Jess Staufenberg | Schools Week

Postcode lottery of delayed summer-born admissions continues

Parents of summer-born pupils still face a postcode lottery of admissions rules if they try to delay when their children start school, years after ministers promised to investigate the issue. New research by the Department for Education found that out of 92 local authorities who completed a survey on delayed summer-born admissions, 60 per cent […]

Campaign group ‘exploring legal action’ over grammar schools expansion plan

Campaigners who oppose the expansion of academic selection are “exploring the possibility of legal action” over government plans to encourage existing grammar schools to expand. Comprehensive Future has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £5,000 to “challenge the threat of new annexe grammar schools”, after the government encouraged grammar schools to apply for a share of a […]

£4m cuts ‘will threaten’ deaf pupils’ performance

The support provided to deaf children in schools will be cut by around £4 million this year, a charity has warned. Figures obtained by the National Deaf Children’s Society reveal that a third of councils are due to cut support for deaf children, with an average cut of 10 per cent planned across those authorities. […]

Exam boards to check teacher-examiners’ lesson plans

Some teachers who help to write exams will have samples of their lesson plans checked by exam boards under new rules to tackle cheating by teacher-examiners. Ofqual, the exams regulator, said today it will press ahead with proposals outlined in March to check lesson plans of teacher-examiners, despite objections from many of the respondents to a […]

Research row over Norfolk boarding school scheme for kids in care

Claims that boarding schools can “transform” the prospects of vulnerable young people have been called into question after the academies minister threw his support behind the government’s new boarding ventures. Last year, the Department for Education pledged to promote boarding schools as an alternative to costly residential care, and launched boarding school partnerships, a joint […]

‘Strengthened’ QTS proposals will cost at least £336 million

Schools need at least £336 million more per year to pay for the government’s proposed changes to teacher induction, according to new figures shared exclusively with Schools Week. New plans to extend the induction period of new teachers were positively received last week, but without more money to provide the additional support, schools won’t be […]

Private schools will report annually on their work with state schools

The organisation representing some of the country’s most prestigious private schools will have to report every year on how its members are partnering with state schools. Under a new agreement between the Independent Schools Council and the Department for Education, the ISC will have to publish details of how many have become governors for academy […]

Grammar school coffers drained by ‘test tourism’ as pushy parents use 11-plus as mock exam

Grammar schools are wasting thousands of pounds because pushy parents from other areas are using their entry exams as mock tests for their children. Selective school heads are describing a growing problem with “test tourism”, which involves pupils sitting the 11-plus at schools outside their area as a practice, so they have an advantage for […]

Faith school ordered to address ‘significant’ failings in admissions appeals

A faith school criticised for the way it handled an appeal from a pupil to whom it refused a place has been ordered to replace its admissions panel and hire a new clerk. The Madani Girls’ School in Leicester has been criticised by the local government and social care ombudsman for “significant” failings in its […]