Samantha Booth | Schools Week

Exams 2021: 9 things we learned from Gibb and Ofqual at education committee

Schools minister Nick Gibb and officials from exams regulator Ofqual were quizzed this morning over plans to replace formal tests with teacher assessed grades this summer and proposals for future years. Gibb was joined at the education select committee by interim chief regulator Simon Lebus and Ofqual’s chair Ian Bauckham. Here’s what we learned. […]

Speed read: What the DfE’s updated Covid contingency framework means for schools

Schools may be asked to restrict attendance to vulnerable and key worker children and certain year groups as a “last resort” if cases spike under an updated Covid contingency framework put in place by the government. The Department for Education has updated the framework to reflect wider school reopenings from this week. But just like […]

Covid testing: Over half of heads report problems obtaining consent

Obtaining parental consent has been the most common problem headteachers have faced during Covid testing in schools, a survey by a headteachers’ union has revealed. Over half – 52 per cent – of the 934 respondents to the Association of School and College Leaders survey reported problems with getting consent. Geoff Barton, ASCL’s general secretary, […]

Data reveals scale of National Tutoring Programme’s northern challenge

New data has revealed big variations in take-up of the government’s National Tutoring Programme across England, with schools in the south far more likely to have enrolled their pupils than those in the north. Figures provided by the NTP show the scheme has reached 100 per cent of its target number of schools in the […]

Some students may need to repeat a year if they can’t get a grade, says exam board chief

Some pupils may need to repeat a year if they have missed too much learning to be awarded grades this year, an exam board chief has said. Jill Duffy, the chief executive of OCR, said a “small number” of young people might have “lost so much learning that it would be difficult to award them […]

Covid catch-up strategy not ‘integrated’ enough, and 6 other things we learned at education committee

Ministers’ catch-up strategy is not “integrated” enough, and “long-term” reform is needed to help pupils in the wake of the Covid pandemic, the government’s education recovery commissioner has said. Sir Kevan Collins, the former chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation recently recently appointed to lead the government’s catch-up efforts, gave evidence to the parliamentary […]

DfE cuts early career framework funding rates

The government has cut funding rates for the national rollout of its early career framework (ECF), claiming this year’s teacher pay freeze means it will cost less to take new teachers out of the classroom. The Department for Education has confirmed today that schools outside London will receive £2,100 for each pair of early career […]

Lubavitch academy trust rapped again over finances

An academy trust founded by a Conservative peer has been warned for a second time over its finances after posting a deficit of over £1.2 million and receiving a bailout from the government. The Lubavitch Multi-Academy Trust, which runs three Jewish schools in Hackney, London, has been issued with a second financial notice to improve […]

Oak Academy mulls use of quiz results to contribute to learning loss research

The Oak National Academy is looking at how it can use millions of quiz results from pupils to help schools determine learning lost during the pandemic. Pupils using the online learning platform usually complete quizzes at the end of sessions. Oak is exploring potential research partnerships in a bid to share the data with schools […]