Samantha Booth | Schools Week

Teacher grades to be used after Pearson cancels IGCSE exams

Pearson is cancelling exams for its international GCSEs and A-level series and instead using teacher assessed grades. The board said they had made the decision to “ensure a level playing field for all” and to protect the safety and wellbeing of students. The qualifications are mostly taken by private schools because they do not count […]

‘Too slow’: More delays as lost learning expert group ‘refocused’

An expert group promised by ministers to provide solutions to uneven lost learning across the country is now being “refocused”, leaving its membership still up in the air two months after being announced. Before exams were cancelled in December, the Department for Education announced the advisory panel would “monitor and advise on lost and differential […]

Pupil wellbeing ‘dashboards’ to help school support

Schools in Manchester will be able to use a pupil wellbeing dashboard to see how well their students are coping in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. A £900,000 pioneering programme, led by the University of Manchester and the mental health charity Anna Freud Centre, aims to survey between 30-50,000 year 8 and 10 pupils […]

Boards back down on exam fees demand

Schools can now delay paying exam fees after boards offered concessions following a backlash about their plans to raise prices in a year when exams will not be held. A Schools Week investigation revealed last week that boards had increased their fees across GCSEs and A-levels between 2 and 5 per cent. They had pledged […]

Ofqual loses Stacey’s input as 2021 committee disbanded

An Ofqual committee originally set up to oversee the summer exam series is to be disbanded as GCSE and A-levels have been cancelled. It means the experienced former chief regulator, Dame Glenys Stacey, will now no longer have a role in overseeing this summer’s grading system. As revealed by Schools Week , Stacey was to […]

Students make up half of respondents to ‘largest ever’ exams consultation

Nearly 47,000 students have responded to the government’s call to have their say on replacing exams this summer – making up half of all responses in what is thought to be the Department for Education’s largest ever consultation. It marks a huge increase from the student voice in last year’s consultation to replace exams, when […]

Councils seize initiative to give Covid-19 vaccine to special school staff

Thousands of special school staff are being offered the Covid-19 vaccine as councils include them in the priority roll-out or offer them leftover supplies, a Schools Week investigation has found. While most teachers and school staff are not prioritised for jabs, more than 65 local authorities across England are believed to be including special school […]

Action taken into alleged SATs maladministration drops after heads given right to challenge

Enforcement action taken by the government into alleged maladministration in primary school tests fell in 2019 after the investigation process was changed to allow headteachers to make representations on the findings. The Standards and Testing Agency investigated 743 cases of maladministration in key stage 1 and 2 in 2019, down from 793 the previous year. […]

7 school policies to solve the Covid children mental health crisis

Aspiring school leaders should be encouraged to work in alternative provision settings before stepping up so they are better prepared to support children with mental and emotional health needs, a new report has said. The Education Policy Institute has published a new study into the mental health and wellbeing of young people, including how it […]