Our news and press releases

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the government announcement about a national voucher scheme for free school meals

• Health and Wellbeing
• Parents
• Coronavirus

Proposals from Ofsted to improve the way it deals with complaints about inspections do not go far enough to tackle the lack of faith in the process, the Association of School and College Leaders says today

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has today published guidance about teacher-assessed grades following the decision to cancel this summer’s GCSE and A-level exams.

• Assessment
• Examinations
• GCSE
• A Levels
• Marking
• Coronavirus

Today three education unions, NEU, ASCL and NAHT have issued joint advice to their members relating to Coronavirus

• Safeguarding
• Mental Health
• Coronavirus

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the first day of emergency provision in schools during the coronavirus crisis

• Health and Wellbeing
• Health and safety
• Coronavirus

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on government guidance about sectors prioritised for educational provision during the coronavirus crisis.

• Leadership
• Health and Wellbeing
• Health and safety
• Parents
• Planning
• Coronavirus

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders responds to the government announcement about how grades will be awarded following the decision to cancel all exams. 

• Assessment
• Key Stage 2
• Examinations
• Key Stage 4
• GCSE
• AS Levels
• BTEC
• Ofqual
• Coronavirus

Following yesterday’s announcements on school closures and the cancellation of this year’s exam series, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, is today writing to members of the association

Eithne Hughes, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, responds to the decision of the Welsh Government to close schools in Wales in response to the coronavirus emergency

• Safeguarding
• Coronavirus

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to the Education Secretary’s announcement about the coronavirus emergency

• Safeguarding
• GCSE
• A Levels
• Early years
• Coronavirus

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders responds to today’s announcement that routine Ofsted inspections will be suspended in response to coronavirus.

• Accountability
• Inspection
• Ofsted
• Government

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders speaks ahead of a meeting this afternoon with the Secretary of State for Education about the coronavirus emergency.

• Leadership
• Health and safety
• Safeguarding
• Parents
• Planning
• Resources
• Government
• Coronavirus

Today, the leaders of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) met with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.

• Health and safety
• Safeguarding
• Examinations
• Coronavirus

Three-quarters of school and college leaders believe Ofsted’s new approach to inspections is an improvement on previous frameworks, according to an ASCL survey.

• Accountability
• Ofsted

ASCL General Secretary Geoff Barton has today called for a halt to all routine Ofsted inspections of schools and colleges during the coronavirus emergency

• Inspection
• Ofsted
• Coronavirus

Geoff Barton, ASCL General Secretary, addresses the audience at ASCL Annual Conference 2020 in Birmingham

ASCL President Rachael Warwick addresses the audience at ASCL Annual Conference 2020 in Birmingham

Eighty six per cent of school and college leaders have called for GCSEs to be reformed or scrapped in a survey carried out by ASCL.

• Assessment
• Examinations
• Key Stage 3
• Key Stage 4
• GCSE

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders responds to today’s Budget statement.

• Funding
• Post-16
• FE
• Budget
• Government

Kevin Gilmartin, post-16 and colleges specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) comments on the Education Policy Institute (EPI) report, ‘An international comparison of technical education funding systems’.

• Funding
• Curriculum
• Post-16

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on national offer day for secondary school places on Monday 2 March.

• Parents

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the Education Policy Institute report ‘Teacher shortages in England’.

• Pay
• Funding
• Recruitment and Retention

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Sutton Trust’s report about making school admissions fairer.

• Post-16
• Primary
• Parents

ASCL has warned that some 2,900 schools and colleges would be treated unfairly under government plans to remove the ‘outstanding exemption’.

• Accountability
• Inspection
• Ofsted

Stephen Rollett, Curriculum and Inspection Specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to comments made by Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman.

• Funding
• Accountability
• Inspection
• Ofsted

Four education unions - The National Education Union (NEU), National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), Voice, and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) - are warning that government pay proposals would short-change most classroom teachers and all senior leaders. 

