Big story from @lydiach.bsky.social - buried in Treasury documents, the government confirms it intends to allocate disadvantage funding to schools based on income data, not free school meals eligibility. It follows criticism that FSM is a poor proxy for poverty

The DfE's post came the same day the Teacher Wellbeing Index revealed teacher wellbeing is at a record low. ASCL's @pepediiasio.bsky.social says the timing is 'ill-advised at best'. 'At worst it suggests a real lack of understanding'. @danielkebedeneu.bsky.social calls it 'completely tone deaf'

Changes to Ofsted inspections 'should feel energising' to leaders, the chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver has said schoolsweek.co.uk/leaders-shou...

Exclusive: Staff are set to strike for six days in December and January over a school’s roll-out of a 'virtual teacher', who teaches maths remotely to secondary pupils schoolsweek.co.uk/staff-to-str...

Increasing numbers of university students are taking up paid internships at schools to get a taste for teaching, new figures show. But are any of them going on to teacher training? And how much does it all cost? Schools Week investigates... schoolsweek.co.uk/the-rise-of-...

Ofsted has again refused to release data showing how many people supported or opposed its report card inspection plans – saying the 'vast majority' of the 6,500 responses were not actually categorised by 'sentiment' schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-slamm...

📋Ofsted's new education inspections have launched this week, and I'm keen to find out what leaders and teachers make of them. If your school's inspected this week or next and you're up for sharing your thoughts, anonymously or otherwise, please do get in touch! Email in bio.

❌ Ministers have suggested rising numbers of assistant heads could be the place to target cost-cutting as schools are forced to make savings to fund future teacher pay rises. So what’s behind the rise, and is a cut do-able? Schools Week investigates...

Government has announced schools are to be judged on new enrichment benchmarks, despite record numbers cutting extracurricular activities due to funding constraints

A thread rounding up all our curriculum review coverage ...

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver has called for 'state school standards enshrined in law' to stop the watchdog 'tinkering' with what it assesses in future schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-chief...

Exclusive: Reform UK-run Kent council plans to raid £2 million from schools’ already-squeezed budgets to pay for vital services it can no longer afford, sparking fears of more classroom cuts schoolsweek.co.uk/reform-run-k...

Exclusive: Teachers will use 'deepfake' technology to create an AI avatar of themselves to deliver catch-up lessons for pupils who have missed school Watch one of the school’s ‘deepfake’ teachers in our story below schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-trus...

The government has swung the axe on teacher training incentives – including cutting funding for shortage subjects such as maths and foreign languages schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-swings-a...

🌅 'This framing is a crucial starting point for a new, more evidence-informed conversation about supporting teachers’ growth' @evidencebased.education's Professors Coe and Kime

NAHT is urging school leaders to write to their employer, demanding in strong terms a full risk assessment of new Ofsted inspections and impact on staff wellbeing. "This is not simply about workload or stress management. It is about preventing avoidable harm – including the most serious outcomes"

Exclusive: The government plans to introduce a mandatory reading test for year 8 pupils in its upcoming schools white paper, amid fears poorer children are disengaging in the early years of secondary school

The government has finally committed to publishing the full details of how it will deliver on its pledge for 6,500 more teachers – a year and a half after being elected schoolsweek.co.uk/government-p...

Exclusive: Ofsted has been accused of 'mission creep' after it emerged new inspections will mark down teacher training providers that allow the use of 'discredited' research – with the watchdog refusing to say what studies would fall into this category schoolsweek.co.uk/row-over-new...

Exclusive: The leadership of the NAHT is considering whether to ballot members for industrial action over Ofsted reforms Comes after snap poll of 2,000 members at an emergency meeting on Tuesday found 89% supported exploring industrial options schoolsweek.co.uk/naht-to-cons...

Edition 403, done and dusted Scoop: Ofsted won’t publish full consultation findings Investigation: armed forces now flag SEND failures @lydiach.bsky.social hunts for education policy at Reform conference @jackydys.bsky.social digs into new RISE expansion Plus: can schools handle voting at 16?

📝 Far fewer teachers now say Ofsted's move to ditch headline grades was 'positive' amid concern over the watchdog's new inspection plan, a Teacher Tapp poll has found schoolsweek.co.uk/fewer-teache...

Capita was due to hand administration of teachers' pensions to Indian IT firm Tata Consultancy in October after losing the £233m contract But the DfE has now confirmed to Schools Week the final handover has been pushed back to 'summer 2026' schoolsweek.co.uk/handover-of-...

Ofqual’s chief regulator has said he would be 'disappointed' if the number of pupils switching from separate sciences to the double award GCSE continues to rise, but warned it was too early to 'infer a trend' schoolsweek.co.uk/bauckham-con...

