Highlights of week ending 28 May 2021
In its report looking the support for children’s education in the dace of the pandemic, the Public Accounts Committee said that the Department for Education had ‘no plan’ for the challenges of COVID-19, despite being involved in a 2016 cross-government pandemic exercise. When closing schools in 2020, the DfE ‘set no standards for in-school or remote learning’. Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said that the pandemic ‘has further exposed the ugly truth about the children living in poverty and disadvantage’.
The Secretary of State gave a speech on the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill in which he highlighted the need for HE and FE to work together as equals. He also covered T Levels, which coincided with the announcement of financial incentives for employers to provide work placements.
Amanda Spielman will remain in post as the Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills for a new term of two years.
A new Institute for Fiscal Studies report shows that students from disadvantaged backgrounds see some of the largest financial benefits from going to university, but these students are also less likely to attend university than their more affluent peers who receive exactly the same grade as them.
Policy Watch will take a break next week, returning on 11 June.