schools | Schools Week

Admissions shake-up in September to end struggle for in-year school places

The Department for Education has confirmed a shake-up of in-year admissions to stop schools turning away “challenging” pupils will come into force in September. It also set out multiple changes to the reforms first proposed last June after analysing consultation feedback from councils, academy trusts and parents. Previous investigations by Schools Week have revealed how vulnerable […]

£17m school mental health support boost: what you need to know

The Department for Education has set out how it will spend over £17 million for mental health initiatives in schools and colleges today. But over half of the cash has already been announced, it has emerged. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said he was providing new funding so every young person “knows who and where to […]

PFI Endgame: DfE steps in to ensure school handovers go to plan

The Department for Education has launched a new unit to help transfer the first private finance initiative (PFI) schools back into public hands. It comes as an investigation by Schools Week can reveal one school faces a £1 million exit fee to change its maintenance firm after the deal ends. Flawed contracts and schools’ limited […]

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 […]

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 […]

School attendance rates fall again as more pupils self-isolate

School attendance rates fell again last week as more pupils were forced to self-isolate due to potential Covid contact in school. Data published by the Department for Education shows 87,600 secondary school pupils were self-isolating due to a potential contact in school last Thursday, up from 58,400 the week before. At primary level, 83,600 pupils […]

Free school meals: 300k more pupils became eligible in first 7 months of Covid

The number of children eligible for free school meals surged in the first seven months of the Covid-19 pandemic, official figures show. Census data published by the Department for Education shows an additional 302,397 pupils became eligible for free school meals between the first nationwide lockdown in March and the October school census. During the […]

Surge in ‘devastating’ ransomware attacks cripples schools

Schools were forced to delay pupils’ return to the classroom, suspend Covid testing and cancel parents evening after hackers struck in a series of targeted ransomware attacks. A Schools Week investigation can reveal the devastating aftershocks of the cyber attacks, as the government’s security centre warned this week of the “growing threat” facing schools. At […]