Samantha Booth | Schools Week

Government’s £4m catch-up resources could be ‘downloadable, printable’ materials

The government has said its £4 million pledge for catch-up resources may take the form of “printable” documents, prompting concerns the scheme could cost schools millions of pounds. The Department for Education is looking to spend £3.9 million on catch-up materials for the next academic year, possibly including “diagnostic tests” to help teachers find gaps […]

School staff won’t be prioritised for vaccine as government continues with age-based approach

School staff will not be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccinations over other workers in the next phase of immunisation, the government has confirmed. But education workers in their forties will be next in line for the jab along with all others in that age group once phase two begins, after ministers confirmed the age-based approach to […]

Exams 2021: Heads will have to confirm pupils have learned ‘sufficient content’ for progression

Headteachers will have to confirm GCSE and A-level students have been taught “sufficient content” to allow them to progress to the next stage in their education when submitting teacher assessment grades this year. Ofqual has this morning published its response to the consultation on plans to replace exams with teacher assessments this summer. The Department […]

Exams 2021: Externally-set questions to be ‘optional’ for schools

Schools won’t be forced to use externally-set questions when determining their pupils’ GCSE and A-level grades this year, the government has confirmed. Teacher assessments will be used to issue grades to pupils this summer after formal exams were cancelled following partial school closures. A joint consultation by Ofqual and the Department for Education last month […]

Exams 2021: What we know so far about the government’s plans

The government has confirmed some of its plans for replacing GCSE, A-level and vocational exams this summer, with teacher assessments due to be used to give pupils their grades. However, the full response to last month’s consultation is not expected to be published until later today. Education secretary Gavin Williamson is also due to brief […]

Lord Agnew makes Inspiration Trust comeback as he returns to trustee role

Former academies minister Lord Agnew is to rejoin the academy trust he helped found as a trustee, it has been announced. The Conservative peer founded the Norfolk-based Inspiration Trust in 2012, but resigned from his role a trustee in 2018, almost a year after he was appointed as an education minister. Today, the trust has […]

Exams 2021: 300,000 students could face ‘unfair’ grading, warn disability groups

Hundreds of thousands of pupils could face “unfair” exams grading this summer if their accessibility needs are not properly taken into account, disability organisations have warned. The National Deaf Children’s Society, Royal National Institute of Blind People, the Professional Association of the Vision Impairment Education Workforce and the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf […]

Cambridge International cancels iGCSE exams and moves to teacher assessment

Cambridge International is moving to teacher assessment for its iGCSE qualifications in the UK, the exam board has announced. The board said it will switch to teacher assessment based on students’ work in a “very small” number of countries and regions – including the UK – where directives from authorities make it “impossible” for exams […]

Primary-aged children had second highest Covid-19 rates in early February, REACT study finds

Primary school aged children had the second highest levels of Covid-19 infection in early February, according to the latest round of a randomised testing programme. Imperial College’s Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission, or “REACT” programme, has been tracking infection rates throughout the pandemic. The latest round of testing, carried out between February 4 and 13, […]