coronavirus | Schools Week

Attendance: Almost 1 in 5 pupils were in school the week before reopenings

Almost one in five pupils were in school last week, just days before wider reopenings, new attendance data shows. Survey data from the Department for Education shows 18.7 per cent of pupils were in attendance at state schools nationwide last Thursday, up from 18.3 per cent the week before. The data also shows a large […]

2022 exams may need similar ‘adaptations’ as those proposed for 2021, warns Ofqual chief

The government is considering making “adaptations” to exams in 2022 similar to those proposed for this summer’s assessments before they were cancelled, the head of regulator Ofqual has said. Simon Lebus, the interim chief regulator, told MPs this morning that the “thinking at the moment is about adaptations along the line that had been originally […]

Government medic warns of school disruption as Covid testing regime beds in

Schools may see a “larger number” of children forced to self-isolate during the first weeks of reopening while new Covid testing regimes bed in, the government’s deputy chief medical officer has said. Dr Jenny Harries told the Downing Street briefing this afternoon she expected to see an impact on transmission rates as pupils return to […]

DfE ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ after admitting £705m for catch-up isn’t all new money

The government stands accused of “robbing Peter to pay Paul” after finally admitting that a £705 million Covid catch-up package is not all new money. Ministers announced last month that they would spend an additional £405 million on top of £300 million announced in January for a range of measures to help address lost learning. […]

League tables could still include summer term attendance

The government has not ruled out using attendance data for the summer term in school league tables, despite backing off on “nonsensical” plans to include the autumn and spring terms. The Department for Education confirmed last week that it no longer intended to include attendance data collected between last September and this Easter. But when […]

Mandatory school attendance will ‘pit heads against parents’

The decision to reintroduce school attendance enforcement will “pit heads against parents” and risks costly legal action from families that include shielding members, it has been warned. All schools are due to reopen next week. The government has said attendance will be mandatory for primary pupils from Monday and for secondary pupils from the following […]

Data reveals scale of National Tutoring Programme’s northern challenge

New data has revealed big variations in take-up of the government’s National Tutoring Programme across England, with schools in the south far more likely to have enrolled their pupils than those in the north. Figures provided by the NTP show the scheme has reached 100 per cent of its target number of schools in the […]

Williamson pledges to back teachers ‘all the way’ on exam grading

The education secretary has pledged to back teachers “all the way” in their efforts to award exam grades this summer, and accepted he will share the responsibility if there is a backlash on results days. In an exclusive interview with Schools Week this week, Gavin Williamson said the government was putting its “confidence and faith […]

Narrowing attainment gap stopped being ‘main focus’ of DfE in 2015, says former permanent secretary

Efforts to narrow the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their better-off peers ceased to be a “main focus” for the Department for Education in 2015, its former top civil servant has claimed. Jonathan Slater, who served as permanent secretary at the DfE from 2016 until last year, said until the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the […]