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12 April 2026

Author: Samantha Booth

Only a tenth of school leaders set to get mental health support

Only 10 per cent of school leaders look set to get mental health support, despite a previous promise to make the new government scheme available to all. The Department for Education is looking to award a £760,000 contract for an 18-month package of wellbeing support from autumn this year. The tender says the programme must […]

Katharine Birbalsingh in contention to be government’s new social mobility tsar

Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh is a leading contender to be the government’s new social mobility commissioner, Schools Week has learned. The founder of Michaela Community School, a free school in north-west London, has applied to lead the commission. It is thought that Birbalsingh is on the shortlist alongside several others, but the recruitment process is ongoing. […]

DfE: Schools may need to change curriculum ‘substantially’ to help kids catch-up

Schools may need to modify their curriculum “substantially” as part of their efforts to help children catch-up following lockdown learning losses. The Department for Education has today published non-statutory guidance for schools on “teaching a broad and balanced curriculum for education recovery”. DfE says schools should continue to teach a broad and balance curriculum in […]

The £579m school-led tutoring fund: what you need to know

The Department for Education has publicised more details on how much schools will receive for school-led tutoring next year. As part of the widely criticised June £1.4 billion recovery package, the DfE announced £579 million for schools to develop local tutoring provision with new or existing school staff. The funding runs alongside the National Tutoring […]

Gavin Williamson ignores pleas to correct his tutoring scale claims

Labour will accuse Gavin Williamson of breaching the ministerial code if he does not correct his “error” over the scale of the tutoring programme. Williamson has refused to correct his claim last week that the government’s flagship tutoring programme would reach “six million pupils”. The department confirmed to Schools Week the pledge was for “six […]

Sector ‘in limbo’ as third SEND review deadline passes

The government has failed to meet its third deadline to publish the long-delayed SEND review, leaving the sector “in limbo” again. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, promised the landmark review in September 2019, following mounting concerns of a “postcode lottery” of special needs support in England. But nearly two years on and no review has […]

Funding formula like ‘Robin Hood in reverse’ as NAO finds cash shifted from poorer areas

The government’s flagship national school funding formula has shifted cash from deprived schools to their more affluent counterparts, sparking warnings ministers are “taking from the poor and giving to the rich”. The National Audit Office today found the national funding formula, introduced in 2018, has contributed to a “shift in the balance of funding” from […]

Randstad to pay Teach First for tutoring advice

Teach First is to be paid by Randstad, the new national tutoring provider, for advice on how best to support schools serving disadvantaged communities as part of a government agreement. Schools Week can also reveal that Liverpool Hope University is expected to provide the training for the academic mentors arm of the National Tutoring Programme […]

DfE contradicts its own minister’s claims on tutoring scheme scale

The Department for Education has contradicted its own education secretary’s claim that six million pupils will benefit from the rollout of tutoring, raising the question of whether Gavin Williamson misled parliament. Williamson told parliament on Monday he had “outlined a clear plan to roll out tutoring to six million children up and down the country” […]