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26 April 2026

Author: Sophie Scott

“Our primary goal should be to make exams better, not harder”

Last week, Schools Week put schools minister Nick Gibb and OCR chief executive Mark Dawe head-to-head to answer: “Should we make the GCSE pass rate harder?” Here, Pearson’s UK president Rod Bristow puts his thoughts forward. I’d like to congratulate Schools Week for providing a platform for this very important debate. It’s one that’s sure […]

Who’s on the new education select committee?

Fresh faces and women dominate the list of members put forward for the education select committee to be confirmed by the House of Commons on Monday. The only two members elected by their parties this time who were on the committee during the last parliamentary session are Caroline Nokes and Ian Mearns. There are two Lucys and […]

“The government has signalled it no longer trusts the validity of Ofsted”

The Government’s announcement on coasting schools has far reaching consequences. The government should be very concerned (but won’t be) that this will further discourage (if such a thing were possible) headteachers taking on schools with socially disadvantaged intakes. For the first three years, at least, threshold targets for secondary schools (60 per cent of pupils […]

Teachers should have ‘football-style’ one-to-one coaching, says report

A new report published by the Ark academy network includes a call for weekly one-to-one coaching sessions for teachers to improve the quality of what happens in the classroom. The recommendation is one of a number contained in the Lessons Learned report commissioned by Ark in a project with King’s College London. According to the […]

2,833 or 1,179 – how many schools will fall under the new coasting definition?

Yesterday, Schools Week reported on analysis by Education Datalab which showed almost 1,200 schools would be defined as “coasting”, as a definition for the term was finally put forward by education secretary Nicky Morgan. Henry Stewart, co-founder of Local Schools Network, believes that figure would be more than double. Here he puts forward his case. […]

1,200 schools would be coasting, analysis reveals

Nearly 1,200 schools would be judged as coasting under new plans to intervene where pupil progress scores are lower than expected. Education Datalab has crunched the numbers – following Nicky Morgan revealing the scores that will define a coasting school. The research group estimate that 1,179 schools would be classed as coasting if using the previous […]

Coasting schools bill scrutiny committee branded a “mess”

Education experts and MPs have complained after receiving the first official definition of a coasting school at 10pm last night – just hours before they were due to scrutinise it in Parliament. The education and adoption bill was scheduled to appear before a committee of cross-party MPs and experts at 8.50am today. The meeting involves […]

Teenager admits stabbing supply teacher at Dixon Kings Academy

A teenager at a Bradford school who stabbed his supply teacher has admitted grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent. The 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will be sentenced later this year. He today denied attempting to murder supply teacher Vincent Uzomah at Dixons Kings Academy, in Bradford. The pupil admitted a […]