Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

New Year’s Honours 2017: Medals go to 5 headteacher board members

Five members of the government’s influential ‘headteacher boards’ which advise regional schools commissioners have been recognised in the new year’s honours list. The proportion of medals handed to academy trust bosses and executive heads has also risen this year – with 11 handed out this year compared to eight last year. The highest formal honour […]

Government launches pro-grammar schools ‘campaign’ just days after official consultation closes

The government is seeking the backing of its own party members and supporters for a ‘campaign’ in favour of new grammar schools, just over a week after an official consultation on the plans closed. Justine Greening, the education secretary, has written to Conservative Party members and other backers asking them to “show their support” for […]

10 key findings from the DfE’s accounts: Pay-offs, write-offs and failed UTCs

The Department for Education has published its annual accounts for 2015-16. As expected, the government’s spending watchdog has once again warned that the accounts lack “truth and fairness”. Schools Week has taken a forensic look at what the rest of the accounts tell us… 1. PFI costs and liabilities continue to soar The DfE’s obligations under […]

Errors in exam papers tripled this year, Ofqual report reveals

The number of ‘material errors’ in the design of A level and GCSE exam papers has more than tripled in a year, affecting 323,000 pupils this summer. Ofqual’s report on the 2016 summer exams shows the number of reported assessment material errors rose from 11 in 2015 to 37 this year. The biggest rise was […]

Lodgers move into disused Black Country UTC

Young professionals are living in a disused Walsall university technical college site, which is not the only failed college no longer used for education. Seven of the flagship institutions will have closed by the end of this academic year, and although the government aims to ensure their sites are still used for “educational purposes”, a […]

Roger Taylor appointed as new chair of exams regulator Ofqual

Former journalist and Careers and Enterprise Company adviser Roger Taylor will replace Amanda Spielman as the chair of the exams regulator Ofqual, it has been announced. Justine Greening, the education secretary, has appointed Taylor to replace Spielman in January, when she will become the chief inspector of Ofsted. Taylor, already a member of the Ofqual […]

Ofsted: Greenwood Academies Trust has ‘let down pupils’

One of England’s largest multi-academy trusts has been warned it has “let down pupils over a number of years” after a focused inspection of six of its schools by Ofsted found half required special measures. The Greenwood Academies Trust has been told to “urgently improve outcomes for pupils” after an investigation in November revealed failures […]

DfE had agreement to share pupil nationality data with Home Office

The Department for Education (DfE) did have an agreement in place to share pupil nationality data with the Home Office for immigration purposes, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. However, documents finally seen by the paper after a several month freedom of information battle, show the policy has been overturned and no nationality information about any pupil […]

Exam re-mark requests plummet after Ofqual reforms

The number of exam grades that were changed after being re-marked has dropped by 25 per cent this year, with fewer schools and pupils also requesting reviews following sweeping reforms by Ofqual. Figures released this morning by the exams regulator show the total number of reviews of GCSE and A-level marks decreased from 572,400 in […]