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27 April 2026

Author: Jess Staufenberg

Pilot to return teachers into classrooms failed to fill chemistry and physics spaces

A pilot to encourage qualified teachers to return to teaching in state schools saw mixed results last year, with many more modern language teachers getting onboard than physics teachers. A programme by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL), which rewarded schools that re-trained and employed “returner teachers” who were not working in the […]

Ofsted give mixed verdict on independent school inspectorates

Ofsted has delivered a mixed verdict on the organisations which inspect independent schools – after not being able to watch any of their inspectors in action and only reading 10 out of hundreds of their inspection reports. The School Inspection Service (SIS), which oversees a branch of religious schools as well as Steiner schools, was […]

Councils must estimate free school pupil numbers under funding change

Local authorities will now have to estimate how many pupils move to certain free schools opening in their area under changes to how the government recoups funding. Under the current system, the government recoups cash that it gives directly to academy and free schools from their council’s dedicated schools grant. If a free school is […]

Half of new special free schools specialise in autism

Autism-specific schools make up almost half of all special needs free schools. The “more complex” requirements of autistic pupils compared with other special needs have led to high exclusion rates and a rising demand for specialised school places, experts told Schools Week. Of the 44 special needs free schools set to open or already opened […]

Schools struggle as autism diagnoses rise 25 per cent

Schools are “struggling” to provide for autistic pupils following a 25 per cent increase in autism diagnoses in the past four years, according to government data and local area inspection letters. The first published inspections of councils’ “local offers” for special education needs and disability (SEND) provision warn of rising autism referrals and lengthy waits […]

Primary school key stage 2 performance tables: 8 key progress findings

Pupils in primary schools across the country vary in their progress – under the government’s new value-added measure – in some kinds of schools than others, government data released today shows. Those in faith schools perform marginally better, with Jewish schools leading the way, than pupils in non-religious schools on average. Pupils in sponsored and […]

2016 key stage 2 SATs: Fewer primary schools below floor standards

Fewer primary schools fell below the new “floor standards” this year compared with last – overturning the government’s expectation that hundreds more would drop below because of the new “tougher” tests. Just 665 schools fell below the standard, according to new figures on key stage 2 assessments for 2016 released this week by the Department […]

Primary test reforms are ‘some of the worst ever seen’, MPs told by teachers

The implementation of primary assessment reforms has been “some of the worst ever seen” despite “strong competition” for the label, teachers and unions told the first education select committee consultation on the issue. MPs today held the first hearing into primary test changes after teachers demanded an inquiry following numerous alterations, security breaches and even a […]