ASCL today warns that almost all of the extra £7.1 billion pledged for schools over the next three years will be eaten up by government spending commitments and increased costs.

• Funding
• Financial planning
• Budget
• Finance
• Government

Duncan Baldwin, Deputy Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the publication of revised Key Stage 4 performance tables. 

• Accountability
• Inspection
• Key Stage 4
• Performance Tables
• Progress 8

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on UCAS statistics on undergraduate applications

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the government announcement on minimum funding levels for schools

• Funding
• Budget

Members of the Association of School and College Leaders on the Isle of Man will withdraw their cooperation from a range of duties from today after recently voting for industrial action.

• Conditions
• Pay
• Isle of Man

ASCL leader Geoff Barton will today call on the government to reform school performance tables to rid them of ‘perverse incentives’ which lead to unacceptable practices such as gaming and off-rolling in a minority of schools.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the UCAS forecast of a significant decline in ‘conditional unconditional offers’ in 2020

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the report of the Children’s Commissioner ‘The state of children’s mental health services’.

• Pastoral
• Health and Wellbeing
• Health and safety
• Mental Health
• SEND

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the report by the National Foundation for Educational Research about teacher autonomy.

• Leadership
• Teaching
• Career Progression
• Professional Development
• CPD

Eithne Hughes, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru comments on the publication of the revised Curriculum for Wales guidance. 

• Leadership
• Learning
• Curriculum
• Cymru
• Wales
• Curriculum

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report from the British Council and Education Policy Institute on the gender gap in foreign languages

• Post-16
• Curriculum
• MFL
• Key Stage 3
• Key Stage 4
• GCSE
• A Levels

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the report from the Education and Skills Funding Agency on the school resource management adviser (SRMA) pilot programme.

• Funding
• Business Leadership
• Financial planning
• Budget
• Finance
• Resources

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to the annual report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills

• Primary
• Accountability
• Inspection
• Ofsted
• Key Stage 2
• SEND
• Off-rolling

Members of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) on the Isle of Man have voted for industrial action in a dispute with the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) over the inadequacy of the pay settlement for teachers on the island and the implications for recruitment and retention.

• Conditions
• Pay
• Recruitment and Retention
• Isle of Man

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has today called for an uplift to all teacher pay scales over the next three years in line with the government’s proposal to increase starting salaries to £30,000 by 2022/23.

• Employment
• Pay
• Funding
• Recruitment and Retention
• Financial planning

Julie McCulloch, Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the launch of a government scheme to make free period products available to all schools and colleges in England

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report by the Education Policy Institute about the development of the early years workforce in England

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the report by the Education Policy Institute Access to child and adolescent mental health services in 2019.

• Funding
• Pastoral
• Health and Wellbeing
• Resources
• Mental Health
• SEND

Duncan Baldwin, Deputy Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the government announcement that it is launching a consultation on the removal of the outstanding exemption.

• Post-16
• FE
• Primary
• Accountability
• Inspection
• Ofsted
• Key Stage 3
• Key Stage 4

Stephen Rollett, curriculum and inspection specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report from Ofsted about ‘stuck schools’

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the education briefing accompanying the Queen’s Speech.

• Funding
• Post-16
• Financial planning
• Government

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on UCAS statistics which show that ‘conditional unconditional’ offers continue to rise.

• Assessment
• Post-16
• A Levels

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the reappointment of Gavin Williamson as Education Secretary.

• Leadership
• Government

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has written to all Northern Ireland’s main political party leaders reminding them of the “bleak financial situation” in schools in Northern Ireland, and as the talks at Stormont resume with a view to re-establishing the Executive.

• Leadership
• Funding
• Resources
• Mental Health
• Government
• Northern Ireland

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders responds to the new report on T levels from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

• Funding
• Teaching
• Post-16
• Examinations
• BTEC
• T Levels

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) of the political parties’ education plans. 

• Leadership
• Government

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on research by the Sutton Trust on the impact of GCSE reforms.  

