Schools Week Reporter | Schools Week

Former Cambridge Assessment chief set for interim Ofqual role

A former exams company chief executive is set to replace Dame Glenys Stacey as the chief regulator at Ofqual, Schools Week understands. Simon Lebus is being lined up to take over the top position at the exams regulator as Stacey’s interim period comes to end on December 31. Lebus served as the group chief executive […]

Ofqual launches 10-day consultation on advance topics for 2021 exams

Ofqual is seeking views on its plans to release advance notice of topics ahead of exams next year, suggesting the information should not be so detailed that a student could memorise an answer. In a 10-day consultation launched today, the exams regulator has set out three principles on how it thinks the advance topics plan […]

Dame Glenys Stacey on the 2021 exams: 8 things we learnt

Ofqual’s interim chief regulator Dame Glenys Stacey was quizzed by MPs this morning on the plans for exams next year. It comes as the government announced extra measures last week for students, including more generous grades and advance notice of topics. We take a look at some of the key points from the education select committee… […]

Attendance league tables will be ‘relief map of pandemic’

Ranking schools in league tables based on their attendance will just become a “relief map of the pandemic”, one head has warned. The government announced this week that exam results will not be included in league tables this year. It won’t be a league table, it’ll be a relief map of the pandemic Instead, the […]

Government drops expectation of daily checks on isolating pupils

The government has ditched official advice stating teachers should “ideally” check in with isolating pupils every day. Instead, schools are expected to check on whether children are engaging with work “at least weekly”, new guidance on remote learning states. As previously reported by Schools Week, the new guidance states primary schools are expected to set, […]

Ofqual chief issues sobering warning over ‘intractable’ problem of regional learning loss

The gap in learning loss across different regions is “one of the most intractable issues” and any potential solutions are “fraught with difficulty”, Ofqual has warned. The sobering assessment on the potential for government to come up with a plan to make exams fair for pupils in the hardest hit Covid areas follows the government […]

Institute for Effective Education to close after struggle to secure funding

A research charity will close at the end of this week after finding it “impossible” to secure further funding during the pandemic In a post on its website, the Institute for Effective Education states its staff are being made redundant and current activities are either being taken on by other organisations, or discontinued. The charity, […]

Ampleforth College ordered to stop admitting new pupils over safeguarding failures

A prestigious private school known as the “Catholic Eton” has been ordered by the government to stop admitting new pupils over safeguarding failures. Education secretary Gavin Williamson has today ordered Ampleforth College, in North Yorkshire, to “cease to admit any new students”. The enforcement action follows an emergency inspection by Ofsted in September that Williamson […]

Revealed: The winners of the 2020 Pearson Teaching Awards

Ten UK teachers and schools have been honoured in the 2020 Pearson Teaching Awards for their dedicated work in education. The “inspirational” teachers and school staff have been revealed throughout this week on the BBC’s The One Show. Now in its 22nd year, the awards celebrate the best teaching across the UK and thousands of […]