Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 2 November 2011.

More pupils will be able to attend the best schools in a new-look admissions system that will be fairer and simpler for all parents, Schools Minister Nick Gibb said today.

• All 800,000 primary school places to be offered on a single day
• Adopted children to be given special priority

Revised school admissions and appeals codes were published today following a 12-week consultation on proposals to overhaul the current system. The existing codes were too complex, confusing and unfair for parents. They undermined parental choice and rationed places at good schools. The consultation received more than 1,300 responses, 700 from parents who broadly welcomed the changes being made to the codes.
Today’s codes, published alongside the Department for Education’s response to the consultation, include two new proposals:

• Streamlining the primary school place offer system by introducing a new “national offer day”. Currently different admissions authorities release primary school offers on different dates. This can confuse and frustrate parents, especially those making applications for school places in different local authorities. There is already a secondary school national offer day, on March 1 each year. The primary school day is set to be on April 16 each year, starting in 2014. A three-week consultation on the codes’ regulations, including this date, starts shortly.
• Giving adopted children who were previously looked after (and children who leave care under a special guardianship or residence order) the same, highest priority for places as they had as looked-after children. This would benefit around 5,000 children each year. As well as providing ongoing support to children who had been in care, it could help speed up the adoption process. There is anecdotal evidence that some adoptive parents delay applying for the adoption order so they can take advantage of the priority given to children in care.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

A new National Offer Day for primary schools – as recommended by the Chief Schools Adjudicator – will introduce clarity and consistency in the system for hundreds of thousands of parents. Receiving offers on different days is confusing and stressful, especially for parents making cross-border applications to schools in neighbouring local authorities.

Children in care should continue to be given special priority in school admissions after they have been adopted, or leave care under a special guardianship or residence order. Many of these children have had traumatic experiences in their early lives. They don’t stop being vulnerable just because they are now in a loving home. This will also speed up some adoptions – we know that some adoption orders are delayed until a child has started school because priority currently ends when that child leaves care.

The revised codes contain half as many of the 650 existing mandatory requirements placed on admissions authorities and are significantly slimmer, at 61 pages long compared with the current 138 pages. Almost half of respondents to the consultation said the codes met the aims of greater transparency and simplification.

The revised codes also confirm most of the plans set out in the consultation. They:

• Give greater freedom to good, successful schools so they can increase the number of places they offer to children in their area. More than half of all respondents to the consultation agreed with this proposal.
• Allow schools to give some priority to children of those staff who have been employed for at least two years or who have been recruited to meet a school’s particular skills shortage. A majority of parents responding to the consultation agreed with the principle of giving priority to school staff.
• Allow schools to take twins and other multiple-birth children, and children of armed forces personnel, into infant classes even if it takes the class over the 30-child legal limit. This was supported by 83 per cent of respondents.
• Allow academies and Free Schools to prioritise pupils from the poorest backgrounds. Respondents supportive of this proposal said it would give more opportunities to children from low-income families.
• Introduce a new in-year admissions process so fewer children face delays in finding a new school. Parents will apply direct to schools, rather than having to go through a local authority. More than half of respondents agreed with this proposal. In-year applications happen when a child moves to a new area.
• Ban councils from using area-wide “lotteries” as the principal method of allocating places across a local authority area. Some 57 per cent of all respondents supported this change.
• Cut bureaucracy by requiring admission authorities to consult on arrangements only every seven years, rather than every three years, if no changes are proposed. This was supported by more than half of all respondents.
• Allow anyone to object to admissions arrangements. Currently only a very restricted list of people can do so. Almost three-quarters of respondents agreed with this proposal.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

The new Admissions Codes are slimmer, less repetitive and easier to read and use. For these reasons alone they should help to reduce the stress confronting parents as they navigate the schools admissions system and find a place for their child.

But the new codes also remove the restriction on good schools being able to expand if they wish – a freedom that will provide more good school places.

And the new Codes help schools to attract and retain the best teachers and school support staff by allowing them to ensure their own children have a place at their school.

All these measures and the priority we are giving to children who are adopted from the care system are all designed to help raise the standard in our schools and close the attainment gap between those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds.

Unnecessary prescription has also been stripped out of the draft Appeals Code to reduce costs and bureaucracy for local authorities and schools. But maintaining minimum requirements will ensure fairness and transparency.

