Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Conservative minister with grammar schools ‘concerns’ quits government

A Conservative minister said to have concerns about plans to open new grammar schools has resigned. Lord Jim O’Neill, the former treasury minister who was appointed by George Osborne to steer the government’s northern powerhouse policy, also intends to move to the non-partisan cross benches in the House of Lords. The former Goldman Sachs chair told […]

DfE admits to alternative provision failures

The government “needs to do better” for pupils in alternative provision, says a senior civil servant following claims that teens have been left in “grotty” institutions with an “ad-hoc” approach to safeguarding. Harriet Becher, the deputy director of the Department for Education’s disadvantage division, said outcomes for children attending pupil referral units were “not good […]

New grammar schools will not increase social mobility, report finds

Opening new grammar schools is unlikely to boost education standards or increase social mobility, a major study released today has revealed. Research by the Education Policy Institute shows that high performance of pupils at grammar schools, in comparison to those at non-selective schools, is driven by the “very high prior attainment and demographics of pupils […]

Inquiry follows primary assessment ‘chaos’

MPs have launched an inquiry into primary assessment to investigate the impact of recent reforms on teaching and learning. The education committee inquiry will consider the consequences of a year in which the government was forced to scrap baseline tests for infants and was embarrassed by a security breach that led to the cancellation of […]

EPI grammar schools report: the 7 key findings

A major piece of research by the Education Policy Institute into grammar schools and social mobility has been published today. Here are some of the key findings… 1. Grammar schools have no ‘overall impact’ on attainment Although 96.7 per cent of grammar school pupils achieve five A* to C GCSEs against a national average of […]

University free school plan ‘insulting’ to teachers, says Oxford boss

Asking universities to set up free schools is “insulting” to teachers and heads, the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford has claimed. Speaking to the Today programme this morning, Professor Louise Richardson said forcing her institution to establish schools would be a “distraction from our core mission”, and said universities already helped the schools community […]

Academic calls for return of the classics in all schools

Latin and classics should be taught “in every primary school” with ancient Greek added at secondary level, says a leading academic. Professor Dennis Hayes, from the University of Derby, warns that Latin and classics, like modern languages, are becoming “the preserve of public schools”, and that the revival of classics in state schools would “transform […]

Make schools commissioners independent, demands think-tank

Responsibility for academy brokering and accountability should be taken away from the government and placed with a new independent schools regulator in a bid to tackle potential conflicts of interest and cronyism, a leading think-tank has said. Reform, in its new report Academy chains unlocked, has called for the national and regional schools commissioners and parts […]

Top DfE advisor says consultations are never a ‘sham’

Use evidence and examples and avoid insulting ministers or writing “a diatribe” if you want to get yourself heard in government consultations. This advice from Tim Leunig the Department for Education’s chief analyst, at the researchED conference on Saturday could not have come at a more relevant time, as educationists across England prepare to tell […]