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25 April 2026

Author: Sophie Scott

Rio Olympics 2016: Where did the Team GB medal winners go to school?

Proud teachers and their schools have heaped praise on former pupils who have contributed to a record medal haul for Team GB at this year’s Rio Olympics. Overall, just under 70 per cent of the medal-winning athletes were educated at state-maintained schools. A handful of athletes, including Tom Daley, the diver, were given scholarships to attend independent schools. […]

‘Social need’ free schools would combat racist abuse in classrooms, charity claims

Allowing free schools to open where there is a “social need” would increase community integration and help prevent racist abuse in classrooms, a free school campaign group has claimed. The New Schools Network (NSN) has today released an analysis of exclusion data that reveals 20 children are excluded from school each day for racist abuse, arguing that […]

League tables 2016: How your school will be judged

The government has this morning published details of what data schools will be judged on in this year’s league tables. The document includes further detail on primary school floor standards, as well as announcing that minimum progress scores for primary subjects will be revealed next month and primary schools will have access to progress data from September […]

University access gap between state and independent schools widens

The gap between the proportion of state school pupils going to university and their independent school peers has widened as the apparent impact of an increase in tuition fees bites. Figures released by the Department for Education (DfE) this morning show that in 2013-14, just 62 per cent of state school pupils progressed to a higher education, […]

Flagship free school trio found guilty of defrauding Department for Education

The principal, financial director and teacher at a flagship free school have been found guilty of defrauding the Department for Education (DfE) out of around £150,000. A jury today convicted Sajid Husain Raza, 43, Daud Khan, 44, and Shabana Hussain, 40, of fraudulently obtaining the cash from government grants to set up Kings Science Academy, […]

Government rapped over removal of IGCSEs from school league tables

The government has been rapped by the statistics watchdog for having a “gap in its coverage” of pupil attainment after removing IGCSE qualifications from school league tables, but has now pledged to make available a “wider range” of exam results. Simon Briscoe, a public policy statistician, wanted to obtain IGCSE data showing the performance and pathways of […]

Schools reporting remit widened in missing pupils crackdown

Schools will now have a duty to collect additional details about pupils deemed missing from education – including the name of the person they are living with – under tougher rules introduced following concerns pupils were being radicalised. The expansion of duties regarding pupils who go missing from mainstream school wills come into force from […]