Skip to content

PM incorrectly claims 6 million pupils will benefit from tutoring

The prime minister has incorrectly claimed in Parliament that six million pupils will benefit from the government’s tutoring reforms. Boris Johnson also claimed to have “introduced” a £30,000 starting salary for teachers – over two years before the policy is due to be finally implemented. Johnson was today questioned by MPs during prime minister’s questions […]

DfE’s £1.4bn education recovery plan: what you need to know

The government has announced the first set of measures under its long-awaited education recovery plan today – but schools have been left waiting on proposals for an extended day. The £1.4 billion policies include £1 billion for tuition, on top of the £1.7 billion already announced for catch-up. A total of £579 million will help […]

£10m ‘levelling up’ support will come from existing DfE budgets

None of the £10 million pledged today to improve the quality of teaching in four areas of England is new cash from the Treasury, and up to half of it will be given to expanding academy trusts, it has emerged. Boris Johnson announced today that the government’s “levelling up” agenda would include “more support” to […]

PM announces £18m opportunity areas expansion, and £10m to boost quality of teaching

An £18 million extension of the opportunity areas programme and £10 million to improve teaching quality in four other areas will form part of the government’s “levelling up” agenda, the prime minister has announced. But leaders this week spoke of their frustration with “piecemeal announcements being portrayed as though they are a grand vision”. Boris […]

Johnson: Parents should ‘absolutely’ send their children to open primary schools

Parents should “absolutely” send their children in to primary schools in areas where they’re open next week, the prime minister has said. However, interviewed on the Andrew Marr show this morning, Boris Johnson repeatedly refused to say whether he would penalise local authorities that urge their schools to stay closed to most pupils in conflict […]

Not enough Covid testing capacity, admits Johnson

The government does not have enough testing capacity to keep up with current demand, the prime minister admitted. Boris Johnson told the Parliamentary liaison committee that demand for tests had “massively accelerated” in recent weeks. Schools Week revealed last week how schools had been forced to break into their limited supplies of emergency home testing […]

1 in 10 pupils has not returned to school, Boris Johnson admits

More than 1 in 10 pupils have not returned to school yet, the prime minister has revealed. Boris Johnson told today’s Downing Street press briefing that “something like 89 per cent of pupils are back in school”, indicating that around 11 per cent are not. Most schools across England have now fully reopened to schools, […]

Boris Johnson claims exams fiasco has been ‘sorted out’

The fiasco over GCSE and A-level results this year has “finally been sorted out”, the prime minister has claimed. During a speech at a school in Leicestershire, Johnson told pupils their grades were “almost derailed by a mutant algorithm”, and acknowledged how “stressful” the situation must have been. The schools community is still reeling from […]