Schools Week Reporter | Schools Week

Exams 2021: What’s on the table as deadline looms

Despite waiting for months, Schools Week understands the government will fall short of its pledge to communicate the plans for next year’s exams to the sector in November. But an announcement is getting closer. We spoke to insiders to see what was on the table. The exams announcement will contain policies that address a few […]

Sir Jon Coles appointed to Ofqual’s recovery committee

The head of one of the country’s largest academy trusts has been appointed to a committee set up to oversee Ofqual’s recovery from the exams fiasco. Sir Jon Coles, chief executive of United Learning, has been announced today as one of the seven people on the regulator’s new “recovery committee” which will also lead on […]

Heads back university admissions shake-up as UCAS sets out ‘radical options’

Heads have backed plans to shake up the university admissions process so that pupils apply for places after receiving their results, as UCAS set out two “radical new options” for reform. The admissions service has said it will soon publish plans for a “post-qualification application” model, which would push the process back to after A-level […]

7 proposals to solve the 2021 exams conundrum

New benchmarking assessments should be used to provide “contingency grades” if summer exams cannot take place for most pupils, a think tank has suggested today. The Education Policy Institute say that while the government’s action of pushing exams back three weeks will make up for some lost learning, on its own it is not enough. […]

NTP providers issued funding threat over speaking out amid conflict of interest and cap concerns

Approving tutoring providers have been warned any future funding could be jeopardised if they speak about the scheme publicly without getting approval from the National Tutoring Programme. The government’s flagship NTP scheme launched this week, with schools able to apply for subsidised tuition through 32 approved providers. But schools have been told they could face […]

DfE signals intent for National Tutoring Programme to continue beyond this year

The government has signalled its intent to extend the flagship National Tutoring Programme beyond this year – and has asked for the sector’s view on how it can be rolled out to recruit more tutors. It comes as schools were able to finally start applying for tutoring this week after the 32 providers of subsidised […]

Using mock exams as ‘back-ups’ could ‘compound’ disadvantage

Using mock as a “back-up” in the case of any disruption to exams next year could disadvantage poorer pupils even more, a social mobility expert has warned, saying that teachers assessments could be a better system. Earlier this month, The Guardian reported that mock exams could be part of the government’s “plan B” should pupils […]

Schools face cap on tutoring places as officials admit funding only covers 250,000 pupils

Schools may face caps on the number of pupils they can put forward for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) after officials admitted the scheme would initially only cover 250,000 places. The programme, which is part of the government’s catch-up plan for school pupils across England, opens to applications from schools from 10am today (Monday). Schools […]

What new Datalab analysis tells us about Covid and school attendance

Pupils in the some of the poorest areas of the country are missing out on schooling the most, according to new analysis. FFT Education Datalab’s work follows research by the Education Policy Institute this week which prompted concerns that pupils in some parts of the country are more likely to be left behind. Here, we […]