Highlights of the week ending 5 February 2021
The Prime Minister reiterated, on Thursday, that he still considered 8 March to be the earliest and “most prudent date to set” for schools in England to start to reopen.
This followed Tuesday’s announcement by Nicola Sturgeon which outlined plans to reopen schools full time from 22 February for P1-P3 pupils, along with pre-schoolers, and a part-time limited return for secondary school students. Schools in Wales are also aiming for 22 February opening too.
Learning loss has also been prominent this week with Sir Kevan Collins appointed as the Education Recovery Commissioner, to deliver measures that will help students who have missed out on face-to-face education.
And an Institute for Fiscal Studies report suggesting the cost of lost schooling will amount to billions of pounds lost in the long run. The report also suggests that the £1.5bn allocated so far to help children catch up will not be enough to prevent inequalities from widening.
This week’s Policy Blog is by Cindy Rampersaud and covers the latest phase of the Post-16 Review of Level 3 qualifications.
Why defunding qualifications would be a mistake
We have also published our response to the consultation.