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11 June 2026

Author: Freddie Whittaker

Ministers set out hurdles for expanding academy trusts under new ‘health checks’

Academy trusts will be judged on their schools’ Ofsted ratings, published performance measures on progress and attainment and their improvement over time before being allowed to expand as part of new “health checks”, the government has said. Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary, has previously said that trusts without a record of school improvement will not […]

Doomed spelling and grammar test cost government £1 million

The government spent almost £1 million developing this year’s doomed key stage 1 spelling and grammar test, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. Information released under the freedom of information act shows the Department for Education spent at least £952,602 on developing the spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG) test for seven-year-olds, only to have to abandon […]

Design and technology: 87 MPs demand inclusion of subject in EBacc

Pupils should be able to choose between computer science and design and technology as part of the EBacc, almost 90 MPs have said in a letter to the government. Conservative MP Michelle Donelan has secured the support of 87 MPs for a change which would allow schools to offer GCSE design and technology as a […]

Fact-check: Do the arguments for new grammar schools stack up?

More than 100 Conservative MPs have pledged to campaign for a wave of new grammar schools, reigniting the decades-long debate on the issue of selection. The opening of new grammar schools, which require pupils to pass the 11+ test to gain admittance, was banned by Tony Blair’s government in 1998. But following the appointment of Theresa […]

MPs and peers demand review of Prevent duty

A committee of MPs and peers has called for an independent review of the Prevent duty after witnesses warned some teachers were “over-enthusiastic” with the duty and young Muslims felt they were being targeted by schools because of their faith. The joint committee on human rights has demanded a review of Prevent, which became a legal […]

National funding formula delayed to 2018

The implementation of the new national funding formula has been pushed back to 2018-19, Justine Greening has announced. The new education secretary has confirmed today that the government is no longer intending to put the policy in place in 2017-18, despite claims from ministers as recently as Tuesday that they remained committed to the original […]

Talk to pupils about university when they’re 10, Ucas tells schools

Schools should do more to encourage pupils as young as 12 to think about their post-18 choices, the University and College Admissions Service has said, sparking a call for better careers funding. For its latest report, Through the lens of students, Ucas surveyed more than 16,000 recent university applicants about how their perceptions of higher […]