• Assessment
• Examinations
• Key Stage 4
• GCSE

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on Labour’s plans for education being announced today.

• Leadership
• Funding
• Recruitment and Retention
• Financial planning
• Finance
• School Improvement
• Resources

Joint press release by the School Cuts coalition: School Cuts website updated to reflect what manifestos mean for every school in England

• Funding
• Financial planning
• Budget
• Finance
• Government

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the UK results in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

• Assessment
• Examinations
• Mental Health

Eithne Hughes, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, comments on the results in Wales in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

• Assessment
• Cymru
• Wales
• Examinations
• International
• Performance Tables

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Conservative Party’s plans to give Ofsted greater powers and more funding.

At the ASCL Northern Ireland Annual Conference on 29 November 2019, ASCL Northern Ireland President Amanda McNamee paid tribute to the resilience of school leaders in challenging and demanding times.  

• Membership
• CPD
• Northern Ireland

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the UCAS end of cycle report 2019

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the education commitments in the Conservative Party Manifesto

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the letter from headteachers supporting the Worth Less? campaign to all prospective parliamentary candidates.

• Leadership
• Funding
• Financial planning
• Budget
• Finance
• Parents

A coalition of education unions has today welcomed Labour’s manifesto commitment to reverse all cuts to school budgets and to make a once-in-a-generation investment in education.    The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the National Education Union (NEU) are all non-politically affiliated unions and believe we are speaking for the profession in welcoming these proposals.

• Funding
• Post-16
• FE
• Primary
• Financial planning
• Budget
• Government

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the school funding plans announced by the Liberal Democrats

Education unions NEU, NAHT, ASCL and Voice, together representing the overwhelming majority of teachers and school leaders in England, have submitted a joint statement to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), demanding a significant, above-inflation pay increase for all teachers and leaders, in order to reverse the real-terms cuts to salaries since 2010.

• Jobs
• Employment
• Pay
• Funding
• Recruitment and Retention
• STRB
• Financial planning

Michael Kidd, national negotiator for the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), comments on the proposals for a new model of secondary education in Guernsey

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on Labour’s plans for lifelong learning and National Education Service.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Education Policy Institute’s report ‘Further Education Pathways’.

• Funding
• Post-16
• FE
• Examinations
• GCSE
• T Levels

The Association of School and College Leaders today publishes its General Election Manifesto calling on politicians not to use education as a political football and instead to focus on the things that matter – sufficient funding, teacher supply, and an exam system which is less harsh on pupils.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on Ofqual’s decision to make an adjustment to grading standards in GCSE French and German

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the National Audit Office report on University Technical Colleges (UTCs).

• Funding
• Post-16
• FE

Julie McCulloch, Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Knife Crime

Julie McCulloch, Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report of the House of Commons Education Committee on support for young people with special educational needs and disabilities

Eithne Hughes, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, responds to the announcement by Minister for Education Kirsty Williams on the teacher pay award in Wales

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the publication of provisional secondary school performance tables in England

Today, the School Cuts coalition launches a fully updated interactive map of England’s schools. It shows that 83% of schools will be worse off next year than they were in 2015.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the teacher workload survey.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Education Policy Institute’s report on unexplained pupil exits from English schools.  

New figures, released today by the School Cuts coalition, reveal that four in five of England’s schools will be worse off next year than they were in 2015.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on Labour’s plans to abolish Ofsted if elected.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the government’s recent education funding announcements

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), comments on the UCL study on teacher workload

Despite the serious and deepening teacher recruitment and retention problems, acknowledged by the STRB, the Government proposes an increase of only 2.75% in teacher pay in England from September.  Nothing in recent Spending Review announcements changes this. The increase is below the current rate of RPI inflation and below the rate of pay increases in the wider economy.  The Government has not even provided the funding needed for this inadequate increase.    

