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20 April 2026

Author: John Dickens

Brooke Weston academy trust invests £1m in stocks

Entrepreneurial academy trusts are taking advantage of their cash freedoms to make six-figure profits by investing in stocks and shares, a Schools Week investigation has found. The Brooke Weston Trust, which runs ten academies, has made £176,000 interest after putting £1 million of its reserves in an investment fund. The fund is managed by HSBC, […]

RSC performance measure quietly dropped

The government stopped judging regional commissioners on how many schools in their regions were in need of an academy trust after figures revealed far more sponsors were needed than were available. Documents obtained by Schools Week also reveal that the two other key performance indicators (KPIs) used to keep track on the number of sponsors […]

DfE bottom of the class for information request punctuality

The Department for Education (DfE) has been ranked bottom of the class for punctuality in responding on time to information requests such as ministers correspondence and parliamentary questions. The DfE also had one of the worst records among all Whitehall departments in responding to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests promptly, a new study has found. […]

Computing, Mandarin and general science teachers added to official job shortage list

The government’s Migration Advisory Committee wants three more secondary teacher subjects added to the official shortage list – but found there was “no occupation-wide shortage of teachers”. The independent committee, which advises ministers on migration issues, has called for computer science, Mandarin and general science teachers to be added to the government’s official occupation shortage […]

Hand back school admissions control to councils, says OSA chief

Plans to strip academies of their school admission powers and hand them back to councils should be sped up, the chief schools adjudicator has said. It comes as the admissions watchdog’s new annual report reveals local authorities have reported hundreds of potentially unlawful arrangements. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s (OSA) report stated that 686 […]

Teaching apprenticeship will be ready ‘within two years’

The Department for Education has confirmed a teaching apprenticeship will be available to schools within the next two years. Jonathan Slater, the department’s permanent secretary, speaking at a Public Accounts Committee this afternoon on schools finances, said it was important that teaching apprenticeship schemes are in place as soon as possible. From April, schools with […]

School with £1.3m debt now faces closure over inadequate Ofsted

An academy that racked up a £1.3 million deficit last year is now facing closure, but only after the government stepped in over an “inadequate” Ofsted. The Education Fellowship Trust (EFT) has been issued with a termination warning notice for Wrenn school in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, by Martin Post, the regional schools commissioner for north-west London […]

Revealed: ‘Paused’ academy trusts are ducking their ban

Academy sponsors banned by the government from taking over new schools seem to have dodged the prohibition. Figures obtained by Schools Week show that 57 sponsors at different times have been put on the government’s “pause list” and told they cannot take over new schools. Bans remain in place for 16, who between them are […]