Jess Staufenberg | Schools Week

PE teachers lured into shortage subjects via new plan

The government’s new scheme to get PE trainees teaching EBacc subjects is splitting the schools community. The Association for Physical Education described it as “a superb idea”, but a representative of one training provider claimed the scheme could be used to mislead candidates. The government has lifted the cap on teacher-training places at school and […]

Private teacher training providers escape Ofsted clutches

The bosses of the two biggest teacher-training organisations in the country have warned against using private providers which aren’t subject to the “acid test” of Ofsted inspections. Emma Hollis, the executive director of the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT), said at a conference on Monday there was a “real danger” that companies advertising […]

Pupils face postcode lottery for well-funded alternative provision schools

The quality of alternative provision for excluded pupils varies wildly across the country, and even between adjacent authorities, exclusive data obtained by Schools Week reveals. In fact, unequal funding structures between councils mean pupils can end up £4,000 worse off than those from neighbouring regions. The data shows that 86 per cent of councils have […]

Unauthorised absences up despite government crackdown

Unauthorised absences are pushing an overall rise in the proportion of pupils taking time off school, despite government attempts to crack down on attendance. Pupils taking days off school without an authorised reason rose from 0.9 per cent in 2015-16 to 1.1 per cent last year, according to government figures out today. The rise is […]

New association to ‘oversee’ apprenticeship assessment

Two organisations are forming a new company to make sure new teaching apprenticeship routes are assessed properly, but insist the new group will “not be inspectors”. The National Association of School Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT) and the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) are launching the Association of Accredited Teacher Education Providers (AATEP), […]

Tom Ravenscroft, CEO, Enabling Enterprise

Tom Ravenscroft is perhaps the most quietly passionate proponent of a “skills” curriculum in education today – and if that rings alarm bells, keep reading. He was just nine years old when he set up a little production line making greeting cards. His mum, a speech and language therapist, suggested he sell them at village […]

Science teachers unclear over GCSE ‘standard pass’

Science teachers need clarification on what counts as a “strong” and a “standard” pass in the combined science GCSE because they cannot predict outcomes, policy experts have claimed. Pupils taking the double-award combined science GCSE will get two numbered grades, such as a 5-4, rather than just one, when they sit their papers in 2018. […]

Languages responsible for drop in EBacc entries

The proportion of pupils entering the EBacc has dropped for the first time, new data shows, and experts claim the pressure for high Progress 8 scores is causing schools to avoid “risky” EBacc subjects. Whereas 39.7 per cent of pupils entered the EBacc last year, that proportion dropped by 1.5 percentage points to 39.7 per […]

Small private schools face £3,800 rise in Ofsted inspection fees

Some small private schools face a £3,800 hike in the fees they pay for Ofsted inspections, under changes proposed in a consultation by the Department for Education. The government wants to increase fees for inspections of “non-association” independent schools – those that are not members of organisations like the Independent Schools Council – from April […]