school census | Schools Week

Study finds pupil premium cuts £43m worse than DfE admits

Schools will miss out on £43 million more in pupil premium funding for the poorest children than admitted by the government, new analysis suggests. The Education Datalab research indicates almost 104,000 children receiving free school meals will not attract extra funding after the government’s “stealth cut”. The Department for Education’s own analysis published last month […]

Covid knocks permanent exclusions to lowest level since 2013 after pre-lockdown rise

Permanent exclusions dropped by more than a third to their lowest level since 2013 last year, official figures show, amid unprecedented disruption to schooling from Covid. However government data does reveal exclusions had originally risen in the autumn term of 2019-20, before schools were closed for lockdown. No one should rest assured that exclusions […]

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 […]

A third of EAL pupils are fluent in English

A third of pupils with English as an additional language are fluent in it, according to new data from the school census. A new requirement that schools record data on EAL pupils’ proficiency in English came into effect last summer. The system involves schools grading proficiency on a sliding scale from “new to English” to “fluent”. […]

Government faces legal action on pupil nationality data

A campaign group is raising money to take the Department for Education to the High Court over its decision to collect data on school pupils’ nationality and country of birth. The human rights charity Liberty will represent Against Borders for Children, which will focus on whether the policy infringes the rights of pupils. The groups also […]

Free school meal take-up lowest on record, and 4 more census findings

School census data from January 2017 has been released by the government today. Here are the main points… 1. Free school meal take-up rate falls to lowest on record In January, 14 per cent of all pupils were eligible for and claiming free school meals, down from 14.3 per cent last year and the lowest […]

Schools go ‘supersize’ to cope with population growth

The average size of primary schools has increased by one whole class since 2009 to accommodate a bulge in pupils, new figures have revealed. Census figures from January this year, published today, also show there has been a rise in ‘super-size’ classes at secondary level – seemingly confirming concerns by unions that teachers are being […]

Government reviews pupil nationality check guidance after schools’ passport demands

The government has beefed up official guidance for the controversial pupil nationality data collection duty after schools wrongly demanded copies of non-white pupils’ passports. The move is said to be part of a transparency pledge by the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure schools and parents fully understand the new duty. Schools have had to […]

Nationality data was ‘compromise’ on Theresa May’s school immigration check plan

Controversial new government rules ordering schools to collect nationality data of pupils were introduced as a compromise to curb stricter plans for teachers to carry out immigration checks and deprioritise immigrant pupils. Leaked cabinet letters obtained by the BBC, published today, show Theresa May, while home secretary, wrote to the Department for Education last year outlining proposals […]