Eithne Leming Associates

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/move-to-digital-exams-quicker-says-aqa-colin-hughes AQA has carried out experiments with “typed-in, short-answer text boxes” in which “students tend to give better answers” - and says this is “beneficial for less-high-performing students”. it “just doesn’t stack up” to avoid on-screen assessment. Meanwhile, “students are slightly baffled” by the lack of digital exams,

Fears about digital exams don’t ‘stack up’, says AQA boss Despite recent high-profile problems with traditional pen-and-paper exams, the CEO of England’s biggest exam board tells Tes that there should be more urgency in introducing on-screen assessment

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/revealed-scale-ofsted-inspection-complaints-report-card-framework Sir Martyn “We cannot take away all the stress of inspection. But we can reduce unnecessary stress." His comments come after recent findings suggested that headteachers are “overwhelmingly negative” about Ofsted’s latest inspection regime.

Revealed: Scale of Ofsted complaints under report card framework Data showing that one in 20 inspection activities resulted in a complaint has been published in the watchdog’s annual report and accounts for 2025-26

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/athena-learning-trust-mat-be-wound-up-after-behaviour-policy-backlash MP Ben Maguire welcomed the decision & said he had previously raised problems at Launceston College directly with the education secretary & DfE officials.as pupils & staff had given “deeply concerning” accounts about SEND provision, school culture & pupil welfare.

MAT to be broken up after behaviour policy backlash Athena Learning Trust’s nine schools will transfer to other organisations after trustees acknowledge a ‘clear need for change’

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/primary/ks2-sats-results-2026-rise-in-attainment Attainment has improved or stayed stable across all subjects in this year’s KS2 Sats results, but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Fewer pupils reached the higher standard in reading than last year. Slight uptick for combined score (63%) up from 62% in 2025.

Sats results 2026: 63% meet expected standard The delayed national key stage 2 assessment results show attainment has improved or remained stable in all subjects compared with last year

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/postcode-lottery-fears-over-send-funding-plan-schools "Demand for SEND support is not evenly distributed. Some schools educate significantly higher proportions of pupils with complex needs than others & any new system will need to be sophisticated enough to ensure funding follows those children,

Postcode lottery fears over SEND funding plan for schools Trust leaders concerned over plans that could force schools to spend more on SEND support before applying for ‘top-up’ funds

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/schools-face-difficult-decisions-using-x-richard-hermer Lord Hermer Attorney General: I won't “ judge for a moment the decisions of teachers & heads”, but “schools, as with government & indeed with politicians, have difficult decisions to make in terms of whether or not they want to remain on a platform like X”.

Schools face ‘difficult decisions’ over using X, says attorney general The government’s chief legal adviser, Richard Hermer, speaks exclusively to Tes about citizenship, rule of law teaching and social media

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/schools-face-difficult-decisions-using-x-richard-hermer Lord Hermer Attorney General: I won't “ judge for a moment the decisions of teachers & heads”, but “schools, as with government & indeed with politicians, have difficult decisions to make in terms of whether or not they want to remain on a platform like X”

Schools face ‘difficult decisions’ over using X, says attorney general The government’s chief legal adviser, Richard Hermer, speaks exclusively to Tes about citizenship, rule of law teaching and social media

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/dfe-rise-team-priorities-each-region-school-improvement RISE teams to focus on the government’s four national priorities: attendance, attainment, Reception-year quality & mainstream inclusion plus for each region different concerns & focus areas, e.g.falling pupil rolls in London , coastal disadvantage in the South East.

Revealed: RISE teams’ priorities for each region The DfE publishes plans setting out its school improvement priorities for all of the nine regions in England

https://www.tes.com/magazine/leadership/staff-management/can-charismatic-leadership-be-taught Can charismatic leadership be taught? "By focusing on just the mechanics of communication - risk making charisma appear purely manipulative, rather than something that emanates from a sense of authenticity & conviction."

Charismatic leadership - what is it and can anyone have it? Theories of leadership have evolved from seeing charisma as a natural gift to viewing it as a skill that can be taught - but is that really true?

https://bit.ly/4aA8vfj "Inspectors would not be seeing schools operating anything like ‘normal’, with staff having to prioritise the challenges they are facing. In this context it seems highly unlikely that inspectors would be able to carry out inspection in the usual manner, which could have an impact on the evaluation of a school itself.”

Ofsted criticised for ‘inhumane’ inspections during heatwave School leaders demand explanation for the decision to carry out inspections last week as schools dealt with overheated staff and pupils ‘vomiting left, right and centre’