The government will seek to “tighten accountability” over school exclusions following a landmark review, a minister has confirmed.
Lord Agnew, the academies minister, told MPs this morning that the long-awaited Timpson review will propose that schools that exclude pupils will keep “some ownership of that child’s progress”, and that “we are proposing that the accountability be tightened”.
His comments confirm the revelation made by Schools Week in February that the review will insist the government revives plans to make schools retain responsibility for the results of pupils they exclude. They also confirm speculation reported by Schools Week that discussions about accountability have focused on whether to tie pupils’ Progress 8 scores to the excluding school.
Ministers have repeatedly dodged questions about when the Timpson review and what it will contain. It was supposed to be published by the end of last year, but has been heavily delayed.
But this morning, Agnew told the parliamentary education committee the review will be published in the “next few weeks”.
More to follow.
Your thoughts