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20 April 2026

Author: John Dickens

Government scraps longer school day pledge

The government has scrapped a £285 million pledge to fund longer days at secondary school for pupils to access more sports and art activities. The cash will instead be diverted to help fund a £415 million pot to build new sports facilities, announced by education secretary Justine Greening yesterday. The Healthy Pupils Capital Programme will […]

Greening announces £415m ‘sugar tax’ cash for new school sports facilities

Schools will be able to bid for a slice of £415 million to fund new sports facilities, education secretary Justine Greening announced today. The new Healthy Pupils Capital Programme funding – recouped from the government’s “sugar tax” – will be available from 2018. The cash will be dished out through a central formula to local […]

School leaders urge chancellor to plug education funding shortfall

School leaders have urged chancellor Philip Hammond to pump billions of pounds more into the education budget to wipe out real-terms cuts that have plunged schools into a funding crisis. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the National Governance Association (NGA) have called for the chancellor to “deliver the investment schools so desperately […]

Poor pupils falling behind at secondary school, study finds

The progress made by poor pupils at primary school is being “wiped out” during their secondary years, with those in rural schools falling the furthest behind, a new study has found. Research published today found children on free school meals achieve almost half a GCSE grade less progress in ‘attainment 8’ core subjects than their […]

Teachers work nearly 11 hours a day, landmark workload survey reveals

Teachers are working an average of 54.4 hours a week – nearly 11 hours per day – the government’s first comprehensive survey into workload has revealed. Primary classroom teachers and middle leaders work an average of over 55 hours, with secondary school teachers working more than 53 hours a week, the government’s long-awaited Teacher Workload […]

Kathy Kirkham resigns as chief executive of Bright Tribe

The chief executive of Bright Tribe academy trust, Kathy Kirkham, has resigned. Kirkham has stood down from her role heading the academy trust following a turbulent few months – including a government investigation and the trust pulling out of sponsoring two struggling schools. A Bright Tribe spokesperson said the move was long-planned, with Kirkham having […]

Government drops ‘fast-track’ ECDL qualification from league tables

The government has dropped the controversial ECDL qualification from its performance league tables from 2019 following gaming concerns. Investigations by Schools Week have previously revealed how the ‘fast-track’ qualification which some schools were said to be teaching in just three days. Schools Week also revealed that the number of pupils passing the qualification had soared […]

Government reviews pupil nationality check guidance after schools’ passport demands

The government has beefed up official guidance for the controversial pupil nationality data collection duty after schools wrongly demanded copies of non-white pupils’ passports. The move is said to be part of a transparency pledge by the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure schools and parents fully understand the new duty. Schools have had to […]