Author: Nick Linford

The government has declared that 120,000 more children are “better prepared to become strong readers”, but data shows sponsored primary academies are still lagging behind their converter academy, free school and maintained school counterparts on reading. The Department for Education has published the results of phonics checks, which show that 77 per cent of year […]

Lucy Powell has been confirmed as the new shadow education secretary.   Here’s what we know so far:   1. Powell was born in Manchester. This parallels with two Labour education secretaries – Ellen Wilkinson, who served in the 1945 Labour cabinet, and Estelle Morris, who served under Tony Blair.   2. She was born […]

The job of regional schools commissioners (RSCs) will become harder as the number of pupils under their oversight increases, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has warned. In a report on the role of RSCs, the NFER said the commissioners, who deputise for education secretary Nicky Morgan on decisions about academies, would face variable […]

Schools will have to admit summer-born five-year-olds into reception classes if their parents so wish, Nick Gibb has said in a letter today. The schools minister has confirmed government plans to amend the school admissions code so that summer-born children can begin school after their fifth birthday and be placed into a reception class. Under […]

The criteria for opening new school sixth forms is under review due to a risk of “over-supply”, it has been announced. As part of a series of nationwide post-16 education area reviews announced earlier this year, the government will review the circumstances in which new school sixth forms can be opened. It comes after the Department […]

Schools will be forced to cut the number of nursery places they offer if a plan to double free childcare for working families is not adequately funded, headteachers have warned. From September 2017, children of single parents or couples who each work at least eight hours a week will be entitled to 30 hours of free term-time […]

Schools minister Nick Gibb has stated that free schools and academies are not “necessarily better” than their local-authority maintained counterparts. Speaking at ResearchEd this morning, Mr Gibb said the government’s academies programme had created an “education ecosystem” where ideas can flourish. More than 700 teachers are today attending the event, which is now in its […]

Calls for means-tested vouchers for private tutoring have been renewed by the Sutton Trust after a survey revealed London pupils are twice as likely to receive out-of-school support. A survey of 2,488 11 to 16-year-olds in schools in England and Wales by Ipsos MORI has shown that 44 per cent of London-based pupils reported having […]