Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

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 […]

Unlikely allies gather in opposition to grammar schools

What do Jeremy Corbyn, Nicky Morgan, the Trades Union Congress, Sir Michael Wilshaw and the Scottish National Party have in common? Their opposition to new grammar schools. Labour leader Corbyn pointed out the diversity of those against the new grammar school plans during prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, saying that Theresa May had succeeded in […]

Pupil database changes made ‘without debate’

The government is facing calls to release details of the panel that approved plans for schools to gather data on pupils’ nationalities and countries of birth. Controversial changes to the national pupil database (NPD), which came into effect on September 1, require schools to get extra data in the annual school census. The information is […]

Justine Greening’s first education select committee: 4 things we learned

Justine Greening, the new education secretary, has faced her first grilling from MPs on the education select committee this morning. Here are the highlights… The government will not scrap the need for parent governors on academy boards One of the most controversial plans in the previous government’s white paper, released earlier this year, was the […]

Government ‘taking forward’ academies white paper, Greening confirms

The government remains committed to the idea of all schools becoming academies and is “pulling together” legislation to enact its Education for All white paper, Justine Greening has confirmed. School leaders had raised concerns with Schools Week about a confusion between the green paper plans for selection and the white paper focus on academies. Greening […]