‼️ A crackdown on off-rolling pupils, a call for standalone schools to join or form MATs and changes to the admissions code are among major plans unveiled in today's schools white paper https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

Breaking: Newly-appointed headteachers will be offered retention payments of up to £15,000 to work in certain areas under a planned pilot, the government has said https://schoolsweek.co.uk/new-headteachers-to-get-15k-to-work-where-theyre-needed-most/

Ministers have pledged eight weeks of full maternity pay for leaders, teachers and support staff in England schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-pledges-...

The devil will absolutely be in the detail on this, but it's a big move on private special schools. Quite a bit we don't know yet such as the £ value of the bands and what the 'standards' will be. One big question for me is - will this see companies pull out of the market and close schools?

Leaders' union @naht.org.uk is to set up an independent advisory panel to better scrutinise the impact of new Ofsted inspections on school leader wellbeing. Feedback will be gathered post-inspection and reviewed by the group. It will also examine the impact of RISE interventions. More here...

More research is needed into the impact of AI tutoring for pupils, experts have warned after the government announced plans to trial it in England’s schools schoolsweek.co.uk/dfes-ai-tuto...

Ofsted latest: First report cards for non-voluntary school inspections offer an early look at grading, while the watchdog has refuted claims AI is being used to write report cards amid concerns over 'generic' wording, and a special school has been recommended for special measures Read more here...

Sector leaders have criticised the 'limited breadth and diversity' of experts recruited to help write the new national curriculum https://schoolsweek.co.uk/concerns-over-make-up-of-curriculum-drafters-group/

The House of Lords has amended the children’s wellbeing and schools bill to include a clause that would force ministers to enact a social media ban for under-16s schoolsweek.co.uk/lords-passes...

This joint judgment area has prompted lots of discussion since the first Ofsted report cards were published. At least one school has been downgraded because their attendance was lacking, despite inspectors praising good behaviour. Martyn Oliver says it's something he'll be watching...

The gov is investing £23mil to expand its edtech pilot in schools into a four-year programme, education secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced at #BettUK2026 It will 'put the latest tech and AI tools through their places in...classrooms across the country'

Breaking: Ofsted will check every school’s policy on mobile phones during inspections and ministers will issue 'tougher guidance for schools' on restricting the devices, the government has announced schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-to-ch...

Artificial intelligence used in schools should look out for signs of 'distress' in pupils and flag concerning behaviour to safeguarding leads, new government guidance states schoolsweek.co.uk/ai-used-in-s...

All teaching staff in England will be eligible for SEND training as part of a £200 million new development package, government has announced schoolsweek.co.uk/new-200m-sch...

🔍 Ofsted has announced it has inspected a school that postponed a visit by its local MP because of a planned protest by pro-Palestine activists

The government looks set to hand itself sweeping powers to close MATs based on trust-level education failures alone, once new Ofsted trust inspections are introduced Here's everything you need to know... schoolsweek.co.uk/trust-inspec...

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