• Parents will have at least 20 days to lodge an appeal against primary or secondary school decisions. The current 10-day limit means parents must appeal quickly but many then drop the appeal because they later get an offer at another of their preferred schools. In the last school year for which figures are available (2008/09), more than a quarter of all appeals lodged (24,550 out of 88,270) were not taken forward, wasting time and money.
• Guidance against hearing appeals on school premises will be overturned. At the moment admission authorities sometimes have to make costly, taxpayer-funded bookings of hotels or conference rooms.
• Admission authorities will no longer be required to advertise for lay appeal members every three years, but must ensure that panel members are independent and that they retain their independence for the duration of their service.

The revised codes may still be amended before they are laid before Parliament on December 1 for final approval. Subject to that, the Department intends to bring them into force on February 1, 2012. Admissions for the September 2013 intake will be the first to be operated under the new codes.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 October 2011.

An end to schools boosting their performance table position

Only high quality, rigorous vocational qualifications will count in performance tables, and they will be included on a one-for-one basis with academic qualifications, under new guidance announced today by the Department for Education.

The new guidance, following a 10 week consultation, lists the characteristics vocational qualifications need to be included in the headline measures of the school performance tables.

This will stop schools picking subjects in order to boost performance table positions, rather than choosing the right qualifications for their pupils.

Currently all qualifications count in performance tables whether or not they include external assessment. Some qualifications are worth as much as six GCSEs.

From 2014 only valued vocational qualifications that meet strict new criteria will be recognised in the tables. GCSEs, established iGCSEs and AS Levels will continue to be included. All these qualifications will count equally on a one-for-one basis.

Qualifications will only count if:

• they offer pupils proven progression into a broad range of further qualifications or careers post-16, rather than narrowing students’ options
• they are the size of a GCSE or bigger
• they have a substantial proportion of external assessment and require students to use knowledge across their subject
• they have grades such as A*-G (those with simple pass or fail results will be excluded).

Any qualification that has been taught for at least two years will also be expected to have good levels of take-up among 14-16 year olds.

Nick Gibb, Schools Minister, said today:

We want to be sure that the vocational qualifications taken by 14-16 year olds genuinely lead on to further education and are valued by employers. No pupil should be preparing for a vocational qualification simply to boost the school’s “GCSE or equivalent” score in the performance tables.

These reforms introduce a systematic and fair set of rules that will determine which of the many thousands of qualifications taught in schools can be included in performance tables for 2014 onwards.

They will lead to a boost in the quality of vocational qualifications being taken and will enhance the opportunities for young people to progress.

The changes follow Professor Alison Wolf’s report on vocational qualifications. Her report demonstrated that the current performance table system creates perverse incentives. Schools have been tempted to teach qualifications which attract the most points in the performance tables – not the qualifications that will support young people to progress:

• The number of so called “equivalent” qualifications taken in schools up to age 16 has exploded in recent years – from 15,000 in 2004 to 575,000 in 2010.
• In 2009-10, 125,367 students achieved Level 1 (grades D to G) in so-called equivalent qualifications, up from 11,007 in 2003-04.
• In 2009-10, 462,182 students achieved Level 2 (grades A* to C) in so-called equivalent qualifications, including BTECs, up from 1882 in 2003-04.

Schools will still be free to offer any qualification approved for 14- to 16-year-olds. Teachers will still be able to use their professional judgment to offer the qualifications which they believe are right for their pupils. But only those meeting the Department’s rigorous characteristics will count in performance tables.

In early 2012, the Department will publish the full list of qualifications that will count in performance tables in 2014.

Awarding bodies are still able to refine their existing qualifications offer before then. For existing qualifications too new to prove progression or take-up there will be opportunities for awarding bodies to gather evidence for review. Awarding bodies whose qualifications fail the assessment and/or grading characteristics only, meeting the other characteristics, will have up to a year to redevelop them. There will be a two-year period where no brand new qualifications will be considered for inclusion in the performance tables.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 25 October 2011.

A Department spokesman said:

The Government had to take tough decisions to reduce the deficit, but the schools’ budget is actually increasing by £3.6 billion in cash over the next four years. This protects per pupil funding levels and includes the new Pupil Premium, which provides an extra £488 for every child on Free School Meals and which will rise over the next three years.

On top of this, we’ve increased the free entitlement to 15 hours per week for all three and four-year-olds from last September – and are now extending it all disadvantaged two-year-olds. The two year freeze on teachers’ pay also means schools are benefitting from a lower level of inflation.

The new capital budget is higher than the average annual capital budget between 1997-98 to 2004-05. But the Government was absolutely right to look at the amount of money spent on school buildings. An independent review showed that tax-payers money was being wasted on red-tape and consultants, not on building schools. Our new plans will build schools cheaper and quicker than before.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 October 2011.

Only a fifth of pupils took the core academic GCSEs this year.

Figures out today reveal that academies’ GCSE results have improved by more than twice the level of other maintained schools.

