Author: Nicky Phillips

Providers of baseline reception tests say the government’s jettisoning of the progress measure is an “embarrassing policy cock-up”. The Department for Education (DfE) announced last Thursday that the tests will not be used to track school performance. The decision comes in the wake of a study that showed the three approved assessments were not comparable, […]

Two universities have pulled their early years teacher training courses just five months before the start of the next academic year. The University of Winchester and Leeds Beckett University have dropped their provision for early years teacher status (EYTS) from September. In January, Schools Week reported warnings from the sector about a shortage of applicants […]

Schools with the best Ofsted ratings are more likely to socially select their pupils from higher-income families, a new study has revealed. Caught Out, a report published by the Sutton Trust today, has found more than 1,500 English primary schools have intakes that do not reflect the socio-economic profile of their neighbourhoods. The report found […]

Superheads may lift results when they take over failing schools, but what happens when they leave? Laura McInerney reports “Superheads” recruited to quickly turn around failing schools boost results in the short term but leave schools with plummeting scores and financial black holes when they leave a few years later, a new study shows. Researchers […]

Successful schools will not be forced to join multi-academy trusts, Nicky Morgan has confirmed, but they will have to start one or provide support to weaker institutions. However, a qualification made by the education secretary that this will only be for schools “capable of operating alone” may mean small, rural schools are not covered. Morgan […]

Fewer visits but more schools requiring improvement: Sophie Scott looks into this year’s spring term inspections   Overall grade distribution Continuing a trend for the 2015-16 academic year, the number of inspections fell significantly compared with last year, with roughly half the number taking place in the same period. The picture looks slightly less positive than […]