Education

Sadia Noor lives in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Thanks to the support she received from UK aid while she was at high school she is now working as a teacher in a local school. Girls get an education in Pakistan When I was younger my family couldn’t support my education, the stipend helped me. When I got admission to college I got a job teaching, which supported my studies. Now I teach maths to classes 9 and 10. I love teaching. It’s a very good profession because you get respect, and you get a chance to learn more yourself. Because I’m literate, I can educate other girls in my community. I have a motive, which helps me teach these children. My motive is to educate children like myself so they can stand on their own two legs as well. A helping hand In Pakistan, two-thirds of women a...

Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) and Findel Education Limited (Findel) supply a wide range of educational resources such as stationery, furniture and art and science materials to different types of educational institutions across the UK. They are the second and third largest generalist educational distributors, respectively. After its initial Phase 1 investigation of YPO’s anticipated acquisition of Findel, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that both YPO and Findel compete closely with each other. If the planned merger goes ahead, YPO would face effective competition from 2 other generalist distributors – RM Plc (which operates across the UK) and ESPO (a large regional player) – and, to a lesser extent, KCS (a smaller regional player). The competition from sma...

As confirmed by the Prime Minister on 22 February, based on the government’s assessment of the current data against its 4 tests for relaxing restrictions, children and young people will return to schools and colleges from 8 March 2021. In the event that restrictions in schools are needed to help contain the spread of the virus, the government may ask childcare, schools and colleges to change how they are delivering education for a short period of time. In all circumstances, and in all settings, priority should continue to be given to vulnerable children and young people and children of critical workers to attend full time. The contingency framework for education and childcare settings provides more information. Vulnerable children and young people Vulnerable children and young people ...

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement regarding schools in national lockdown. The last thing any Education Secretary wants to do is announce that schools will close and this is not a decision that the government ever wanted to take. I would like to reassure everyone that our schools have not suddenly become unsafe, but limiting the number of people who attend them is essential when the COVID rates are climbing as they are now. We must curb the escalating cases of COVID throughout the country and prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed. That is why today I am setting out the contingency plans I had prepared but had hoped to never have to implement. I would like to thank all our teachers, all our education staff and social workers for all they have been doing ...

Ofsted will inspect schools and further education & skills (FES) providers in the summer term to provide reassurance about how well children and learners are catching up, but it will not resume a full programme of graded inspections until September. Following extensive discussion with government and education leaders, Ofsted today confirmed that it will undertake on-site, lighter-touch inspections in the summer term. Unlike ‘full’ inspections, these visits will allow inspectors to assess how well schools and FES providers are educating their learners and keeping them safe, but they will not result in a grade. However, where the evidence strongly suggests that a school’s current grade is no longer a fair reflection of its work – for example where the school is graded ‘inadequate’ ...

Young people in England will benefit from a series of summer activities and academic opportunities targeted at those who have suffered the most disruption to their education as a result of the pandemic. The government has today (Tuesday 30 March) published new guidance for secondary schools to help progress plans for summer schools once they return from the Easter break, using the £200 million funding announced in February. Summer schools will help pupils who have experienced the most disruption as a result of the pandemic. Guidance will provide advice ranging from academic support to sports and activities, mental health and wellbeing advice, and guidance for accessing premises. Alongside this, the government will also work with a national supply contractor to give extra support f...