The provisional GCSE results for 2011 show that:

• in academies the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs including English and maths rose from 40.6% to 45.9%, an increase of 5.3 percentage points
• in all maintained schools the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs including English and maths rose from 55.2% to 57.8%, an increase of 2.6 percentage points.

The statistic for academies is based on the 166 sponsored academies with results in both 2010 and 2011. Their performance is particularly impressive as these academies replaced historically underperforming schools in deprived areas.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

The government believes that teachers and head teachers know best how to run schools. Academy status gives professionals the freedom they need to do their job and today’s figures show that that autonomy works. Academies continue to outperform the national average, completely transforming previously underperforming schools serving some of the most deprived communities.

The government is turning around more underperforming schools than ever before. In May 2010 there were a total of 203 sponsored academies. Since then the coalition has opened 116 more sponsored academies. More sponsored academies will open this academic year than in the history of the academies programme. The government has also allowed good schools to take on academy freedoms. 1,031 schools have chosen to do so.

The results also show that just a fifth of pupils studied the core academic subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). Only one in six pupils managed to secure good grades in a combination of English, maths, a language, history or geography, and two sciences.

The provisional GCSE results for 2011 show that:

• only 22.7% of all pupils were entered for a combination of subjects that could lead to the EBacc – last year it was 22.0% just 16.5% of all pupils achieved the EBacc – last year it was 15.6%

Ministers have been clear that all pupils, regardless of their background, should be given the opportunity to study the core academic subjects.

Research recently published by the Department for Education showed the huge positive impact the EBacc is having on future GCSE choices. Since its introduction, 47 per cent of pupils taking GCSEs in 2013 are now studying a combination of EBacc subjects.

The researched showed that, compared to entries in 2010, there is an increase in the percentage of pupils taking GCSEs in the EBacc subjects in 2013 by:

• 26% in history
• 28% in geography
• 22% in languages
• 82% in triple science.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

It is a scandal that four-fifths of our 16-year-olds did not take the core academic GCSEs that universities and employers demand – when far more are capable of doing so.

Parents across the country rightly expect that their child will receive a broad and balanced education that includes English, maths, science, a language and history or geography. Sadly, all too often it is the pupils from the poorest backgrounds who are denied this opportunity. Last year, only 4% of children from poorer backgrounds achieved the English Baccalaureate GCSEs, compared to 17% of their peers.

The coalition government is reversing this shameful decline. Since the introduction of the EBacc, more young people are choosing to study the academic subjects which give them the knowledge and skills they need to progress to further study or to rewarding employment.

The EBacc is not compulsory but it is about closing the attainment gap between rich and poor and about increasing opportunity.

The provisional GCSE and A level results for 2011 also show that:

• the overall number of five GCSE (or iGCSE or equivalent) passes at A* to C including English and mathematics for all pupils has increased this year by 4.8 percentage points to 58.3% – in state-funded schools there was a 2.6 percentage point rise to 57.8%
• 71.0% of pupils made the expected level of progress in English between key stage 2 and key stage 4, with 64.2% of pupils doing so in maths
• 92.7% of pupils achieved passes equivalent to at least two A Levels, down from 94.8% the previous year.

On A levels, Nick Gibb added:

A Levels are a key stepping stone towards higher education and future careers. It’s only right that we make sure our qualifications match the best in the world and keep pace with the demands of employers and universities.

It is astonishing that three times as many private school pupils are achieving three A grades or higher at A level compared to pupils from state schools. We must close this gap – which is why we are driving up teaching standards across the profession and developing a world-class curriculum for all.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 17 October 2011.

Government legislating to protect teachers

Nearly half of serious allegations against school teachers turn out to be unsubstantiated, malicious or unfounded, according to new research published today (17 October 2011).

The findings also show that school teachers are more likely to face allegations than other staff in schools and further education colleges.

This comes as the government is looking to give teachers a legal right to anonymity from allegations made by pupils until the point they are charged with a criminal offence. The new power is in the Education Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.

The interim findings from a survey of 116 local authorities in England show that in 2009 to 2010, of the 12,086 allegations of abuse referred to local authorities:

• almost one in four allegations against staff were made against school teachers (2827)
• nearly half of the allegations (1234) made against school teachers were then found to be unsubstantiated, malicious or unfounded
• almost a fifth of school teachers (459) were suspended whilst the allegation was being investigated
• only around half of investigations (2264) against school teachers and non-teaching staff were dealt with within a month – the government guidance says 80 per cent of cases should be concluded by this time

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

Every allegation of abuse must be taken seriously, but some children think they can make a false allegation without any thought to the consequences for the teacher concerned.

