Education & Training news

• Correspondence: DfE update 4 March 2026

  04-03-2026 14:06 via gov.uk
  Latest information and actions from the Department for Education about funding, assurance and resource management, for academies, local authorities and further education providers.
  
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• ‘Only Nazis ban books’: on the frontlines with students fighting Trump over higher education

  06-03-2026 11:04 via theguardian.com
  Documentary First They Came for My College goes inside the fight for academic freedom at Florida’s New CollegeIt took a half century to build New College into a sanctuary of independent thought and less than a year to destroy it. In 2023 the beloved Florida liberal arts school became state governor Ron DeSantis’s latest target in his so-called war on woke. DeSantis decimated the school’s trustee board and installed a cabal of rightwing cronies, aiming to transform it into a con
  
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• Vice-chancellor calls for review into student loans for those without A-levels

  06-03-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Adam Tickell, of University of Birmingham, says money is loaned to people who ‘are not really capable of graduating’A leading vice-chancellor has questioned whether students without A-levels should be eligible for government-backed student loans, as part of an effort to solve England’s university funding crisis.Adam Tickell, vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham, said universities face an “almost existential challenge” and falling public support that requi
  
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• RFK Jr urges medical schools to increase nutrition education training

  05-03-2026 20:41 via theguardian.com
  As part of his Maha agenda, health secretary wants schools to incorporate 40 hours of instructionSign up to the Breaking News US newsletter emailHealth secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr unveiled a new effort on Thursday aimed at increasing the amount of nutrition education taught in medical schools.For months, Kennedy has urged medical schools to expand their nutrition curriculum and warned that institutions refusing to do so could face cuts to federal funding, while those that adopt the changes may
  
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• Extra stress or a bit of fun? Teachers and parents discuss World Book Day

  05-03-2026 19:16 via theguardian.com
  As children dress up in UK and Ireland on Thursday, not everyone is on the same page over event’s pros and consThursday is World Book Day in the UK and Ireland, with many primary schools encouraging children to take part.However, schools in England are moving away from dressing up for the event due to concerns that the activity could detract from the promotion of reading for pleasure, experts say. Continue reading...
  
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• Guidance: Information sharing agreement template

  05-03-2026 16:50 via gov.uk
  A template that childminder agencies and local authorities can use to create an agreement around information sharing and collaborative working.
  
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• Proposal on support for pupils with medical conditions at school

  05-03-2026 11:14 via gov.uk
  We are seeking views on updates to guidance to strengthen how schools support pupils with medical conditions and allergies.
  
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• Thursday briefing: ​Were a generation of students mis-sold the idea of a university degree?

  05-03-2026 07:45 via theguardian.com
  In today’s newsletter: Rising debts, frozen thresholds and spiralling interest have left ​millions of graduates questioning whether England’s student finance system still resembles the deal they were promisedGood morning.In November, Rachel Reeves tucked a freeze to student loan repayment thresholds into her autumn budget, to little fanfare. The threshold, normally expected to rise each tax year to account for inflation, would rise this year, and then stay frozen until 2030, dr
  
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• Allergy training to become compulsory in schools in England

  05-03-2026 06:22 via bbc.com
  The plans, due to come into force in September, follow support for Benedict's Law, a campaign to improve allergy safety in schools.
  
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• 100 schools cutting bills with Great British Energy solar panels

  05-03-2026 01:01 via gov.uk
  100 schools across England now cutting energy bills with Great British Energy solar panels.
  
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• Stronger protections for children with allergies in school

  04-03-2026 23:30 via gov.uk
  Life-saving allergy pens must be stocked by schools for the first time under new plans announced today.
  
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• Government launch antisemitism review into schools and colleges

  04-03-2026 18:33 via gov.uk
  Sir David Bell appointed to lead an independent review into antisemitic incidents in England's schools and colleges with recommendations due Autumn 2026.
  
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• ‘Apartheid newsroom’: minority ethnic journalists still locked out of top jobs, report finds

  04-03-2026 14:32 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Survey suggests journalists from minority ethnic backgrounds feel excluded from influential posts and seen as ‘diversity hires’Broadcast journalists from ethnic minorities are still locked out of top jobs and face a backlash after being perceived as “diversity hires”, according to a survey of UK television newsrooms.While there has been a sustained focus on racial diversity among Britain’s biggest broadcasters in recent years, the study concluded it had b
  
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• Government to stop study visas from four countries due to 'abuse'

  04-03-2026 12:33 via bbc.com
  The government will end study visas from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, due to what she says is abuse.
  
