James Carr | Schools Week

A-level results 2021: Mathematics

Here are the trends in mathematics A-level for 2021. The proportion of A* grades issued increased slightly, while the proportion of A grades remained the same as the year before. The proportion of C grades dropped marginally.

A-level results 2021: Which subjects saw the biggest rise in top grades?

This year’s record-breaking A-level results has seen the proportion of top grades issued to pupils increase to more than 44 per cent. However, the rise in top grades has not been uniform across all subjects – with some subjects seeing triple the proportion of extra pupils earning top marks. Overall the proportion of A* and […]

Remote learning ‘legal duty’ may be reintroduced next year, says DfE

The government may once again place a legal duty upon schools when they return next year to provide remote learning for pupils unable to attend schools due to Covid-19. The Department for Education confirmed it will assess the development of the pandemic over the summer and into the autumn term to see if a new […]

Daily Covid testing a ‘safe alternative’ to isolation, but study has ‘limitations’

Daily contact testing of pupils who have been in close contact with a positive Covid case is a “safe alternative” to home isolation, a new study has found. However, the study had “several limitations”, and it was “likely” that data capture was “imperfect”. Researchers from the University of Oxford have today released findings from large […]

Speed read: How the DfE plans to select schools for its rebuilding programme

The government will compare schools on their “intensity of need” when selecting settings during the rest of its school rebuilding programme and prioritise structural and safety issues under new proposals set out this week. The Department for Education (DfE) has opened a consultation seeking views on the approach it should take when prioritising schools for […]

DfE revises up 2030 pupil projections, but numbers will still shrink by over 5%

The Department for Education has revised up its pupil number predictions for 2030, but said the population will still shrink by over 5 per cent over the course of the decade. National pupil projection data, released by the Department for Education today, predicts the state school population will shrink by 398,000, or 5.1 per cent, […]

Teacher training provider to shut after ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating

An academy trust will close its teacher training provision after it was rated ‘inadequate’ under Ofsted’s new ITE inspection framework. Consilium SCITT in Salford will shut down at the end of August after inspectors downgraded it from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’ and said it was “letting down” its trainees following an inspection in May. The provider […]

‘Inadequate’ DfE Covid guidance contributing to ‘crisis in school leadership’

Guidance for schools during the Covid-19 pandemic has been “inadequate”, contributing to a “crisis in school leadership”, researchers have warned, after a survey found most heads felt advice had been neither timely nor straightforward. Toby Greany, Pat Thomson and Nick Martindale, from the Universities of Nottingham and Oxford, surveyed around 1,500 members of the NAHT […]

Education leaders call for ‘immediate halt’ of ITT review

The government’s initial teacher training (ITT) market review will “cause fundamental and irreparable damage to the supply of high-quality teachers” and must come to an “immediate halt”, education leaders have warned. Five education unions and the Chartered College of Teaching have written to schools minister Nick Gibb over the controversial reform proposals set out last […]