Schools Week Reporter | Schools Week

Coronavirus: Schools to receive just 10 home testing kits each

Schools and colleges will receive just 10 coronavirus home testing kits each, and should only use them in “exceptional circumstances”, the government has said. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, announced in July that schools would receive a “small number” of kits to send home with children or staff who develop coronavirus symptoms, but would otherwise […]

Attainment gaps begin to widen and 6 other key findings from the EPI annual report

The Education Policy Institute has published its annual report, which has found that the attainment gap between poorer pupils and their better-off peers has stopped closing for the first time in a decade. The report is based on government data for 2019, with warnings that gaps may be much wider still this year due to […]

Top civil servant drafted in to DfE to take charge of exams fiasco

A senior civil servant has been parachuted in to the Department for Education to take charge of the exams fiasco Susan Acland-Hood has been appointed as second permanent secretary at the DfE for six weeks, temporarily leaving her role as chief executive of the HM Courts & Tribunals Service. The government said she will work […]

First come, first served for selective sixth form applicants as grade hike causes record places demand

A London selective sixth form expects to turn away offer holders for the first time after record demand for places following soaring numbers of top GCSE grades being awarded yesterday. With 30 per cent more grade 7s and above issued in England this year, compared to 2019, pressure for places at sixth forms has reportedly […]

GCSE results 2020: Top grades soar, as nearly four in five pupils pass

The proportion of 7 or above grades handed to GCSE pupils in England has soared after the government U-turn to award teacher grades. Pupils are receiving either their centre assessed grades (CAGs) or standardised grades, whichever is highest, this morning following the U-turn on Monday. In 2019, 21.9 per cent of grades given out to […]

Universities agree to honour first choice offers for pupils who hit grades after U-turn

Universities have agreed to honour all-first choice offers for thousands of students rejected last week who have now had their results upgraded. The government’s Higher Education Taskforce, including the Russell Group of universities and representative body Universities UK, has agreed the commitment as the government lifts the cap on places for medicine, dentistry, veterinary science […]

Results 2020: What you need to know about this year’s appeals and Autumn resits

Ofqual has confirmed today its appeals and resits process. We take you through what you need to know… 1. The appeal routes open are now just for errors Schools and colleges can only appeal where there has been an administrative error with the CAG or rank order information. Ofqual said rank order information was vital […]

Grades boost for maths after NRT showed improved performance

Ofqual has revised upwards its standardised grades for maths pupils after its national reference tests showed a “steady increase” in improvement. First piloted in 2016, the tests involve a sample of year 11 pupils sitting the exams each year in order to monitor, over time, how well cohorts of pupils are performing. The results act as […]

Heads reissue calls for a plan B as PM says September reopening a ‘national priority’

The government has again been warned it must have a plan B in place for September school reopenings, in case a second national shutdown is needed. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a coronavirus briefing today that welcoming all pupils back to school from the start of the Autumn term should be a “national priority”. […]