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• Academy national non-domestic rates (NNDR) claims

  04-03-2026 11:43 via gov.uk
  Information for academies about how to claim for national non-domestic rates (NNDR).
  
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• Guidance: National non-domestic rates accounting guidance

  04-03-2026 11:42 via gov.uk
  Guidance to help local authorities and academies account for national non-domestic rates (NNDR)
  
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• Pupils told to remove blazers to prevent violence

  04-03-2026 07:34 via bbc.com
  Posts encouraging fights between different schools are emerging on social media.
  
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• Schools in England sidelining dressing-up for World Book Day, MPs hear

  03-03-2026 19:11 via theguardian.com
  Literacy experts say move comes over cost concerns and fears costumes can detract from reading for pleasureSchools in England are moving away from pupils dressing up as their favourite literary characters for World Book Day, with experts telling MPs they feared the cost of costumes undermined efforts to increase reading for pleasure.Jonathan Douglas, the chief executive of the National Literacy Trust, said schools were aware of the strains that preparing costumes could place on disadvantaged fam
  
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• 'Deeply misleading' school talks compared student loans to £30 phone contracts

  03-03-2026 05:34 via bbc.com
  Graduates hired to deliver the presentations a decade ago were told to avoid using words like "debt".
  
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• Parents of nursery abuse victims to meet minister

  03-03-2026 03:04 via bbc.com
  Parents of Vincent Chan's victims will meet the education secretary to press her on safeguarding.
  
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• The Guardian view on schools: Send reforms aside, the government’s white paper lacks focus | Editorial

  02-03-2026 19:38 via theguardian.com
  Plans to resurrect the children’s services decimated by austerity are appealing. But schools also need attentionHeavily trailed reforms to special educational needs and disabilities (Send) education dominated coverage of last week’s schools white paper. But Bridget Phillipson’s policy of in-sourcing special provision, creating a new tier of support and making mainstream settings more inclusive, is the centrepiece of a broader agenda that also requires scrutiny.All schools in fu
  
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• Guidance: National Insurance contributions (NICs) grant for 2025 to 2026

  02-03-2026 17:37 via gov.uk
  Guidance for schools and local authorities on the National Insurance contributions (NICs) grant for the 2025 to 2026 financial year.
  
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• Decision: Slough council children's services: direction to improve

  02-03-2026 13:21 via gov.uk
  Direction issued by the Department for Education to Slough Borough Council to improve performance in children’s social care services.
  
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• Worried about freedom of speech? Then what’s happening at the Open University should terrify you | Owen Jones

  02-03-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  The OU has capitulated to a pro-Israel lobby group about the use of the term ‘ancient Palestine’. The wider context is impossible to ignoreThe west is in the midst of the most serious assault on free speech and academic freedom since the heyday of McCarthyism seven decades ago. For years, we were told the danger came from the left: oversensitive students, censorious activists, no-platforming zealots. Yet the most aggressive and successful campaign to police speech in our public insti
  
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• SEND transport staff 'kicked and bitten by pupils'

  02-03-2026 09:12 via bbc.com
  A worker who was bitten three times by an eight-year-old boy wants more support from the council.
  
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• The National Year of Reading celebrates the ‘joy’ of books. But let’s not forget they can also be deeply troubling, too | Charlotte Higgins

  28-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Encounters with great art can be absorbing, unsettling and even painful. How has this been tamed into mere ‘reading for pleasure’?It is the UK’s National Year of Reading. Specifically, this government-led scheme is about “reading for pleasure” and “the joy of reading”. This is not a matter of whimsy. Research has linked reading for pleasure in childhood to a host of positive educational and socioeconomic outcomes. But now – 14 years after the Depar
  
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• Private schools lose legal challenge over VAT changes

  27-02-2026 19:06 via bbc.com
  A group of low-fee paying private schools have challenged the government's removal of the VAT exemption.
  
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• Guidance: DfE subcontracting standard

  27-02-2026 18:17 via gov.uk
  Subcontracting assurance arrangements for all Department for Education (DfE) funded post-16 providers.
  
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• Guidance: Workforce equalities requirements in schools and colleges: an outline

  27-02-2026 16:11 via gov.uk
  Key legislation relating to workplace equality that commonly impacts specific groups of employees in schools and further education colleges.
  
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• Leading the way in menopause support

  27-02-2026 16:09 via gov.uk
  Key lessons from Warrington & Vale Royal College following the introduction of a dedicated Menopause Policy in 2022.
  
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