John Dickens | Schools Week

DfE toughens up rules over academy trust executive pay

The rules governing academy chief executives’ pay packets are being toughed up as criticism grows over the sizes of salaries. In its 2017 financial handbook for academies, published today, the Department for Education has set out a new requirement that academy trustees “must ensure that their decision about levels of executive pay follow a robust evidence-based process”. […]

Ofsted prepares to prosecute four illegal schools which refuse to close

Four illegal schools are refusing to comply with government enforcement notices to cease their operation immediately, forcing Ofsted to take legal action to shut them down, Schools Week can reveal. The education watchdog has issued 38 warning notices to illegal schools so far – resulting in 27 either closed down or reformed. Seven of the […]

DfE leans on free school that entered no Year 11s for GCSEs

The government has threatened to rebroker a free school that was put in special measures after failing to enter any year 11 pupils for GCSEs. The Route 39 Academy in Devon was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted on Wednesday, with inspectors criticising the school’s decision to keep all 13 of its year 11 pupils away from […]

More trainee teachers than ever are entering via school-led route

The proportion of trainee teachers that took the government’s favoured school-route into the profession increased again last year, new figures have revealed. The Department for Education published initial teacher training statistics for 2015-16 this morning, and figures show the overall number of trainees gaining their QTS has dropped from 92 per cent in 2014-15, to 91 […]

Academies overspent by £280m last year

Academies in England overspent by £280 million last year, according to the latest statistics from the Department for Education. The total income for academies during 2015/16 was £18.93 billion, but spending for the year came to £19.21 billion. The figures showed academies overspent by 1.5 per cent of their total income – up from 1 […]

Durand blocked critical Ofsted report to ‘keep EFA at bay’, court told

Durand Academy Trust has been accused of blocking a critical Ofsted inspection report from being published to “keep the EFA bay” in the High Court today. Durand Academy, due to have its funding agreement terminated next year, is challenging the inspectorate’s report, which stated the south London school should be put into special measures. The […]

Academy trust boss appointed as new South West RSC

An academy trust boss has been appointed as the new regional schools commissioner (RSC) for the south west. Lisa Mannall, chief executive of The Learning Academy Trust (TLAT), will take over the role from Rebecca Clark, who is joining Ark. Mannall has served on the region’s headteacher board since September 2014, where she worked under […]

Long-term disadvantaged pupils are slipping further behind peers, study finds

The pupil premium has done little to boost the attainment of long-term disadvantaged youngsters, who are actually falling further behind their peers, a new study has suggested. A blog post by Education Datalab has explored the impact of the premium, which represents extra money given to schools to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils […]

New education fund for Grenfell Tower survivors

A new education fund to support young people affected by the Grenfell Tower disaster will be set up by Kensington and Chelsea Council. The council unanimously carried a motion for financial support to mitigate “the negative impact” of the experience on “the educational achievement and attainment of young people” on July 19, at its first […]