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Attempts by the Bright Tribe academy trust to create an “axis of improvement” for schools in rural Cumbria failed because it was prevented from taking on more than one school, it has emerged. Copies of correspondence between Bright Tribe’s founder Michael Dwan and the Department for Education reveal the trust’s dismay at having its bid […]

Bright Tribe founder Michael Dwan withdrew his support from the ailing trust amid frustrations over government scrutiny and concerns that his efforts had gone unrecognised, previously unseen documents have revealed. The trust confirmed this week that Dwan’s charities, the Helping Hands Trust and Adventure Learning Schools, have stepped down as controlling “members” of Bright Tribe […]

The viability of the failed Greater Manchester university technical college was questioned by government officials even before it opened, but ministers still allowed the project to proceed, new documents have revealed. Correspondence seen by Schools Week shows Department for Education bosses believed the state-of-the-art UTC, which cost £9 million to build, would only be viable […]

School funding in England fell by eight per cent in real terms over the past eight years, according to a new analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies which takes account of post-16 and local authority support spending for the first time. Rising pupil numbers, increasing costs and flatlining funding have contributed to the real terms […]

Dame Martina Milburn, the new chair-designate of the Social Mobility Commission, was personally approached by the education secretary and asked to consider applying for the job, she has revealed. Milburn was nominated for the job in May after a lengthy recruitment process, which followed the resignation of the commission’s entire board over a “lack of […]

A south London grammar school which forced pupils out at the end of year 12 because of their AS-level grades “put the institution above the pupils”, an independent inquiry into practices at the school has found. The probe, commissioned by Bromley Council, found St Olave’s in Orpington unlawfully prevented pupils from continuing into their second […]

Sixty-four per cent of pupils achieved the government’s “expected standard” in reading, writing and maths in this year’s key stage 2 SATs, up from 61 per cent last year, according to interim results published by the government. The results show that the proportion of pupils reaching a scaled score of 100 or more rose in […]

Schools in 20 areas of England will have access to funding to train staff to give better careers advice and offer pupils more “encounters” with employers. Damian Hinds, the education secretary, has announced the locations of 20 new “careers hubs”, which will share £5 million in government grants and work with schools to improve advice […]