Skip to content
12 April 2026

Tag: Gavin Williamson

School Covid outbreaks near six-month high as Indian variant spreads

Covid outbreaks in schools have reached their highest level since December as the Indian variant continues to spread, official figures show. School leaders called new data on the spread of the Delta variant first discovered in India “concerning”, and said it raised “serious questions” over the decision to drop face covering requirements in schools last […]

Pupils missed 33 million days of in-person education due to Covid last autumn

Pupils missed 33 million days of in-person education because of Covid during the autumn term last year, as schools grappled with the second wave of the pandemic after re-opening. Official figures show the majority – 60 per cent – of pupils saw their schooling affected by the need to self-isolate or shield, often in classes […]

DfE raids existing budgets for a third of £4.3bn Covid spending

Almost a third of the Department for Education’s extra Covid spending will be taken from existing budgets or underspends in other areas, according to a new report. Education unions said it reinforced their fears over the Treasury’s commitment to education recovery, and accused the government of “creative accounting”. The research, published by the Institute for […]

Speed read: Williamson’s 7 policies to revive the academies drive

Gavin Williamson has announced a raft of new policies today that he hopes will push towards the government’s “vision” for all schools to be academies. The announcement was made in a speech (which can be read in full here) today at the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) annual conference.   1. Consultation on long-term RI […]

Williamson plans behaviour survey and urges ‘sensible debate’ over exclusions

Schools will take part in a new survey on student behaviour every term, the education secretary has announced. Gavin Williamson outlined the proposals as part of a wider drive for “strong behaviour and discipline policy,” including the behaviour hubs project and a crackdown on mobile phone use in schools. The minister also called for “proper […]

DfE knew scale of result downgrades before 2020 exams fiasco

The Department for Education knew the full scale of downgraded results before the 2020 exams fiasco, a Schools Week investigation has established. Emails from officials also show the department knew of – and was pressing Ofqual – about the “outlier” grades issue a week before results day. It was a mistake not to hold a […]

DfE still short of 1.3 million laptop target despite Gibb promise

The Department for Education had still not fulfilled its pledge to deliver 1.3 million free laptops to disadvantaged pupils a month after schools fully re-opened, figures show. The latest official data on the provision of devices shows the DfE fell just short of schools minister Nick Gibb’s pledge that all laptops and tablets would be […]