📡 In this week's MAT Tracker newsletter, @charlottesantry.bsky.social looks at why trusts need details as well as 'hope' from Labour to make its planned education reforms a success. Read it and sign up here:

Labour brings the vibes – but where is the detail?

Plus new CEO survival tips and the latest MAT moves

tes-magazine-mat-tracker.beehiiv.com

In our second MAT Tracker newsletter, @charlottesantry.bsky.social takes an inside look at the DfE’s MAT CEO group, alongside a North West deep dive, our trust moves round-up and exclusive data analysis. Read the latest edition (and sign up) here ⬇️

MAT Tracker: Inside the DfE's MAT CEO group

Plus advisers poll, North West deep dive and more

tes-magazine-mat-tracker.beehiiv.com

📢Introducing the first ever @tesmagazine.bsky.social MAT Tracker newsletter! Free news, views, insight and intel for all those who work in/with multi-academy trusts. Access it every Thursday by signing up below 👇 tes-magazine-mat-tracker.beehiiv.com/p/lucy-powel...

MAT Tracker: Lucy Powell’s trust test

Plus inclusion poll, MAT moves and more talking points

tes-magazine-mat-tracker.beehiiv.com

V.excited about this - please send any thoughts/feedback my way (and pls also sign up, obvs) 😁

Tes magazine@tesmagazine.bsky.social · last mo.

📡 Introducing our new newsletter for the 2026-27 school year: Tes MAT Tracker! It features essential insights into academy trusts, those who work in or with them, and the policy that shapes them – all exclusive to this weekly newsletter. Sign up here: tes-magazine-mat-tracker.beehiiv.com

London pulls even further ahead of other regions - and boys are now a whole pp ahead of girls when it comes to top grades. More key trends from today's A-level results below:

Tes magazine@tesmagazine.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This year’s A-level results show that the regional divide in students getting the top grades in England has widened again – and also reveal an increase in the top grades awarded and in the overall pass rate

Breaking: Lucy Powell has been appointed as education secretary by new prime minister Andy Burnham, replacing Bridget Phillipson

Lucy Powell appointed as education secretary

She will replace Bridget Phillipson, who has been in the role since Labour came to power in July 2024

tes.com

Lisa Nandy’s the latest high-profile departure from X: should schools leave the platform too? Here’s what the attorney general told @cerysturner.bsky.social in an exclusive interview: www.tes.com/magazine/new...

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

tes.com

Exclusive: Key stage 2 Sats results delayed by at least a week, Tes understands www.tes.com/magazine/new...

KS2 Sats results delayed by at least a week

Primary schools were due to receive the assessment results on Tuesday

tes.com

🚨EXCL: Teachers will get a 3.5% pay deal for the upcoming year. - Schools to fund the first 1% - A further 3% offered for 2027-28 More from @tesmagazine.bsky.social: www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Couldn’t agree more: so much immersion, energy and rhythm. Got me and the 11yo discussing metaphors. Special mention to the most lifelike puppet dog I’ve ever seen!

Geoff Barton@realgeoffbarton.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Brilliant to be reminded of undiluted human ingenuity and the power of education at last night’s production of #TheBoyWhoHarnessedTheWind - the true story of the inspiring #WilliamKamkwamba. At Soho Place theatre, London, it’s the perfect show for young people, full of music, movement & puppetry

All Sendcos ‘need clinical supervision to stop burnout’ - @charlottesantry.bsky.social reports www.tes.com/magazine/new... @tesmagazine.bsky.social

All Sendcos ‘need clinical supervision to stop burnout’

Education leaders call for more support for Sendcos as the role becomes increasingly demanding

tes.com

Specialist provision packages are set to underpin the support pupils with the most complex SEND receive in a reformed system but leaders are concerned that children could fall through the gaps and highlight widespread problems with the categories the DfE has suggested. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Schools face ‘impossible’ SEND support package plans, experts warn

‘Bizarre’ government proposals risk lumping together pupils with vastly different needs, and stripping out mental health support, leaders tell Tes

tes.com

Good news - for some. “Larger trusts with dedicated commercial or development functions are structurally better placed than smaller or standalone trusts serving more disadvantaged communities - and that is precisely the inverse of where additional resources are most needed.”

Trusts’ self-generated income rises 25% to £366m

Academy trusts are raising more cash themselves, but there are concerns over growing disparities in the sector

tes.com

‘My fear is that sometimes heads look at a gallery trip and think, “Well, that’s art done with; now we can get back to English and maths”’: @neunion.bsky.social president calls for the ‘restoration’ of the arts in schools

The arts must not be reduced to day trips, warns NEU

The arts are too often sidelined in favour of English and maths, says NEU president during event calling for ‘restoration’ of arts to the curriculum

tes.com

Phones in school: Labour's committed to reviewing its guidance via the national behaviour survey and updating 'if needed' by September 2027. Worth noting that the DfE's last survey found far more teachers than students said phone policies were being followed... www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Schools in some local authorities under the greatest pressure for specialist places face missing out on millions in capital funding next year, exclusive Tes analysis reveals

Overstretched SEND areas to miss out on millions in capital funding

An £860m SEND funding pot is being skewed towards large councils despite other local authorities facing greater pressure for specialist places, Tes analysis shows

tes.com

✉️ Emotionally based school avoidance, trainee targets, SEND funding and Reform UK policy… Catch up on all the latest education headlines in today’s Tes Daily newsletter – read here: 145850312.hs-sites-eu1.com/tes-magazine...

