust’s chair. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) says Ian Cleland, the chief executive and accounting officer at the Academies Transformation Trust (ATT), failed to manage the “inherent conflict of interest” when he removed Stephen […]

Ministers are being “led by the nose” over ending the ban on grammar schools by the prime minister’s chief adviser Nick Timothy, the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has claimed. During a forceful speech in parliament this afternoon, the former Liberal Democrat leader said he had been told there was “one un-elected political apparatchik in Number […]