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21 April 2026

Author: John Dickens

Leading tutor providers missing from NTP over contract dispute

Leading tutoring organisations have not yet been approved to continue in the government’s flagship tutor programme because they are locked in a contract stand-off with the new contractor running the scheme. Schools are today able to sign up for year two of the National Tutoring Programme, with 29 approved providers revealed in a low-key announcement. […]

£579m school-led tutoring: Non-teacher tutors can’t start until at least November

The Department for Education has published guidance today for its £579 million school-led tutor fund. It will form a third strand of catch-up support under the National Tutoring Programme, which opened for year two applications today. The other two routes are tuition partners and academic mentors. Here’s what you need to know.   1. DfE […]

Gavin Williamson’s Week in Westminster*

*The education secretary on his tumultuous week, as told by Schools Week.   Monday It’s the first full week back at school for most pupils and I couldn’t be more excited to see the children filing into those classrooms which, I must add, are absolutely safe and swimming in record amounts of cash. We have […]

GCSE results 2021: 8 interesting things we learned

GCSE results are out this morning – here’s your usual handy Schools Week round up of the key trends. Note: all the findings below are based on figures for 16-year-olds in England only, unless stated otherwise. 1. Grade 5+ pass rate is 62.8 per cent Historically we have always highlighted the grade 5 and above […]

A-level results 2021: 6 key trends in England’s data

A-level results are out – here’s what we know.   1. Overall performance in England The proportion of A* and A grades has risen again this year to 44.3 per cent. That’s up on the 38.1 per cent in last year’s teacher-assessed grades and a huge rise on the 25.2 per cent of grades in […]

New £55k chair wanted to steer Ofqual through ‘unprecedented challenges’

The government is searching for a new Ofqual chair to steer the regulator through “unprecedented challenges” and shape the future of exams during a “period of significant change”. The successful candidate will be paid £55,120 per year for working two days a week. They will take over from current interim chair Ian Bauckham, an academy […]

Williamson slammed for ‘ignoring’ concerns about scrapping BTECs

Twelve education bodies have today slammed the education secretary for “ignoring” their concerns and ploughing ahead with plans to scrap the majority of BTECs. In a letter to Gavin Williamson, sector leaders reiterate that disadvantaged students have the “most to lose” and that it is “impossible to square the government’s stated ambition to ‘level up’ […]