politics | Schools Week

Gove eliminated from Conservative party leadership contest

Former education secretary Michael Gove has been eliminated from the Conservative leadership race today. Gove, backed by education secretary Nicky Morgan, has been knocked out of the leadership contest after persuading just 46 MPs to support his bid. That leaves home secretary Theresa May, who secured 199 votes, and Andrea Leadsom, who won 84, to […]

EBacc: MPs prepare to debate petition on exclusion of arts subjects

MPs will debate a decision to exclude expressive arts subjects from the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) this afternoon, after more than 100,000 people signed a petition calling for a change in the rules. The debate on the EBacc will take place in Parliament’s Westminster Hall from 4.30pm, and campaigners from groups supportive of the petition have already […]

Teachers must tell pupils the importance of voter turnout

The economics of Brexit will be crucial for everyone, says Anand Menon. A smaller economy means more difficult choices – and perhaps a smaller education budget In a recent online piece for Schools Week, Russell Hobby made the sensible point that one outcome of the recent referendum will be “distraction and delay”. He is dead […]

Education reform: How to take back control of schools from government

“The power of the Crown has increased, is increasing and ought to be diminished.” John Dunning, motion in Parliament, 1780. For those working in education, it won’t have taken the act of self-immolation of June 23 to notice a growing feeling of powerlessness and mute rage in the face of an over-centralised, over-mighty state that […]

Did education count in the Brexit vote?

In the week following the EU referendum, much discussion has centred around the educational background of the “inners and outers” and whether it affected the poll’s result. Schools Week decided to see if there was a relationship between a local population’s education and referendum outcome. Voters in areas with higher-performing schools were less likely to […]

8 things we know about the latest shadow education secretary

As revealed exclusively by Schools Week, Angela Rayner is Labour’s third shadow education secretary this week. Here’s what we know about her… She was born in Stockport in 1980. At 36, she is the youngest person to hold the role of shadow education secretary since it was created (as shadow secretary of state for education and science) […]

EXCLUSIVE: Angela Rayner becomes third shadow education secretary in a week

Angela Rayner, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne and a former care worker and union representative, has been appointed as the new shadow education secretary, Schools Week understands. Sources in the Labour Party have confirmed that Rayner, who entered Parliament at the 2015 general election, has been promoted to the role at the head of the opposition front-bench […]

Pupils’ Brexit letter triggers voting age debate

School pupils at last week’s Festival of Education have condemned the vote to leave the EU with a passionate Brexit statement that says “Britain has chosen nationalism and exclusivity over unity”. The statement, posted on Twitter by Schools Week from the festival at Wellington College on Friday, was retweeted hundreds of times – with users […]

Gove vs May: Why education will influence their leadership campaign

Former education secretary Michael Gove is running for Conservative Party leadership but editor Laura McInerney explains why education’s influence may run even deeper than expected in the upcoming campaign. We now know it will be Michael Gove versus Theresa May in the Conservative Party leadership race. Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox and Andrea Leadsom have also […]