Samantha Booth | Schools Week

Ofsted chief: Teachers should not be policed by ‘militant activism’

Teachers should not be policed by “self-appointed moral guardians” or be forced to change the way they teach in the face of “militant activism”, the chief inspector of Ofsted has warned. Amanda Spielman told the Festival of Education today that while activism that broadens debate and brings about long-term change was welcome, she worried about […]

First exam board confirms 42% discount on entry fees

WJEC Eduqas will discount exam entry fees by 42 per cent this summer – making it the first exam board to confirm the level of savings for schools. However the sum is unlikely to go down well in the sector, with the majority of headteachers expecting 75 per cent of entry fees back this year. […]

Williamson looking at adaptions for 2022 exams to ensure ‘right level of support for pupils’

The government is looking at a “similar set of measures” for the 2022 exams as those proposed for this summer’s series before formal tests were cancelled, Gavin Williamson has said. The education secretary told the education select committee this morning that they “very much hope and intend” for exams and vocational and technical qualifications to […]

Consider if promoting ‘white privilege’ breaches equality laws, MPs tell schools

Schools should consider whether promoting “politically controversial terminology” such as “white privilege” is in line with their duties under the Equality Act, the Parliamentary education select committee has said. The cross-party committee has today published its report on left-behind white working class pupils, after taking evidence from sector experts and ministers since April 2020. In […]

Exams regulator calls in Test and Trace firm Sitel to manage public enquiry phone lines

Exams regulator Ofqual is paying £225,000 to an outsourcing company used in the government’s much-criticised Test and Trace system to answer calls from students, parents and teachers. The regulator outsourced its public enquiries lines to Sitel to meet an expected rise in calls. Last year Ofsted staff were deployed to help in the height of […]

WJEC grades portal goes down as exam board scrambles to fix issues

Exam board WJEC Eduqas has been forced to temporarily take down its portal for submitting teacher assessed grades just hours before the deadline for schools, after problems displaying data. It is the third exam board to face issues with its website during the past two days. This morning, WJEC, which has entries from over 3,800 […]

‘Time is running out’: Exams fiasco data promised by Ofqual to ‘rebuild trust’ delayed

The publication of data from last year’s grading fiasco, promised by Ofqual to “rebuild trust in exams”, has been delayed. Academics say the setback means “time is running out” for the data to be any use in preventing possible chaos this year. While due consideration must be given to data protection, time is running out […]

Schools shut out from submitting teacher grades after exam board portal crashes

Schools are shut out from submitting teacher grades, just a day before the deadline, after an exam board’s submission portal crashed. OCR realised at lunchtime on Thursday that schools and colleges were unable to submit results to its grade submission system. A spokesperson said “urgent action” is being taken to resolve the problem, but they […]

Primary school applications drop 5 per cent in pandemic

Primary school applications fell by 5.1 per cent this year, which the government said could be in part due to an increase in home schooling and late applications due to the pandemic. This year, there were 580,771 applications to primary schools from parents, down from 612,146 for the 2020-21 academic year, according to new data […]