Author: Nicky Phillips

The Department for Education (DfE) still refuses to publish the register of interests for its own directors online, despite ordering governors to do so on their own school’s website or face suspension. Schools Week reported last year on the laborious process our reporter had to go through to view the register of interest for the […]

Only 34 local authorities – or one in five – are issuing warning notices to the underperforming schools they oversee, bringing into question their role in school improvement. Of the 2,410 local authority (LA) schools rated as “requiring improvement” or “inadequate” by Ofsted, only 93 have been given warning notices by their LA. This is […]

A private firm handed a government contract to judge the quality of struggling schools pulled out of running an academy after it was put in special measures by Ofsted, Schools Week has found. Lilac Sky multi-academy trust pulled out of running Tabor Academy, in Essex, in January last year, just months after the school was […]

New baseline assessment tests for reception pupils have been labelled “inaccurate, invalid and unreliable” – with teachers claiming they are disadvantaging their most vulnerable pupils. A survey of more than 1,000 teachers and school leaders by the UCL Institute of Education found 60 per cent do not think baseline assessments accurately reflect child attainment. The […]

The three providers of the baseline reception tests have hit back at claims that their assessments are not credible and do not accurately reflect child attainment. A report released today by the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, based on a survey of more than 1,000 teachers and school leaders, […]

Schools will be forced to raise salaries or face losing key staff when new earnings thresholds for non-EU migrants come into force this spring as part of Theresa May’s immigration reforms. From April 1, workers from non-EU countries will need to prove they earn at least £35,000 to settle in the UK for longer than […]

Legislation proposing new powers for schools to challenge Ofsted inspection results has passed its first stage in parliament after gaining cross-party support. The Liberal Democrat education spokesperson John Pugh’s Ofsted inspections (schools’ rights of challenge) bill passed its first reading in the House of Commons this week, and will have its second reading on March […]