Samantha Booth | Schools Week

Ofqual publishes proposals for autumn 2021 exam series

This year’s autumn exam series will be similar to the one held in 2020, but with GCSE exams potentially taking place later, Ofqual has proposed. A consultation on plans for the series has also asked whether AS-level exams need to be offered this time, following low entries last year. The government announced last month that […]

DfE’s Covid failures revealed: the NAO’s key findings

The Department for Education has been told to take “swift action” to review its response to the covid-19 pandemic to ensure poorer pupils don’t miss out again. A National Audit Office report into how children were supported during the early stages of the pandemic has highlighted several flaws in the department’s response (see key findings […]

Exams 2021: Schools offered £200 grant to give private candidates grades

Schools will be able to claim a £200 government grant per entry to cover the costs of assessing private candidates for GCSEs and A-levels in England this year. Ministers have urged schools to sign up to help private candidates following the decision to cancel exams due to take place in the summer. It follows concerns […]

Government unable to back up promises on school mental health support

The government has pledged to accelerate the roll-out of mental health support teams (MHSTs) for schools – but was unable to provide figures to back up promises the programme will now reach more children. The NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019, said that the MHSTs in schools will be rolled out to between […]

Government asks Capita for cash back over cancelled SATs

The government is in talks over its £109 million contract with outsourcing firm Capita to manage primary school tests to see if it can get a reduction following the cancellation of SATs this year. Under a six-year contract worth just over £18 million a year, Capita manages the administration, processing and support for all primary […]

Inside the government’s plan to take tutoring mainstream

As ministers start the hunt for an organisation to run the National Tutoring Programme for its second year, Schools Week takes a look at what schools can expect from the expansion of government’s flagship catch-up scheme. Launched last year, the NTP provides heavily subsidised tutoring for disadvantaged students aged 5 to 16. The tuition arm […]

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, […]