The number of schools used as polling stations has fallen by almost 10 per cent since the last election, but more than one in six will still be disrupted by voters. However, a Schools Week investigation has also found just three councils nationally (less than two per cent) have taken... Read more

One of the country’s largest academy trusts has told its schools to ditch three-year GCSEs by next September, despite warning the change will have “budgetary implications for any school”. Harris Federation has instructed its 27 secondary and all-through schools to make the change amid growing concerns that Ofsted will mark... Read more

Dr Patrick Roach will be the next general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union. The current deputy general secretary, who was the union executive’s candidate for the role, will succeed his current boss Chris Keates. Paul Nesbitt, Roach’s sole challenger, failed to get enough nominations to stand against him. Schools... Read more

Teachers are fearful an increasing number of their pupils will go hungry this Christmas, according to a union poll. The Nation Education Union surveyed 549 of its members. Sixty-three per cent of respondents said they were worried more children than last year will be going hungry over the festive period.... Read more

Providers of new T-levels have claimed “protectionism” in schools could make it difficult for them to promote the qualifications to teenagers. A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research also found that organisations preparing to deliver the qualifications from next year still believe “significant” work is needed to raise... Read more

A bid to have two elected officials of the NASUWT teaching union removed from office has failed after it was ruled that they were eligible to hold their posts despite not being active teachers. Sarah Havlin, the certification officer for Northern Ireland, has thrown out a complaint from former NASUWT... Read more

As the general election enters its final week – we take a look at the odds of education MPs returning to parliament. Schools Week used YouGov’s Multi-level Regression and Post-stratification model for our seat predictions in this guide, which was based on interviews with approximately 100,000 people about their voting... Read more

The Incredible Teenage Brain promises to tell you everything you need to know to “unlock your teen’s potential”. As someone with considerable professional and personal experience of teenagers (and their brains), the sheer size of this 17-chapter book was off-putting. It audience is unclear too. The authors’ styles are upbeat... Read more

Successive governments have spent more than £180 million on free schools that went on to fail, according to new figures released today. The National Education Union has branded the free schools programme “a shocking record of failure and waste” after its analysis of government data showed the government has now... Read more

Juggling a full-time teaching schedule and an election campaign can be tricky. Vix Lowthion, the Green Party’s candidate for the Isle of Wight, has a year 13 parents’ evening at The Island VI Form before she dashes off to Thursday’s count. Schools are under so much pressure and just cracking... Read more

SEND-friendly teaching, antisocial behaviour and teacher wellbeing are the top picks of the education topics this week, chosen by James Pope Breaking the Barriers @ASTsupportAAli It can be so difficult, in the whirlwind of teaching a full timetable, to be properly reflective about the way we create an environment to... Read more

Educators love to talk about role models, but that seldom extends to employing neuro-diverse staff, says Thomas Keaney. To make education truly inclusive, this has to change Our own experience of education inevitably colours our judgment of “what works”. Having a diverse range of perspectives within the system seems to... Read more

The government has promised to publish for the first time a full account of the bail-outs it hands to struggling academy trusts. However, the department refused to provide details of the pay-outs it dished out over the past few years – stating it “does not hold the information in the... Read more

It’s been clear since we started in 2014 that Schools Week readers are a political bunch, and it’s always fascinating to get an idea of the personal politics of those who read our paper. This week we polled 373 people on our mailing list to find out how they plan... Read more

A closer look at election pledges... Read more