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An “invaluable” online forum that supports thousands of special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) has been unavailable for months because of an IT error at the Department for Education. The National SENCO Forum normally gives SENCOs access to help from colleagues around the country through an email chain. The forum has been going since 1995, and […]

The government has launched a new advice service for schools to help them get value for money when buying in services. Pilots of the scheme have started today in the north west and south west of England, with free advice and guidance on buying services like catering, cleaning or technology support on offer. According to the […]

Academies stand to lose £353 million by 2020 as a result of cuts to the Education Services Grant, official government estimates reveal. A technical note on schools’ costs published today sets out how the decision to scrap the grant will affect academies over the next three years. This year, academies have lost £105 million as a […]

Schools should be measured on the “employability and success” of their pupils when they reach the age of 25, according to the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. The organisation, set up and chaired by the former chancellor George Osborne, has released a report, ‘Educating the North’, in which it calls for schools, colleges and universities to be measured […]

The government is under pressure to reveal more about its efforts to boost teacher recruitment and retention following a landmark report by an influential committee of MPs. The parliamentary public accounts committee has today published a report on its inquiry into Retaining and developing the teaching workforce, which was held last November, and includes seven […]

Sir Cyril Taylor, a pioneer of the City Technology Colleges programme who advised 10 education secretaries and founded the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, has died at the age of 82. Taylor had been involved in English schools since 1987, when he was appointed by prime minister Margaret Thatcher and education secretary Kenneth Baker to […]

The government’s “sluggish and incoherent” response to the teacher recruitment and retention crisis is putting schools under increasing pressure, the chair of a powerful crossparty committee of MPs has warned. Labour MP Meg Hillier, who chairs the parliamentary public accounts committee, said that without action from the Department for Education, teacher supply would become an “intractable […]

David Whitbread, the vice-president of the National Foundation for Education Research, has died at the age of 81. NFER staff have paid tribute to the “insightful and modest” former council education officer, who was the Local Government Association’s first ever head of education. The organisation is also asking others who knew Whitbread to share their […]

The new education secretary is “carefully considering” whether or not to scrap a cap on faith-based admissions to free schools. During his first appearance at education questions since he took the top job in education on January 8, Damian Hinds told MPs today that he still hasn’t decided whether to get rid of the 50-per-cent […]