When these allegations are later found to be malicious or unfounded, the damage is already done. It can have a devastating impact and ruin a teacher’s career and private life.

This research shows why the coalition government’s plan to give teachers a legal right to anonymity when allegations are made by pupils is so important. We will back teachers as they seek to maintain discipline in schools and raise academic standards.

The government has already revised guidance to local authorities and schools to speed up the investigation process when a teacher or a member of staff is accused by a pupil of an offence. This will help ensure all allegations are swiftly dealt with.

New advice published in July 2011 makes it clear that:

• heads can temporarily or permanently exclude pupils who make malicious allegations. In extreme circumstances, they can involve the police if there are grounds for believing a criminal offence has been committed
• schools should not automatically suspend teachers accused of using force unreasonably where other alternatives exist
• the vast majority (80 per cent) of cases should be resolved within a month, 90 per cent within three months and all but the most exceptional within a year
• malicious, unsubstantiated or unfounded allegations should not be included in employment references, and malicious allegations stripped from teacher personnel records

The legal protection from false allegations comes as part of the government’s drive to improve school discipline and shift the balance of power in the classroom back to teachers. Research shows that two thirds of teachers say bad behaviour is driving professionals out of the classroom.

Other measures in the Education Bill to give teachers the confidence to exercise authority and ensure good behaviour in the classroom include:

• extending teachers’ powers to search pupils for any items that have, or could be, used to cause harm or break the law, and for items banned by school rules
• stopping appeals panels sending excluded children back to the school from which they were excluded
• removing the requirement on schools to give parents 24 hours notice of detention

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 17 October 2011.

Sir David Bell will be leaving the Department for Education at the end of the year to take up post as Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading.

Speaking about his resignation, Sir David Bell said:

It has been an enormous privilege and pleasure to serve four secretaries of state and three prime ministers since the beginning of 2006. I have particularly enjoyed the past 17 months working with first Coalition Government since the Second World War and supporting Michael Gove in leading one of the most exciting phases of education reform for generations. That is something that I will always remember and look back on with a great sense of pride and achievement.

I am now looking forward very much to the next phase of my career in education as I become Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading, an institution renowned for its world-leading research and its outstanding student experience. This is a very exciting time in higher education and I am certain that the University of Reading will consolidate and enhance its position as one of the Top 200 universities in the world.

Michael Gove said:

David is an exemplary public servant. He has led the Department for Education for almost six years now, and I have benefited enormously from his wisdom, his counsel and his experience as I have taken on this role as Secretary of State for Education. David has been at the forefront of many of our education institutions – as a headteacher, leading a Local Authority, as her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, and as the Permanent Secretary in this Department, and it is a fitting tribute to his many talents that he will continue to play a leading part in education as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Reading. He has my warmest congratulations on this new role.

The process for recruiting a replacement Permanent Secretary for the Department will begin imminently.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 14 October 2011.

Sir Michael, currently Executive Principal of Mossbourne Academy in London, is expected to take up the post in January 2012. This will follow a pre-appointment hearing in front of the Education Select Committee and approval by the Privy Council.

Sir Michael has a long and distinguished career in education. He has worked as a teacher for 42 years, including 25 years as a headteacher in London secondary schools. He was knighted in 2000 for services to education.

Sir Michael has turned around some of the most challenging schools in some of the poorest parts of London. Under his leadership, Mossbourne Academy – which opened on the site of a failing school – has achieved:

• 82 per cent of pupils getting five good GCSEs including English and maths this year
• Ofsted rating it ‘outstanding’ in two consecutive inspections
• eight pupils being offered places at Oxbridge this year.

Mossbourne has also been approved to open a new academy in Hackney in 2014, to spread its excellent provision further.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

I cannot think of a better person to lead Ofsted than Sir Michael Wilshaw. He is one of the best educators of his generation.

Sir Michael has transformed the fortunes of thousands of children during his time as a headteacher. He truly understands what success looks like and knows how to achieve it – even in the most challenging circumstances. This role will allow more heads, teachers and other professionals to be influenced by this talented and inspirational leader.

I have every confidence that his appointment will help to raise standards in education and children’s services in England.

Baroness Sally Morgan, Chair of Ofsted, said:

This is a great appointment. With his commitment to improving the lives of the most disadvantaged young people, Sir Michael will bring exactly the right experience to Ofsted.

I look forward to welcoming Sir Michael to Ofsted once the Education Select Committee has the opportunity to reflect on the appointment.

Sir Michael Wilshaw said:

I am honoured and privileged to be appointed to this most important and influential post.

