Samantha Booth | Schools Week

England outspends Wales and Northern Ireland on catch-up, but funding is ‘poorly-targeted’

England has committed the second highest amount of funding for pupil catch-up schemes out of the four nations in the UK, but its programmes are “poorly-targeted”, the Education Policy Institute has said. Analysis by the think tank found that funding for the catch-up premium and National Tutoring Programme in England worked out at £174 per […]

Just 6,400 teachers eligible for a pay rise in 2021, and 5 other things we learned from the government’s STRB evidence

Only around 6,400 unqualified teachers will be eligible for a pay rise this year, the government has predicted. The Department for Education has set out its evidence to the School Teachers Review Body, which makes recommendations on teacher pay. It comes after the government announced last year that public sector workers earning over £24,000 would […]

Schools should be prepared for ‘challenge’ after £95k exit payment cap revoked

Schools should be “prepared for challenge” from former staff who had their exit payments capped after a government U-turn on the regulations. The Treasury faced a legal challenge by unions against a £95,000 cap introduced in November last year, aimed at limiting payouts to departing public sector staff, including those being made redundant. However, the […]

Pearson launches ‘major’ consultation into the future of exams amid calls for end to GCSEs

The exam board Pearson has launched a “major” consultation into the future of exams, following calls for GCSEs to be scrapped. Former education secretaries Damian Hinds, Baroness Morris and Lord Blunkett will sit on an expert panel to advise and steer a research project looking at assessment and qualifications for young people aged between 14 […]

Let schools tell pupils their teacher assessment grades before submission, says exam board

Strict rules forbidding schools from telling pupils their teacher assessment grades should be dropped this year to prevent “sudden surprises” and reduce appeals, an exam board has said. Ofqual proposes that schools should not tell students the grade they have submitted to exam boards this summer. Pupils would instead have an option to appeal after […]

Sprinklers still not mandatory for school rebuilding projects

Sprinklers are unlikely to be made mandatory in the 50 school rebuilding projects announced last week because the government’s consultation into fire safety has been delayed. The Department for Education has committed to revising its guidance on fire safety design for new schools. The current guidance says that all new schools should have fire sprinklers […]

Department for Education looking to spend £4m on catch-up resources

The Department for Education is looking to spend nearly £4m on “free in-class and catch-up curriculum” resources to support teachers. According to a document published on Monday, “diagnostic tests” to support teachers in identifying gaps in learning may also be provided. It comes as the government’s new ‘education recovery’ commissioner Sir Kevan Collins said Covid […]

Sir Kevan Collins Q&A: Covid innovations can drive catch-up challenge

The new ‘education recovery’ commissioner believes Covid innovations such as virtual classes can be used to extend the school day and drive the catch-up challenge. Speaking to Schools Week today, Sir Kevan Collins said he was not interested in “gimmicks” to help children catch up, but is looking to the long term in his role as […]

Lost learning expert group scrapped by DfE before it’s even set up

A promise to set up an expert group to look at solutions for uneven lost learning across the country has been dropped by the Department for Education. Instead, the task of addressing lost learning will fall within the remit of Sir Kevan Collins who was appointed education recovery commissioner last week. Before exams were cancelled […]