This week I report on the delay of the publication of the government’s Schools White Paper, concerns that have been raised over schools having to provide a graded self-evaluation as part of the new inspection system and new qualifications to be introduced to support students to resit English and maths GCSEs.

Delay in publication of the Schools White Paper
On Tuesday the Education Secretary announced that the government’s Schools White Paper has been delayed until early in the new year. The DfE had expected to announce its plans for reforming the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in a White Paper this term.

In a letter to the Commons Education Select Committee Chair, Ms Phillipson said: “To help us deliver the most effective set of reforms we can, I have taken the decision to have a further period of co-creation, testing our proposals with the people who matter most in this reform – the families – alongside teachers and other experts as you highlight in the select committee’s report”.

There has been widespread concern that the government’s SEND reforms could result in EHCPs being cut or reduced. In her letter, Ms Phillipson indicated that the government’s SEND reforms will be underpinned by five principles. These are:

• Early – that children should receive the support they need as soon as possible.
• Local – that children with SEND should be able to learn at a school that is close to their home.
• Fair – ensuring every school should be resourced and able to meet common and predictable needs.
• Effective – that reforms should be grounded in evidence, ensuring that all schools know where to go to find effective practice.
• Shared – ensuring education, health and care services should work in partnership with one another, local government, families, teachers, experts and representative bodies.

Concerns raised over schools having to provide a graded self-evaluation
Headteachers’ leaders have voiced fears about Ofsted’s new inspections asking schools to provide a graded self-evaluation. Under the new inspection system, school leaders must provide inspectors with an evaluation of the school’s strengths and successes and its priorities for improvement in the pre-visit phone call, according to Ofsted’s school inspection operating guide for inspectors.

Headteachers will also have to say where they believe their school “currently sits” on Ofsted’s new five-point grading scale (exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention or urgent improvement) across each evaluation area (achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, personal development and wellbeing, and leadership and governance) despite the fact that the first leaders to face inspection will have only had two months to familiarise themselves with the incoming inspection report cards. Ofsted has produced an inspection toolkit showing how inspectors will make grading decisions.

Remember schools will no longer get a single overall effectiveness grade after these were scrapped by the Labour government last year.

New qualifications for students who fail English and maths GCSEs
On Monday the Education Secretary announced that new qualifications will be introduced aimed at supporting students with a Grade 2 or below to resit English and maths GCSEs. The plans are contained in a Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper which outlines that students that achieve a Grade 3 will continue to access the GCSE resit directly. The government plans to work with the sector to develop the new qualifications and will consult on them in 2026.

The White Paper also includes plans for new V qualifications to sit alongside A levels and T levels which will help students explore engineering, agriculture, digital or creative careers and students will be able to choose where they wish to specialise. The government has launched a consultation to support the introduction of V levels, which also expands on previously announced plans to introduce an enrichment framework for schools by the end of this year.