As HMCI, I will endeavour not only to provide a commentary on educational standards but also to challenge the service to provide consistently high quality provision for young people and adults.

I look forward to working with HMI and inspectors as well as government and other key stakeholders in this great endeavour.

Sir Michael will preside over a new, more targeted and proportionate inspection system for schools, subject to the passage of the Education Bill. He will also be responsible for Ofsted’s wide range of other inspection and regulatory duties.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 13 October 2011.

Responding to the survey about enrolment at sixth-form colleges by the Association of Colleges, a Department for Education spokesman said:

We don’t think the AoC survey is particularly robust. There is a drop in overall student numbers of 40,000 this year – and this survey shows a drop of 600 overall. Only half colleges choose to respond and even of them, the majority showed the enrolment numbers were steady or risen and over a quarter had risen between 5 and 10 per cent.

Record numbers of 16- and 17-year-olds are already in education or training. We are increasing that further with more than 1.5 million places available from September – with every student guaranteed a suitable place in sixth-form, college or work-based training.

There are record numbers of university places being funded this year. There has been a massive increase in apprenticeships for anyone over 16 to learn a specific trade – 360,000 places in all available in more than 200 careers. And we are strengthening vocational education so young people will have high-quality courses open to them which are valued by employers.

We are targeting financial support at students who need it most to get through their studies – through the new £180 million a year bursary fund – with further transitional support available for those students who were already drawing the EMA.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 12 October 2011.

England’s most disadvantaged pupils are set to benefit from an extra £58 each after the Department for Education announced this year’s pupil premium will increase to £488.

Schools receive the extra cash for every child eligible for free school meals (FSMs). The money has been released because fewer-than-expected children have registered for FSMs this year.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

The pupil premium will benefit poorer pupils, providing extra money directly for those pupils who need it the most.

We know that just 27 per cent of pupils on free school meals get 5 good GCSE grades compared with 54 per cent of non-free school meal pupils. This extra funding will help tackle this inequality and enable schools to provide the extra support they need to reach their full potential.

News of the extra cash comes after ministers recently announced that the total funding available for the pupil premium in 2012 to 2013 will rise to £1.25 billion, double the amount in 2011 to 2012. It will rise again each year until 2014 to 2015 when it will be worth £2.5 billion.

Evidence shows children from low income families generally do not achieve as well as pupils from more advantaged backgrounds. Schools receive this additional funding on top of the existing school budget to support them in reaching their potential and help schools reduce educational inequalities.

Children who have been looked after by local authorities for more than 6 months also qualify for the pupil premium.

Just 12 per cent of these children achieve 5 good GCSE grades, including English and maths, and the government wants them to benefit from the extra funding through the premium.

The funding premium for children of service families will remain at £200 per pupil for 2011 to 2012.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg recently announced a new £50 million pupil premium summer school programme to help the most disadvantaged pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school.

The scheme will help up to 100,000 pupils per year. They will benefit from two weeks of additional teaching through the scheme.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 7 October 2011.

The move to give Ofqual new fining powers follows 11 errors in a range of A levels, AS levels and GCSEs in England this summer, affecting almost 140,000 papers.

The size of any fine imposed would have to be in proportion to the seriousness and scale of the error. The maximum penalty would be 10 per cent of an organisation’s turnover. Fines would be paid to the public purse, the Government’s consolidated fund.

The Government hopes the new power will be introduced for next summer’s exams subject to a 12-week consultation, conducted by Ofqual, and to legislation. As well as fining for mistakes in papers, Ofqual would be able to impose fines on boards which committed serious breaches of their conditions of recognition.

Currently the ultimate sanction open to Ofqual is to withdraw exam boards’ recognition. The watchdog can also withdraw an organisation’s right to offer a particular qualification.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

There were significant errors in a number of exam question papers this summer. Pupils work hard for years for their GCSEs and A levels. They do not deserve to be let down by exam boards’ mistakes. It is unacceptably poor practice for even one paper to contain an error. But this summer there were numerous errors.

We want to give Ofqual tougher powers so it has a range of sanctions at its disposal and can take action against exam boards who fall short of the high standards students and parents expect. Giving Ofqual the power to fine would provide a powerful incentive to awarding organisations to comply with their regulatory obligations and improve standards.

It would act as a deterrent and send a clear signal to students and the wider public that the exam boards will face consequences where they get things wrong. Ofqual needs to be able to incentivise good practice by awarding organisations and to take appropriate action when things go wrong. Financial penalties would provide an effective and flexible sanction and would act as a very clear deterrent.

Ofqual is investigating the causes of the errors and is due to publish a report by the end of the year.