funding | Schools Week

School playing field sales hit 3-year high as Johnson pledges £50m football pitch investment

Sales of school playing fields hit a three-year high last year, it has emerged, on the same day Boris Johnson pledged tens of millions for new football pitches across England. The prime minister used a major speech on his “levelling up” agenda to announce £50 million in government investment in football pitches. It will ensure […]

Downsizing trust ‘failed to balance books quickly enough’

The Department for Education has slapped strict spending controls on an academy trust accused of failing to balance its books rapidly enough after it was stripped of a school. The Castle Trust, which is now preparing to close, has been issued a financial notice to improve after it “failed to act quickly enough to make […]

DfE told to reveal its working out on £90m pupil premium funding ‘stealth cut’

The government must publish a full breakdown of its pupil premium “stealth cut” analysis as the current explanation only reveals part of the story, a think tank has warned. Last week the Department for Education finally admitted schools would miss out on about £90 million in pupil premium funding. The admission comes after ministers discreetly changed […]

Schools handed extra cash to take NQTs off-timetable after Covid hits induction

Schools will receive cash to fund additional off-timetable development for their current cohort of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) as a result of Covid disruption to induction. The Department for Education announced on Monday that state schools in England will be eligible for the funding for every NQT due to complete their induction this summer. The […]

‘No frills’ private school racks up £170k loss

The country’s first “no frills” private school – charging pupils just £60 a week – has posted a £170,000 loss in its second year of operation. The Independent Grammar School: Durham (IGSD) opened in 2018 with just six pupils. It now has 47 children on its books. New accounts for the firm behind the school, […]

‘They think it’s exclusive…but it’s done on a massive scale’ – inside the glossy mag that charges schools £3,500 for exposure

The Parliamentary Review “misleadingly implied” it was an official government magazine, the advertising watchdog has ruled. A Schools Week investigation now takes a looks behind the scenes at the controversial publication. Last year, we revealed how schools were approached by the Parliamentary Review through letters from senior politicians, including Lord Pickles, the former communities secretary, […]

Brexit nudges funding formula to the back of the line

The national funding formula sits in the wings while the government attempts to sort Brexit. But is it worth waiting for? When he was asked about schools closing early on Fridays as a result of squeezed funding, Philip Hammond suggested skewed funding was “giving rise to the unhappiness and disquiet”. The chancellor, speaking on The […]

The lost generation: Are we failing England’s deaf children?

Deaf children in England fall a whole grade behind their peers at GCSE, according to new analysis that has prompted warnings of a “lost generation” of young people. The National Deaf Children’s Society analysed Department for Education data, and found that deaf children achieved an average GCSE grade of 3.9, historically a grade D, while […]