📉 History has dropped out of the UK’s top five most popular subjects for the first time in years, boys have overtaken girls and the regional attainment gap has grown Here’s your handy Schools Week round up of all the key A-level trends 🔽 buff.ly/ULma0vD

Breaking: The proportion of top A-level grades achieved by students in England has risen slightly again this year – with boys outscoring girls for the first time since the pandemic hit schoolsweek.co.uk/top-a-level-...

Inspectors have criticised Ofsted’s demand they complete more than six days of training before new report card inspections begin in November, warning it is symptomatic of 'rushed' reforms schoolsweek.co.uk/inspectors-c...

Ofsted has missed nearly all internal inspection targets this year, its staff are less positive about working there and one in 10 left, the watchdog’s annual report and accounts reveal schoolsweek.co.uk/missed-inspe...

Exams regulator Ofqual has admitted botched data has “significantly overstated” the number of pupils receiving extra time in exams for the last decade buff.ly/3rGlcab

Only the most senior Ofsted inspectors will carry out school inspections when they return in November, meaning fewer will take place than usual schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-to-in...

Exclusive: Former teachers have turned campaigners to call out the misuse of support plans which they say are being 'weaponised' to 'force out' staff from schools schoolsweek.co.uk/support-plan...

Three of the more than 4,000 schools inspected so far this year have failed Ofsted safeguarding checks, raising some concerns that inspectors may be missing serious issues buff.ly/jmpSoTx

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has backtracked on a key element of her flagship pledge to recruit 6,500 'new' teachers – confirming that they won’t all be new schoolsweek.co.uk/the-shapeshi...

Ofsted has pledged that from November, 'most' inspections will include at least one inspector with experience of working in the type of setting they are visiting buff.ly/zzHZCmv

Breaking: Leaders’ unions will consider the 'unprecedented step' of asking their members to quit as Ofsted inspectors unless the watchdog delays roll-out of new inspections and ditch plans for five grades schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-union...

Teaching unions have stepped up their opposition to new Ofsted report card plans - demanding Bridget Phillipson intervenes to delay their introduction until next September buff.ly/vjDFsOx

A timely finding. One teacher told me the temperature hit 34.7C in a classroom at her London school yesterday, with staff suffering headaches and pupils 'just too uncomfortably hot to focus' 'The climate emergency is here.'

Exam boards have written to schools over the ‘emerging issue’ of exam predictions on social media We’ve delved into the online world and spoke to teachers, experts and influencers to properly unpick what’s going on Investigation 👇 schoolsweek.co.uk/exam-boards-...

The DfE has urged teacher trainers to take on more trainees, but nearly 90% of providers say they are 'concerned' about applicant quality. NASBTT CEO Emma Hollis warns pressuring trainers into accepting unsuitable applicants 'risks swapping a crisis of quantity for a crisis of quality'

One in 20 children in England now have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) after another 11% yearly rise, show new figures that will put more pressure on SEND reforms schoolsweek.co.uk/1-in-20-pupi...

Big breaking Ofsted news this morning. Dame Christine Gilbert, who led the damning review of the watchdog's response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, is set to be appointed chair of the Ofsted board

Our most amazing chief reporter @samanthajbooth.bsky.social HAS WON the specialist journalist of the year at the Press Awards A truly phenomenal achievement. She beat off journalists reporting on war with her *amazing* journalism exposing the SEND crisis So well deserved

More than one in four pupils begin to disengage from school during Year 7, a landmark study of pupils has found, with engagement particularly low among girls and disadvantaged pupils buff.ly/zhW4rIV

The government believes schools can spend their cash more efficiently, a senior civil servant has said, amid widespread concern that unfunded pay rises will push schools into the red schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-chief-we...

Ofsted may postpone the roll-out of its new school inspections until 2026, Schools Week can reveal schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-mulls...

Trusts running maths hubs have been told their budgets will be much less next year as extra funding for the axed ABS ends Some are worried about the impact on support they can provide. It comes after Labour wielded the axe to other hubs Scoop @lydiach.bsky.social schoolsweek.co.uk/maths-hubs-f...

Every secondary school and alternative provision should have lead staff member dedicated to preventing violence against women and girls, a youth charity has said, after a poll found one in eight teachers report sexual assaults between pupils schoolsweek.co.uk/give-every-s...

A rare bit of good schools news for the government ... An increase in applications from people wanting to teach, mixed with better retention rates and fewer pupils coming into classrooms mean that recruitment numbers are looking much healthier Story by @lydiach.bsky.social

The Court of Appeal has said schools risk 'over-legalising' the process if they give 'undue focus' to the public sector equality duty when deciding whether to exclude pupils buff.ly/X4KKujE