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 wish to demonstrate their improvement.
Exam Fee Rebates
Schools are being charged a significant amount by exam boards this year and as a solution Williamson has suggested that exam boards will be expected to deliver a rebate to schools as they did last year.
No Pre-Pandemic Style Exams
Williamson has stated that for the 2022 cohort, an “extensive package of measures that was intended for this year’s awarding session supporting youngsters as they took their exams” would be on offer and that there would be no immediate intentions of reverting back to 2019 style assessments.
Schools Instructed Not to Close too Early
Some schools have apparently been closing far too early when they should be expected to stay open until at least 3.30pm. Extending the school day was an initial part of the government’s catch-up plans to support education recovery from the pandemic.
DfE Gathering More Evidence on Catch-up Funding
DfE is looking at how it could build up a greater body of evidence to support catch-up funding: “whether that is on teacher quality, whether that is on the issue of the massive expansion of our tutoring programme or whether that has been in the area of time and expansion of the school day”.