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17 April 2026

Tag: SATs

Bailed-out academy boss set for £150k payout, despite £1.1m budget hole

A single academy trust facing closure has set aside a £150,000 payout for its chief executive, despite reporting a £1.1 million budget black hole last year and needing two taxpayer bailouts. The Castle Trust is set to be wound up after it was stripped of Delce Academy in Kent last year following an “inadequate” rating. […]

Academy transfers fall to four-year low during pandemic

 The government has spent £38.8 million moving academies between trusts since 2014, official figures show, but transfers fell to a four-year low during the Covid-19 pandemic. Analysis of new Department for Education data shows a significant drop in academies switching trusts over the past financial year, with both voluntary transfers and forced rebrokering drying up […]

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 […]

Academy trusts’ cash stash rises to £3bn despite pandemic pressures

Academy trusts boosted their reserves and surpluses last year despite the upheaval of Covid, official figures show. New Department for Education data confirms a 20 per cent jump in the average trust’s reserves, up from £0.96 million a year earlier to £1.15 million. The figures cover the year to the end of last August however, […]

Williamson announces autumn 2021 phonics screening check

An autumn phonics screening check will take place again this year, the education secretary has announced. Gavin Williamson told the Festival of Education this afternoon that as was the case in 2020, the check will be held in the autumn “so that any pupils who need support with phonics are spotted early”. The check was […]

Government asks Capita for cash back over cancelled SATs

The government is in talks over its £109 million contract with outsourcing firm Capita to manage primary school tests to see if it can get a reduction following the cancellation of SATs this year. Under a six-year contract worth just over £18 million a year, Capita manages the administration, processing and support for all primary […]

Action taken into alleged SATs maladministration drops after heads given right to challenge

Enforcement action taken by the government into alleged maladministration in primary school tests fell in 2019 after the investigation process was changed to allow headteachers to make representations on the findings. The Standards and Testing Agency investigated 743 cases of maladministration in key stage 1 and 2 in 2019, down from 793 the previous year. […]