What students think about the services they receive has not typically attracted the attention of the education system. The decisions are made by policymakers, educators, parents, and administrators. Asking children about the value of education, their experiences with it, or their suggestions for improving it has been criticised as being naive or tokenistic because it…
The government has confirmed its plans to help schools and other non-domestic energy users with their energy bills this autumn. Ministers say their plan to reduce rates to a “government-supported price” of £211 per megawatt hour for electricity and £75 for gas will equate to a saving of £4,000 for a school paying £10,000 a…
A recent study investigated potential links between students and how their schools influence the likelihood of them staying in school or leaving prematurely: teacher support, connectedness to school, and the use of detentions, suspensions and expulsions were all found to be relevant. The central question was “how can the school system improve schooling from…
A decade since a Scottish head teacher set up a project to encourage students to run or walk for 15 minutes during their school days, researchers have found the students taking part are mentally and physically sharper than those who do not. Primary students who took part in a running program, such as the Daily…
GCSE and A-Level pupils will be given a choice of topics and advance information in order to “maximise fairness”. According to the Department for Education (DfE) the decision was influenced by the learning disruption caused by Covid. After a consultation that amassed over 6,000 responses, the decision is that for GCSE English literature, history and…
Education secretary Gavin Williamson has recently outlined his plans for Ofsted, exams and catch-up funding. Here are some of his key education objectives for the near future: Accelerated Ofsted Inspections Williamson is considering accelerating the timetable of Ofsted inspections. There are some schools that have not been inspected for 14 years, and many of them…
According to a recent Tes poll, 8 in 10 teachers believe that the workload for grading GCSEs and A Levels has been too intense. Two thirds of teachers have reported that they have lost at least a week of their own time to grading work. A Tes survey conducted of 2,800 teachers suggested that 64 percent worked…
After a new study reviewing the experiences of 21 SEND pupils in mainstream primary and secondary schools, Ofsted claims that some of these pupils are not receiving sufficient support. Many of the schools and families that took part in the research had experienced long waiting times and high levels of bureaucracy in the Education, Health…
Ofqual’s director of standards and comparability has stated that exam boards would request samples of work from every school for quality assurance. Some of the requirements include: Schools Will Need to Provide Samples of GCSE and A-Level Work Once schools submit grades, exam boards will request evidence from no less than five each of A-level and GCSE…
Given the sudden and dramatic change of circumstances it comes as no surprise that many schools have been less prepared than usual to deal with the situation at hand. With the prospect of little or no summer term and the cancellation of exams everything appears to be up in the air, and without the right…
