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Schools are “responding to funding pressure by reducing curriculum breadth”, the chief inspector of Ofsted has warned. In a blog post published last week, Amanda Spielman said it was “particularly concerning” to see schools reducing access to subjects such as languages, computing, design and technology and music. However, she did acknowledge that financial pressures, resulting from a mixture of cuts, rising costs and “instability and uncertainty” around both expenditure and income, mean schools are having “to make tough decisions and…

The government has pledged to give teachers the largest sustained pay rise since 2005, with starting salaries increasing to at least £26,000. Under the government’s proposals, wages for new teachers in England, working outside London will rise by 6.7% this September, to £26,000 from the current minimum of £24,373. Salaries for those in outer London would rise to £30,000, and £32,000 for those in inner London. Experienced teachers, heads and school leaders would see an above inflation pay increase of…

The new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has pledged to invest £14.4 billion into primary and secondary education between now and 2022-23. The huge three-year funding increase will guarantee that schools teaching pupils between the ages of five and 16 in England will receive an above-inflation pay rise for every teacher. The money covers real-terms rises in school budgets due to factors such as inflation, increases in the pupil population as well as additional extra funding. In addition to the funding…

The government has dropped the controversial Conservative manifesto commitment to scrap free school meals for infants. Schools minister Nick Gibb said the government would “retain the existing provision”, having listened “very carefully” to the views of parents. “We have listened carefully to the sector’s views on the proposal to remove infant free school meals, and we have decided that it is right to retain the existing provision. “Universal infant free school meals ensure that children receive a nutritious meal during…

Thousands of schools across England are to benefit from a £2.4 billion cash injection, Education Secretary Justine Greening has announced. The news comes as councils say they need to create over 230,000 primary and secondary school places nationally between 2017 and 2020. The funding is aimed at providing a further boost to the government’s drive to help create over 600,000 extra places by 2021, which will generate additional capacity to meet local demand. According to the Department for Education, schools,…