Transparency calls over secret £200m academy trust handouts Investigation into extra cash available to trusts finds half not open to applications, and one has no public presence at all
Village primary gets a second ‘golden ticket’ to deck out its new home The small school has been handed the keys to a 400-capacity building after a planned free school was abandoned
Birmingham withdraws schools from £100m IT system Heads were unable to make financial plans as glitches left them waiting months to learn the size of their budgets
Councils still paying PFI bills for closed schools (but some can’t talk about it) Investigation exposes ongoing complexities of PFI deals, use of gagging clauses and how the DfE paid off contracts in early academy days
Ofsted: Trusts ‘not convinced’ judgments are ‘appropriate or optimal’ CST tells Ofsted’s Big Listen that a separate safeguarding judgment may have ‘merit’, but warns against rushed move to MAT inspections
Election delays 2024 academy trust handbook ESFA chief tells leaders vital guidance will be delayed until after country goes to the polls
Fully ban phones in schools if crackdown doesn’t work, say MPs Committee also calls for ‘kitemarking’ for education apps and better digital literacy education as it raises concerns over data and privacy
DfE in court over falling rolls academy plan High Court challenge over its decision to academise a school council planned to close amid falling rolls
Struggling schools miss out on ‘hardship’ funding One local authority kept the entire government allocation to itself to cover its own deficit