Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Your quick-and-easy guide to the new ‘National Education Union’

Members of the National Union of Teachers and Association of Teachers and Lecturers have voted to form a new organisation – the National Education Union. The new union will officially come into being on September 1 of this year. The vote has been described as “historic”, with significant ramifications for schools and those who work […]

NUT and ATL members vote to form new ‘super union’

Members of the National Union of Teachers and Association of Teachers and Lecturers have voted to form a new “super union”. The National Education Union, which is expected to have a membership of more than 450,000 and will be the biggest education union in Europe, will officially come into being in September this year. Official talks […]

Unions demand more school cash as IFS warns of funding formula uncertainty

The leaders of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, National Union of Teachers and National Association of Head Teachers have written to the prime minister today to demand additional school funding. The intervention comes on the final day of a consultation on plans for a new national funding formula, which seeks to address historic regional […]

GCSE and A level exam appeals drop by a quarter

Appeals against GCSE and A level results have fallen by almost a quarter, the exams regulator Ofqual has said. The watchdog has published its annual statistical release on appeals for GCSE and A level exams for the 2016 summer exam series. Ofqual says 355 appeals relating to the qualification grades of 6,649 pupils, were submitted in […]

Today’s education questions in parliament: 3 things we learned

MPs grilled Justine Greening, the education secretary, plus her ministerial team, in the House of Commons this afternoon. Funding and grammar schools dominated the agenda, with a few other interesting issues coming out in their answers. Here’s what we learned… 1. The new schools white paper will be out ‘in the coming weeks’ Speculation is mounting […]

Senior figures resign at David Ross Education Trust – including David Blunkett

Former education secretary David Blunkett has resigned as chair of the David Ross Education Trust, one of England’s largest academy chains, with several other senior figures including the chief executive. Company documents show that Lord Blunkett, chair of the trust since 2015, stepped down in January. Schools Week has also learned that the trust’s chief […]

Grammar schools: Tories could delay vote on ban until after 2020 election

A vote to lift the 19-year ban on new grammar schools could be postponed until after the next election to guarantee its passage through parliament, Schools Week understands. Mounting opposition among Conservative MPs has prompted discussions about whether a vote is needed before May 2020. One senior Conservative MP told Schools Week that as many […]

All you wanted to know about sex education in schools… but were afraid to ask

The government has announced it will introduce compulsory sex and relationship education for all schools, including academies. What happens next? The policy has been added to the children and social work bill which is currently making its way through parliament. If passed, all the law will do is place a duty on Justine Greening, the […]

Government went ‘hell for leather’ on free schools, admits DfE top boss

The government went “hell for leather” and approved some free schools “a little bit fast” in the early days of the programme, the Department for Education’s top boss has admitted. Jonathan Slater, the permanent secretary of the DfE, told the parliamentary public accounts committee this afternoon that the government was accountable for the four mainstream […]