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TSC head defends ‘high bar’ as 3 in 4 teaching school hub bids rejected

Just one in four applicants to the government’s new teaching school hubs programme were approved, new figures show. Data released under the freedom of information act shows the government received 27 applications for the “test and learn” phase of its teaching school hubs, of which 25 were eligible. Ministers announced last week that six schools […]

‘Gross intellectual snobbery’ – former Ofsted strategy chief hits back at academy CEOs

Claims by leading academy bosses that Ofsted’s new inspection regime favours middle-class pupils have been dismissed as “nonsense” by the watchdog’s former strategy chief. Luke Tryl, who served as Ofsted’s director of corporate strategy until last May, defended Ofsted’s “long overdue” action to clamp down on “gaming” by academy trusts, and accused leaders Sir Dan […]

Former Tory policy chief to advise Gavin Williamson at DfE

Former Conservative Party researcher and policy chief Innes Taylor has been appointed as a special adviser at the Department for Education. Schools Week understands that Taylor has replaced Katharine Howell, Gavin Williamson’s former policy SpAd, who moved to Downing Street last month following the election. According to her LinkedIn, Taylor was head of policy at […]

Single-school academy trust head’s pay soars to £280k

The head of an academy trust with just one school saw his pay rise to at least £280,000 last year – despite already being one of the best-paid school bosses in the country. New accounts show Telford City Technology College Trust, which runs the Thomas Telford School in Shropshire, increased the salary of its highest […]

DfE plans to lift inspection exemption for ‘outstanding’ schools from September

Gavin Williamson has vowed to send Ofsted inspectors into every ‘outstanding’-rated school in England within five years, as he confirmed an earlier pledge to lift their inspection exemption. The education secretary announced last September that the exemption, introduced by Michael Gove in 2012, would finally be abandoned. It followed repeated warnings from Ofsted that it […]

Could exams be marked by AI? Ofqual launches ‘exciting’ competition

The exams regulator Ofqual is launching a competition to find out if exams can be marked by artificial intelligence. In a blog published today, the organisation said it wants to “understand whether there might be a role for AI in marking”, and is “particularly interested in whether using AI as a second marker or as […]

Academies ‘haven’t worked everywhere’, admits former government policy adviser

A policy adviser who worked on the government’s academies programme has admitted the schools “have not, at least yet, worked everywhere”, as she called on ministers to now focus on helping the “quiet majority” of parents. In an article for ConservativeHome today, Rachel Wolf, the founder of the New Schools Network and a former education […]

Government ‘committed’ to Erasmus+ scheme despite commons vote outcome

The government has claimed it remains committed to the Erasmus+ programme, despite most of its MPs having voted against a call to make future membership an “objective” of negotiations. Last night, Conservative MPs voted against an amendment to the European Union (withdrawal agreement) bill 2019-20 that would have made it an objective for the government […]

Make language learning compulsory at KS4, says think tank

The government should force all pupils to learn a foreign language during key stage 4, a new report by the Higher Education Policy Institute has said. But pupils should be offered the chance to study vocational language qualifications instead of GCSEs, which should be recognised in the government’s EBacc performance measure alongside a wider range […]