The exam regulator has revealed plans to ask government to make its National Reference Test (NRT) mandatory for a sample of 300 secondary schools across the country, commencing in March 2017. This will mean approximately 15, 000 students will have to undertake the tests despite already being under press preparing for their year 11 GCSEs.
The new plans will involve a combination of short tests of under an hour in both maths and english, just weeks before GCSE exams begin.
The Welsh Government has agreed to continue a licensing deal which will give all learners at Welsh state schools free access to Microsoft 365 at school and at home.
Schools will play a greater role in ensuring every pupil has a clear post-16 destination, with a new approach to a guaranteed college or FE provider place available as a safety net being tested.
New data from Ofqual shows that schools and colleges across England are making progress in cyber security training, but are struggling to recover quickly from attacks when they occur.