There is "no quantified evidence" about whether threatening to close schools affects their pupils' performance, the National Audit Office says. Its report on the use of rewards and sanctions in the public sector said people believed there was an effect but those judgements were subjective...

Following on from an earlier report that one in 5 schools were to be told to improve or face closure, an investigation by the National Union of Teachers has revealed that of the 607 schools "named and shamed" for having less than 30% of pupils achieving at least five good GCSE's including...