Author: Pippa Allen-Kinross

Two academy trusts founded by multi-millionaire businessman Michael Dwan may have to repay £1.8 million in government funding they received for building work that was allegedly not carried out. Newly-published accounts for Bright Tribe and its sister-trust Adventure Learning Academies Trust, seen by Schools Week and due to be published shortly on Companies House, reveal the government […]

The government is looking for five education providers to split £12 million to develop training and support packages for new teachers as part of the early career framework. Announced as part of the recruitment and retention strategy in January, the early career framework aims to improve the level of support giving to teachers as they […]

Dozens of Church of England primaries have fallen from ‘outstanding’ to the bottom two Ofsted grades, while 16 schools also downgraded had not been inspected for a decade or more. Schools rated outstanding are exempt from reinspection, but the government has faced growing pressure from Ofsted to allow more regular visits. Earlier this month, Ofsted […]

A report savaging the state-owned company that runs NHS land is a “warning sign” for the Department for Education’s property company, says the chair of the public accounts committee (PAC). NHS Property Services, which runs thousands of properties for the NHS, such as doctors’ surgeries and clinics, has racked up £1 billion losses since it […]

An academy rated inadequate twice in three years under a major trust is set to close this summer – with its pupils moving to a nearby school taken over by the same trust nine months ago. The decision to allow E-ACT to close Burnham Park Academy in Buckinghamshire and transfer its pupils and staff to […]

The final decisions on exam appeals will now only be taken by  Ofqual, as the exams regulator proceeds with proposals to remove external, independent advisers from the process. Schools that have concerns about an awarding organisation’s marking or moderation, or the way it has applied special consideration or reasonable adjustments, can appeal to the exams […]

Teachers are reluctant to move to challenging schools in case their workload increases, while headteachers do not want to lose staff to “competitor” schools in the area, according to a new study. The research, commissioned by the government, has said high achieving teachers should be offered secondment opportunities in challenging schools to challenge their perceptions […]

The average size of secondary school classes has risen for the fourth consecutive year as the number of pupils continues to grow. Data released by the Department for Education today reveals that 8.4 per cent of all secondary school classes now have between 31 and 35 pupils, up from 7.7 per cent last year and […]

Inspectors without subject expertise struggle to reliably assess the quality of lessons and pupils’ workbooks in secondary schools, according to a new analysis from Ofsted. Ahead of the launch of the inspectorate’s new education inspection framework in September, Ofsted has published research into the validity and reliability of its inspection methods. The first set of […]