The Department for Education have released the latest statistics on the number of 30 hours free childcare codes issued and validated for the Spring 2018 term following a pledge to provide transparency around the national roll out of this entitlement. Parents apply and have their eligibility checked for 30 hours free childcare via the Childcare Service. If a parent is …
MATs set to stay at the top of the Agenda for 2018 The current optimum size for a multi academy trust described by, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Schools System, Lord Agnew as the ‘sweet spot’[1] is between 12-20 schools. There are over 2,700 trusts with 10 or fewer schools and 593 ‘empty MATs’, trusts which have …
The new years’ cabinet reshuffle led to numerous ministerial changes at the Department for Education, including the appointment of Nadhim Zahawi as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families. Earlier this week, the website: GOV.UK stated that the minister’s responsibilities will include: children’s social care including child protection, children in care, adoption, care leavers, social work, local authority performance …
Has your Local Authority been successful? – decisions on applications to be announced this February Local Authorities and providers have invested a significant amount of time and effort to deliver the 30 hours childcare offer, which launched universally in September 2017. Therefore, to further support LAs with the first year of delivery, and to enable them to support their …
This week the Department for Education (DfE) announced its Single Departmental Plan. The ambition at the heart of the plan is that social mobility and equality of opportunity are available to all. A summary of the key goals of the plan is presented below. The DfE has identified 4 key ‘ambitions’: 1) Closing the ‘word gap’ in early years The …
A recent publication from the Department for Education highlighted that social mobility remains the top priority after the new year cabinet reshuffle. The DfE’s single departmental plan (SDP) sets out four key objectives, supporting one overarching ambition: that no community is left behind.[1] In addition to these objectives, the strategic plan focuses on the 12 Opportunity Areas which were announced …
In September 2017 the former Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, announced that the Department for Education would implement the National Funding Formula (NFF). The NFF aims to ensure that the resources the Government invests in schools will be distributed according to a formula based on the individual needs and characteristics of every school in the country. The …
A report this month from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has audited school funding policy from 2010, given the prominent role it has played in contemporary education policy and debate. Given the National Audit Office’s (NAO) expectation that schools will need to make savings of c£3 billion to balance their budgets and the wait for the full implementation …
Yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle saw the appointment of former DWP Minister Damian Hinds as Secretary of State for Education. He replaces Justine Greening who unexpectedly resigned from Government. Mr Hinds attended St Ambrose Grammar School in Cheshire, which became an academy in 2012. He then went on to study PPE at Trinity College, Oxford. After graduating, Damian Hinds spent 18 years …
The Government and sector leaders have given increasing focus to the question of vocational qualifications in the education system. Government plans to reform the FE sector and post-16 system via the introduction of ‘T-Levels’, and the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, will in theory put vocational qualifications on more of an equal footing with traditional academic A-Levels. The perception that …