• Pay
• Funding
• STRB

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s address to the Universities UK conference about unconditional offers

• Post-16
• A Levels
• AS Levels

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to the National Audit Office report on support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in England

GCSE English Language should be replaced with a new qualification called a Passport in English in order to end the misery of an exam system which condemns more than a third of 16-year-olds to a sense of failure every year, according to a Commission of Inquiry established by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report of the commission into examination malpractice

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Chancellor’s spending round announcement

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to the government’s announcement of plans to increase starting salaries for teachers

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to today’s announcement on additional funding for 16-19 education

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Prime Minister’s announcement today about additional funding for schools in England

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on reports in The Guardian about a briefing paper detailing policy proposals for schools in England

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on today’s GCSE results

Eithne Hughes, incoming director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, omments on GCSE results in Wales

Robert Wilson, regional officer for the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Northern Ireland, comments on today’s GCSE results

Eight in ten school leaders say that tough new GCSEs are having a detrimental impact on struggling students, according to a survey by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on changes to the points required for grades in BTEC Tech Award qualifications

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on today’s A-level results

Eithne Hughes, incoming director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru comments on today’s A level results

ASCL leader Geoff Barton today warned that urgent action is needed to address an alarming decline in the take-up of A-level English.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to Labour’s plans to reform higher education admissions by implementing a new system of post-qualification admissions

Julie McCulloch, Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the Education Policy Institute (EPI) report about the education disadvantage gap

The Association of School and College Leaders has today written to the new Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education setting out ten priorities for education.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the appointment of Gavin Williamson as the new Education Secretary

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on Boris Johnson’s victory in the Conservative Party leadership contest

Tim Pratt, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, comments on the Welsh government’s announcement on teachers’ pay

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to the government’s announcement about teachers’ pay

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report by the House of Commons Education Committee on school and college funding

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on a report in The Times that teachers are in line for a pay rise of 2.75%

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on a written statement by Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards, about plans to scrap the existing skills tests for trainee teachers

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on Ofsted’s call for the power to inspect multi-academy trusts

Media release from the National Education Union, the Association of School and College Leaders, the National Association of Head Teachers, and the f40 education fair funding campaign group

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on analysis of undergraduate applications published by UCAS

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders comments on the Sutton Trust report ‘The Recruitment Gap: Attracting teachers to schools serving disadvantaged communities’

Tiffnie Harris, primary specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders comments on this morning’s publication of Key Stage 2 SATs results

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the British Council Language Trends Survey 2019

Anna Cole, parliamentary and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on Mind’s survey of 11-19 year olds about mental health

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on teacher retention rates published today by the Department for Education

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on class size statistics published today by the Department for Education

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on ‘Elitist Britain 2019’, the new report by the Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Commission

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on statistics published today about applications and offers for school places

Scrapping BTECs risks leading to more young people dropping out of education, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) warned today.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the letter on school food from Nadhim Zahawi, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has today written to the 11 Conservative MPs who have declared their intention to stand in the party’s leadership contest to set out the priorities for education.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to Labour’s announcement on climate change education

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on Ofsted’s new inspection plans from September 2019

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report of the Education Policy Institute (EPI) about the decline in sixth form and college funding

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Timpson Review of School Exclusion

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Social Mobility Commission’s ‘State of the Nation’ report

Tim Pratt, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, comments on the publication of the new draft curriculum for Wales

Geoff Barton, ASCL General Secretary, responds to a survey by the Sutton Trust on how budget cuts are affecting schools

Geoff Barton, ASCL General Secretary, comments on the report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) on unexplained pupil exits from English schools

Julie McCulloch, ASCL Director of Policy, comments on Labour's plan to scrap primary school SATs

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has written today to Robert Halfon MP, chair of the House of Commons Education Committee, following a letter from Mr Halfon to the Secretary of State for Education over the committee’s inquiry into knife crime and school exclusions.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to a report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) about the school appeals and waiting list system in England

Julia Harnden, ASCL Funding Specialist, responds to the announcement today by the DfE over the teachers' pension scheme

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has today submitted its formal response to Ofsted’s consultation on plans to reform inspections from September.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the report by IPPR North over funding for special educational needs