News

Inspiration Trust hikes top-slice from school budgets to cover curriculum team costs

A high-profile academy trust has nearly doubled the amount it top-slices from its secondary schools’ budgets to fund an...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Damian Hinds challenges all schools to go single-use plastic free by 2022

Education secretary Damian Hinds has challenged all schools to eliminate using single-use plastics by 2022 – urging school leaders...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Top trusts ‘resist’ standardising curriculum, and 6 more MAT research findings

High-performing multi-academy trusts and federations of schools are resisting rolling out prescriptive practices for curriculum and pedagogy, a study...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Barring pupils with fewer than three Ds ‘access to student loans’ is ‘retrograde step’

Leaked proposals that would deny student loans to pupils who achieve fewer than three Ds in their A-levels have...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Investigation: The schools that slip through the council finance net

Thousands of council schools have not had their finances independently scrutinised for more than five years – three of...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Hinds urges Ofsted to ensure new MAT evaluations aren’t ‘undue burdens’

Education secretary Damian Hinds has warned Ofsted its new academy trust “summary evaluations” must not create “undue burdens” on...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Exams boards told to ‘strengthen controls’ after ‘unwarranted’ rise in BTEC grades

Ofqual is urging exam boards to “strengthen their controls” on certain types of applied general qualifications, after it uncovered...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Nearly half of primaries score poorly on curriculum quality, new Ofsted study shows

Nearly half of all primary schools scored poorly in Ofsted’s latest curriculum study – with an apparent focus on...

John Dickens
John Dickens
News

Councils urged to claw back cash as ‘excess’ school surpluses top £500m

Councils are being urged to claw back cash from schools holding “excess” surpluses – as new figures show the...

John Dickens
John Dickens