Breaking:

Tes magazine@tesmagazine.bsky.social · 6mo ago

An independent inquiry triggered after a Jewish MP’s visit to a Bristol school was postponed last year has concluded that neither the school nor the trust involved are antisemitic

Exclusive: The ‘accountability risk’ of being inclusive has been revealed by new research highlighting that most ‘SEND magnet’ schools achieve negative Progress 8 scores

Revealed: The ‘risk’ SEND magnet schools face with Progress 8

The accountability penalty that schools can suffer for having a good reputation for supporting students with SEND is highlighted by new research

tes.com

Do schools need extra inset days in light of all the upcoming curriculum/assessment/SEND reforms? Some MATs already schedule more than the minimum of 5 per year... www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Heads to demand two extra Inset days for SEND training

SEND and curriculum reforms create ‘significant’ workload that necessitates more Inset days, states motion to NAHT annual conference

tes.com

More on the plans set out today, which would put existing guidance on a statutory footing. (The guidance doesn’t say phones can’t be taken to school, but that they should be stored out of sight eg in lockers.) www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Charlotte Santry@charlottesantry.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The govt's just announced a statutory ban on phones in schools...four days after education minister Olivia Bailey said the problem was already "solved". www.tes.com/magazine/new...

The govt's just announced a statutory ban on phones in schools...four days after education minister Olivia Bailey said the problem was already "solved". www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Banning phones in schools 'already solved', claims minister

Education minister Olivia Bailey comes under fire as MPs reject Lords' proposal for a statutory ban on phones in schools

tes.com

Exclusive: More than 70 staff at the Harris Federation are at risk of redundancy, with CEO Sir Dan Moynihan telling Tes the cuts have been proposed largely because of falling pupil rolls

More than 70 Harris Federation staff at risk of redundancy

CEO Sir Dan Moynihan tells Tes the cuts have been proposed mainly because of declining pupil rolls at schools in London

tes.com

The government said it would prioritise disadvantaged communities for this cash. But the majority of winning bids have been from schools with below-average disadvantage, @ktorm-social1.bsky.social's analysis finds.

Kyle Tormey@ktorm-social1.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Nursery expansion funding should better focus on areas of high deprivation, DfE told. Tes analysis shows most successful schools have fewer FSM pupils than the national average. @tesmagazine.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Pleased to see BBC's covered the underachievement of white working-class girls - an often overlooked issue: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p... Here's my long read from last Sept on this: www.tes.com/magazine/ana... And my investigation revealing a sharp drop in GCSE results: www.tes.com/magazine/new...

How the system forgot about white working-class girls

While the underachievement of white working-class boys has attracted political attention, the struggles of disadvantaged white girls continue to be overlooked. School leaders tell Tes why this needs t...

tes.com

🔴Out: fruit juice, honey, sugary muesli, low fibre bread, anything deep-fried 🟠Restricted: cheese, veggie meat alternatives, sugary puddings, white rice/pasta 🟢In: veg/salad with all 'grab & go' meals; pulses now count as protein, wholegrain rice/pasta, plain crackers www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Healthier school menus: all you need to know

Government proposals would lead to new rules on school breakfasts, lunches and drinks in order to tackle poor diets among children

tes.com

Exam board OCR is resisting calls to re-mark a question on its GCSE maths paper, despite Ofqual upholding a complaint. The complainant, who wished to remain anonymous, said some students may unnecessarily resit this year as a result. @tesmagazine.bsky.social

Pressure for GCSE maths re-mark after Ofqual upholds complaint

Exam board OCR apologises for ‘inconsistencies in our past materials’ but insists there were ‘no errors’ in maths question - prompting a petition for papers to be re-marked

tes.com

A new fund aimed at making mainstream education more inclusive for pupils with SEND will average out at £14K for primaries - less than the salary for a TA. Secondaries average £48K - "clearly not adequate to deliver the scale of change that is envisaged," @ascl-uk.bsky.social says this morning.

Primary schools to get £14K inclusion funding on average

The average secondary school will receive £48,000 next year through the new Inclusive Mainstream Fund, the DfE announces

tes.com

It’s unclear exactly how the DfE (or Ofsted for that matter) will “put a stop” to this, as a spokesperson claims here: www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Top schools ‘shutting out’ disadvantaged students with SEND

Secondary schools with the best exam results have fewer students receiving both free school meals and SEN support than live in their catchment areas, report warns

tes.com

I analysed almost 500 inspections to see if schools with disadvantaged intakes are performing worse on pupil outcomes. The findings show that it's disproportionate. Heads say it's demoralising as they urge Ofsted not to confuse achievement & attainment.

Disadvantaged schools more likely to be graded down on achievement

Heads in deprived areas warn that grades awarded by Ofsted for its new achievement category are ‘demoralising’ and fail to take their challenging circumstances into account

tes.com