Samantha Booth | Schools Week

Boris Johnson told officials not to make school lockdown contingency plans, new report claims

Prime minister Boris Johnson told officials not to make contingency plans for schools last year in the event of another lockdown, according to an explosive new report. The Institute for Government said in a new analysis of the government’s handling of education during Covid that the failure to prepare such plans over summer and autumn […]

Pearson to return 33% of exam fees to schools

Pearson has finally revealed its hand on exam fee rebates, announcing today it will return 33 per cent of fees for GCSE and A-levels back to schools. The company’s exam board, Edexcel, will return £31 million in fees via a rebate to schools, meaning it sits in the middle of offers made by other exam […]

UCAS chief: ‘Danger’ poor students could ‘fall behind’ in university admissions

There is a “danger” the university admission disadvantage gap could widen this year, the chief executive of UCAS has said. While there has been an increase in applications from the most disadvantaged pupils this year, Clare Marchant said there has been a larger rise in applications from the most wealthy. Speaking at a Higher Education […]

Under-fire AQA hints at returning more exam fees cash to schools

Exam board AQA has said it may be able to give schools more exam fees cash back later this year, ahead of a potential showdown meeting with disgruntled academy leaders. The country’s largest exam board has been widely criticised for returning only 26 per cent of fees back to schools, despite teachers shouldering a large […]

Ofqual analysis on 2020 grading: 5 new findings

Ofqual has published two new reports looking at the use of centre assessed grades (CAGs) last year. Last summer’s chaos saw the government u-turn on its plan to awarded calculated grades, allowing students to instead use unmoderated CAGs. It led to large rises in grades, with two-thirds of students having at least one of their […]

Union calls for formal review after OCR confirms 42% exam fees rebate

Exam board OCR has confirmed it will give schools and colleges a rebate of 42 per cent of fees for GCSEs and A-levels. The announcement is likely to put more pressure on AQA – the country’s largest exam board – to up its rebate. The board will only return 26 per cent of entry fees, […]

Teachers at affluent schools more likely to face parent grade pressure, study finds

Teachers in affluent schools were more likely to be pressured by pushy parents to boost their child’s grades this year, a new study has found. The Sutton Trust‘s research looks at the pandemic’s impact on assessments and university admissions in light of exams being cancelled for a second year. Researchers used data from 463 student […]

Students are worried employers will see TAGs as ‘fake grades’, says Ofqual advisers

Students are worried employers will see their teacher assessed GCSEs as “fake grades”, Ofqual has said, as the regulator tries to quell fears about upcoming results days. Child psychology and education experts have been speaking to students preparing to receive grades next month about their concerns. The experts include Kevin Woods, educational and child psychologist […]