Author: Pippa Allen-Kinross

Universities need to sign up to open new maths free schools to prove they’re “serious” about helping disadvantaged children, the education secretary has said. In an interview with Schools Week at the Conservative Party conference, Gavin Williamson issued a challenge to the higher education sector to become more involved in the maths schools programme, admitting universities had […]

Schools across the Ark Schools network will be closed today as the trust celebrates its 15th anniversary at a special bash, including a keynote speaker flown over from New York and branded chocolates. Ark’s “teacher summit”, dubbed ‘Ark 15: The journey to excellence’, will take place at Central Hall in Westminster. The trust is flying […]

An academy trust whose leaders were suspended in mysterious circumstances spent almost £140,000 on website design services from a company connected to school staff – despite the firm submitting the most expensive bid. Thrive Partnership Academy Trust has also been rapped for spending money on gift hampers, alcohol ordered to hotel rooms and unapproved severance […]

A research team led by the University of Oxford has been granted £2.55 million to analyse the consequences of school exclusions across the UK. The research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, will aim to develop a “multi-disciplinary understanding of the political economies and consequences of school exclusion”. It will also look at […]

A school that Ofsted commended for improving teaching and raising standards has been rated ‘inadequate’ after inspectors uncovered the “well established” off-rolling of pupils which was described as “local practice”. It comes as Ofsted continues its fight against schools that move pupils off their roll. Last month, the watchdog revealed that the number of schools […]

Parents have been warned an error on the 11-plus test in Buckinghamshire is not enough to warrant an appeal if their child does not get into grammar school, despite  six questions now being discounted as pupils struggled to finish the exam. The error, which rocked the selective county’s admissions system, was caused after GL Assessment […]

More than 20,000 children started at faith schools in England this month, despite choosing secular schools as their first preference, the National Secular Society has said. The campaign group is now calling on the government to curtail the power religious groups have over state schools and ensure all pupils can go to a secular school […]

Ofsted has criticised a school that failed to prove its head teacher was being kept away from the classroom after she was temporarily banned from teaching. Experts say the report into the Birmingham Muslim School highlights a concerning loophole in regulations that allow banned teachers to continue working in schools under supervision. Janet Laws was […]