An audit report said that the government needed to exert more control to contain rising capital costs for free schools. Free schools were new, all-ability state schools set up following proposals from different groups and funded directly by the Department for Education. 174 had been opened in England since 2010, with 116 more in the pipeline. The report said that oversight had evolved, but serious financial management and governance concerns in two high profile cases had highlighted the need systematically to address lessons learned as the programme developed further.
Source: Establishing Free Schools, HC 881 (Session 2013–14), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | Summary | NAO press release | DE press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report evaluated the SEND Pathfinder programme. It concluded that statistically robust improvements had been seen around many elements of the process, including: families' greater understanding of the process; feeling more involved and listened to; improved joint working across services; having better information; and being more satisfied with the service that they were receiving. The survey found no consistent evidence to illustrate an improvement in outcomes. Further outcome evaluation was proposed.
Source: Meera Craston, Graham Thom, Rhian Spivack, Claire Lambert, Fay Yorath, Susan Purdon, Caroline Bryson, Sanah Sheikh, and Lucy Smith, Impact Evaluation of the SEND Pathfinder Programme, Research Report 281, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | DE press release
Date: 2013-Oct
The report of an independent commission examined the regulation of the higher education sector. It made recommendations for legislation and a common regulatory framework.
Source: Regulating Higher Education: Protecting students, encouraging innovation, enhancing excellence, Higher Education Commission
Links: Report | OFFA press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Oct
A report examined competition in the further education sector, providing practical information and guidance on competition issues for providers.
Source: , Competition Issues in the Further Education Sector, Research Report 141, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
A report evaluated the support contracts awarded to six providers following the Green Paper on support for children with special educational needs.
Source: Meera Craston, Christopher Carr, Tom Wedell, and Charlotte Clarke, Evaluation of the Green Paper Support Contracts, Research Report 309, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | DE press release
Date: 2013-Oct
Local authorities in England said that as many as two in three areas could have more children due to start primary school by September 2016 than the number of available places. They said that their ability to plan was being negatively affected by uncertainty over future funding for extra places. The move towards a more autonomous school system was also exacerbating the problem: councils did not have the power to direct academies or free schools to expand or close in response to changes in demand in their local area.
Source: Press release 3 September 2013, Local Government Association
Links: LGA press release | ATL press release | Full Fact blog post | NAHT press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Sep
A report presented the findings from an evaluation of local delivery projects for raising the age at which young people were required to stay in education or training in England (to age 17 from 2013 and to 18 from 2015).
Source: Sue Maguire and Becci Newton, Research into the Phase 4 Locally-Led Delivery Projects for Raising the Participation Age, Research Report 308, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Sep
The Welsh Government published the report of an independent review of the future structure of education services in Wales. The review recommended the development of regional consortia as a way to tackle issues relating to resources, capacity, and outcomes. Regional consortia could release resources through economies of scale, and help the provision of high-quality support services to schools. The Welsh Government began consultation on the recommendations.
Source: Robert Hill Consulting, The Future Delivery of Education Services in Wales, Welsh Government
Links: Review report | Welsh Government press release | Consultation document | ASCL press release | WLGA press release
Date: 2013-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that 256,000 new school places would be needed in England by September 2014, but that the coalition government did not know whether the £5 billion it was contributing would be enough to pay for them or spent to best effect. The government had failed to identify in time the rising demand for school places, which was concentrated in particular areas of the country, and did not understand the costs for local authorities. The inability of local authorities to require academies and free schools to expand placed further constraints on their ability to respond.
Source: Capital Funding for New School Places, Twelfth Report (Session 2013–14), HC 359, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Committee press release | NAHT press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the development of academies and their predecessors, city technology colleges, in England since 2010. Processes of layering and policy revision, together with austerity measures arising from economic recession, had resulted in a system-wide change, with private, non-profit-making companies, funded by central government, rapidly replacing local authorities as the main providers of secondary school education.
Source: Anne West and Elizabeth Bailey, 'The development of the academies programme: "privatising" school-based education in England 1986–2013', British Journal of Educational Studies, Volume 61 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
The School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 was given Royal assent. The Act provided for a range of measures designed to strengthen school standards and reduce complexity and bureaucracy in the education system. There would be a clearer process for school intervention through the introduction of statutory guidance. The statutory process for school organization would be reformed so that decisions were taken locally wherever possible.
Source: School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013, Welsh Government, TSO
Links: Act | Explanatory notes | Welsh Government press release
Date: 2013-Mar
An audit report said that 256,000 new school places needed to be provided in England by 2014-15 to meet increased need. Although the government had increased the funding it provided to local authorities, and there had been a net increase of almost 81,500 primary school places in the previous two years, there were indications of 'real strain' on school places.
Source: Capital Funding for New School Places, HC 1042 (Session 2012–13), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release | ASCL press release | Labour Party press release | LGA press release | London Councils press release | NAHT press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Nursery World report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Mar
