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12 April 2026

Tag: Gavin Williamson

Williamson plans £1.1m expansion of cadet units in schools

The education secretary Gavin Williamson wants to expand cadet units in schools, allocating £1.1 million in funding to increase the number of pupils taking part. The funding will go directly to schools with existing “combined cadet force” units to employ more school staff instructors to help run them. Williamson, a former defence secretary, has been […]

Schools face new checks to ensure pupil premium spending ‘backed by evidence’

Schools will have to show their pupil premium spending is “backed by evidence” under new requirements announced by the Department for Education. The DfE confirmed schools face new conditions attached to the £2.5bn expected in funding to support disadvantaged pupils for the next academic year. Grants now depend on pupil premium spending strategies being published […]

Muhammad cartoon row school launches independent probe into RSE lessons

The trust in charge of Batley Grammar School has announced an independent investigation of its curriculum after its teacher’s use of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class sparked a fierce backlash. The West Yorkshire trust said the probe would help it “learn the lessons” by examining the “context” in which the cartoons were used,  […]

Williamson first education secretary to address NASUWT conference in five years

Gavin Williamson will address the annual conference of the NASUWT teaching union this weekend, five years after an education secretary last appeared at the event. The union announced today that Williamson has accepted an invitation to address the conference, which is being held virtually this year because of Covid-19. The union invites the education secretary […]

No ‘current’ plans to force schools into multi-academy trusts, says Williamson

There are “currently no plans” to legislate to force schools to join multi-academy trusts, the education secretary has said, after he revealed the government wanted “far more schools” in the clusters by 2025. Gavin Williamson told the Foundation for Education Development’s inaugural summit that partnerships between schools were “fundamental”, especially in the wake of 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 […]

Q&A: ‘We need a long-term plan for education in England’

Next week, the Foundation for Education Development will bring together politicians, school leaders and policy wonks as it hosts its inaugural summit to discuss the need for a long-term plan for education. Carl Ward, chair of the foundation and chief executive of the City Learning Trust, talked to Schools Week chief reporter Freddie Whittaker about […]

Students make up half of respondents to ‘largest ever’ exams consultation

Nearly 47,000 students have responded to the government’s call to have their say on replacing exams this summer – making up half of all responses in what is thought to be the Department for Education’s largest ever consultation. It marks a huge increase from the student voice in last year’s consultation to replace exams, when […]