This year’s exam season is now drawing towards a close, and, for the most part, it has progressed rather quietly.
That was, until Monday, when students sat down to take the French A-level exam produced by the Eduqas exam board.
In the exam, students were directed to find the answer to one question in a particular recorded extract. The only problem was that the required information was in another recording.
Students quickly took to social media to vent their frustration with the error, prompting an apology from Eduqas for the foul-up.
The blunder might be an exception in an otherwise sedate exam season, but there could still be a ruckus when results are published in August.
The academy sector has been under pressure in recent weeks, with researchers questioning whether academisation has delivered on its promise to boost school autonomy.
The battle over academies
On Tuesday, that pressure was turned up a notch. The Education Policy Institute published a report finding “little difference in the performance of schools in academy chains and local authorities”. The thinktank called for strongly performing local councils to be able to take on struggling academies.
However, academies have come out fighting. Freedom and Autonomy for Schools - National Association has said the sector needs to challenge the negative narrative about academies.
Fasna chief executive Leora Cruddas made the call as part of a bid to reposition her organisation as the sector body for academies. The plan includes rebranding Fasna as the more easily intelligible “Confederation of School Trusts”.
Elsewhere this week, the Ofsted chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, finally responded to claims that her organisation discriminates against schools in white working class areas.
However, if she wanted to smooth things over with disgruntled headteachers who feel unfairly penalised by the accountability system, her words could actually fuel further controversy. Ms Spielman suggested that schools in these areas may be rated more poorly by Ofsted because white working-class communities “lack the aspiration and drive seen in many migrant communities”.
On Friday, Tes published a major investigation uncovering how non-EU foreign teachers have been unable to obtain visas.
Visa rules have prevented heads from hiring teachers from abroad - having already found it impossible to fill vacancies via domestic recruitment. Worse still, valued teachers in British schools have been forced to leave their jobs - and the country - because they cannot get their visas renewed.
The situation has prompted Tes to launch a campaign - “Let Them Teach” - to change the rules to give teachers higher priority in monthly visa allocations. Stay tuned for further updates.
Finally, Friday also saw one of the highlights of the education calendar - the Tes School Awards 2018.
The full list of winners can be seen here, and Kensington Aldridge Academy received a special services to education award for its extraordinary response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
