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22 April 2026

Tag: education policy

School Funding Changes: Made Simple

The way in which the Dedicated Schools Grant, one of the main components of school funding, is calculated is changing. The Department for Education says that, for the first time in a decade, funding will be based on pupil characteristics rather than historic levels of spending. With additional guidance recently brought out on this recently, […]

The 13 most critical points in the NAO’s Academies and Schools Oversight report

Today the National Audit Office (NAO) released a document scrutinising the way schools are overseen and intervened on if under-performing. Reading it is illuminating. Academies have been complicated to keep abreast of over the last few years, and it does a good job of explaining who is responsible for what (so far as there actually […]

University-led teacher training should be valued, not derided

The transfer of initial teacher training numbers to the School Direct programme has all the makings of a crisis in future teacher supply There is no doubt that Michael Gove’s reforms to teacher education have left new Education Secretary Nicky Morgan with a dilemma. On the one hand, some of her colleagues still regard university […]

Is a new model of school collaboration emerging?

Collaboration is a new buzzword in education, but there are many ways it can happen. Expert Alison Talbot describes how one option in particular may be coming to the fore. At the beginning of the school term, a number of exciting collaborations and partnerships coming to fruition, with many free schools, university technical colleges and […]

We make it simple: how the government’s new 16-19 league tables are calculated

The 16-19 accountability measures are changing. As the government releases its (very dense) guide setting out how the new measures will work, Schools Week’s Philip Nye, a former National Audit Office auditor, takes on the gruelling task of guiding you through the key features What’s changing? The new accountability measures will give a significant refresh […]

Parents look beyond Ofsted’s result when choosing childcare

Ofsted is consulting on a single inspection framework covering all education institutions but Sue Cowley argues they are not in a position to say how early years settings should be run. Instead, they should focus on being a good regulator As someone who volunteers in an early years setting and works with schools, I am […]

We make it simple: how the government’s new 16-19 league tables are calculated

The 16-19 accountability measures are changing. As the government releases its (very dense) guide setting out how the new measures will work, Schools Week’s Philip Nye, a former National Audit Office auditor, takes on the gruelling task of guiding you through the key features What’s changing? The new accountability measures will give a significant refresh […]

More a quiet gathering than a party…

It was steady as it goes at the three main party conferences this year with education ministers signalling their intentions to reduce structural change The party conferences had one element in common this year when it came to education – an emerging sense of stability in a sector in which there has been significant reform […]

Reflecting on the 2014 party conference season

What can we learn about the future of education from the party conference season? Little of substance I’m afraid. Nicky Morgan got the best joke – ‘Nick Gibb – so good they appointed him twice’ – although I did like Tristram’s ‘continuity Gove’ jibe. Of course, politicians are extraordinarily grateful to teachers. The Conservatives are […]