Author: Nick Linford

The funding rate for 16 and 17-year-old learners will remain at £4,000, the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has confirmed. In a letter to providers, the Agency’s national director for young people Peter Mucklow (pictured) said the £3,300 annual rate for 18-year-olds would also stay the same in 2015/16. He said: “In the 2015 to 2016 […]

Ofqual’s chief regulator has defended the direction of its reforms to science practicals in the face of criticisms by the education minister. Last year, following consultation, Ofqual decided to adopt written assessment of 12 practical science knowledge at A level. It has now proposed the same for GCSE science – where a minimum of eight […]

Sex education will be made compulsory and teachers will be trained to tackle homophobic bullying, shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said today. Speaking at Little Ilford School in London this afternoon, Mr Hunt announced Labour’s plans to tackle lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) bullying in schools. The plan, which has the backing of the charity Stonewall, […]

A decision by the Conservative Party not to pledge the same funding protection for 16 to 18-year-olds as under 16s has been labelled “disgraceful” by the Sixth Form Colleges Association. The Prime Minister this morning used a speech at a school in Enfield, North London, to confirm that the ringfence, which has been in place around the education […]

The family of Paul Ginnis, who wrote the influential best-seller The Teacher’s Toolkit, have paid tribute to the “inspiring” author after he died suddenly on Friday. Mr Ginnis, who also co-authored Curriculum with Stories with his wife Sharon and A Guide to Student-Centred Learning and The Student-Centred School with Dr Donna Brandes, was a former […]

Schools rated as “requires improvement” face the prospect of becoming academies, education secretary Nicky Morgan told the BBC this morning. Previously, if rated as ‘inadequate’, schools could be forced to change leadership and become an academy. The new proposals extend this power to schools rated as ‘requires improvement’. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ms Morgan said: […]

Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt has provoked a Twitter backlash after telling a parent to “stop moaning” and “do some work”. Mr Hunt was responding to questions from Twitter user Thomas Mann about Labour’s education policy and the lack of detail on the laboureducation website, when the shadow education secretary appeared to lose his temper. Mr Hunt […]