Education & Training news

• Correspondence: DfE Update: 7 May 2025

  07-05-2025 15:46 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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• Secretary of State's speech to the National Society Conference

  23-01-2026 17:44 via gov.uk
  The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, addressed Church of England school leaders at the National Society Annual Conference 2026.
  
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• ‘There are kids not going to school’: fear of ICE is keeping children from classes in Connecticut

  23-01-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  In New Haven, where one in six residents is foreign born, children’s education suffers as they are afraid to step out“They took her, they took her, they took her.”Those were some of the words Cora Muñoz, the Wilbur Cross high school assistant principal, could discern while on the phone with the guardian of one of her students. As the caller sobbed and struggled to speak, Muñoz realized that immigration enforcement agents had detained a kid from Wilbur Cross, the h
  
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• Guidance: Data collection maintenance schedule

  23-01-2026 11:40 via gov.uk
  Details of individualised learner record (ILR) data collection periods, proposed essential maintenance windows and planned learning aims reference data updates.
  
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• Student loans: ‘My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I’m paying’

  23-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Millions of graduates are trapped by ballooning debts, as their repayments are dwarfed by the interest addedHelen Lambert borrowed £57,000 to go to university and began repaying her student loan in 2021 after starting work as an NHS nurse.Since then she has repaid more than £5,000, typically having about £145 a month taken from her pay packet. But everything she hands over is dwarfed by the £400-plus of interest that is added to her debt every month, thanks to rates that
  
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• The Guardian view on toddlers and screens: more reasons to be fearful of big tech | Editorial

  22-01-2026 19:44 via theguardian.com
  Growing concerns about the impact of smartphones on the youngest children must be addressedThe first UK government guidance on young children’s use of tablets, smartphones and other screens, expected in April, cannot come soon enough. The laissez-faire approach to the boom in social media, handheld devices and other digital technology was arguably nowhere less suitable than when such machines were placed in front of babies. The Department for Education’s ongoing Children of the 2020s
  
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• Guidance: Access teaching support for school subjects

  22-01-2026 15:50 via gov.uk
  How school teachers and leaders can get support to improve a specific subject or area of teaching.
  
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• I went back to school for a day – and discovered some very unsettling facts about learning | Adrian Chiles

  22-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  I thought my articles and radio shows made an impact on people. A notice in the staffroom suggested otherwiseI recently spent a day at a secondary school in Birmingham. I agreed to do it because I like being in Birmingham and I like going to schools, and also because the teacher asked nicely. It was only the day before that I read the invitation properly and saw, to my horror, that I was leading what they call a Deep Learning Day. What could they learn from me? Moreover, what could they learn de
  
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• How screen time affects toddlers: ‘We’re losing a big part of being human’

  22-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  In the UK, 98% of two-year-olds watch screens on a typical day, on average for more than two hours – and almost 40% of three- to five-year-olds use social media. Could this lead to alarming outcomes?At Stoke primary school in Coventry, there are many four-year-olds among those starting in reception class who can’t sit still, hold a pencil or speak more than a four-word sentence. Lucy Fox, the assistant headteacher and head of foundations, is in no doubt what is causing this: their ea
  
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• ‘It’s about making reading as natural as breathing’: Malorie Blackman backs the National Year of Reading

  22-01-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  The Noughts & Crosses author is among the starry ambassadors for the campaign – one of the initiatives aimed at addressing the reading crisisLast night, the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, announced a £27.5m package for libraries. It’s the latest in a string of reading-focused government initiatives, the flagship being the education department’s National Year of Reading 2026, which kicked off last week with an event at the Emirates Stadium in London.The Year of Reading
  
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• One in four children in England start school without being toilet trained, say teachers

  22-01-2026 08:51 via theguardian.com
  Survey finds rising numbers of reception pupils struggling with basic life skills such as eating independentlyAbout one in four children who started reception in 2025 were not toilet trained, a survey of teachers has found, prompting warnings that growing numbers of pupils are struggling with basic life skills.In an annual survey of primary school staff in England by the early years charity Kindred Squared, teachers estimated that 26% of the children in their reception class were having frequent
  
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• I was a hostage negotiator for 10 years - this is what it taught me about parenting

  22-01-2026 01:43 via bbc.com
  Nicky Perfect shares three practical tricks she learnt which will help you handle daily parenting battles.
  
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• UK Government Ministers to meet with Northern Ireland schools ahead of East-West Council

  22-01-2026 01:01 via gov.uk
  UK Government Ministers are engaging with Northern Ireland schools to highlight the importance of East-West relations in the lead up to today’s (January 22) East-West Council in Belfast.
  
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• Teachers' strike extended by nine days

  21-01-2026 22:06 via bbc.com
  Staff at 20 West Midlands schools are currently on the picket lines in a dispute over job cut plans.
  
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• Schools to reopen after odour cleared

  21-01-2026 18:37 via bbc.com
  City of Wolverhampton Council says work was done on the school's heating and air handling systems.
  
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• Transparency data: RISE programme: lists of advisers and targeted schools

  21-01-2026 14:28 via gov.uk
  Schools currently receiving targeted intervention through the regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) programme and the list of RISE advisers.
  
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• Correspondence: DfE update 21 January 2026

  21-01-2026 13:36 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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• Guidance: National non-domestic rates: guidance for billing authorities

  21-01-2026 12:25 via gov.uk
  Guidance to support billing authorities with the national non-domestic rates (NNDR) claims payment process.
  
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• Education Secretary speech at Bett UK Conference

  21-01-2026 12:00 via gov.uk
  In her speech, the Education Secretary, announced £23 million investment to expand the government's EdTech Testbeds pilot programme.
  
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• Cutting-edge drone degree to train military forces of the future unveiled

  21-01-2026 07:30 via gov.uk
  Young engineers to master battlefield-proven technology at Hereford university from September 2026.
  
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• ‘Crunch time’ on rising costs of Send provision in England, says thinktank

  21-01-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  IFS says system failing to deliver for those who need it and ministers face stark choices with white paper imminentThe government is facing “crunch time” over the rising costs and failures of special needs education for children in England, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.The IFS said government spending on educating children with special needs would double between 2015 and 2028, “squeezing funding” for mainstream schools as a result. Continue re
  
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• Teacher banned for inflating pupils' grades

  20-01-2026 14:49 via bbc.com
  Sunjit Kang who was head of ICT at Stockton's Grangefield Academy, is banned from teaching.
  
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• SEND overspend could hit £136m - councillor

  20-01-2026 14:49 via bbc.com
  This predicted figure includes the £70m deficit from the 2025-26 budget period.
  
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• UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s

  20-01-2026 14:28 via bbc.com
  The government said it expected schools to be "phone-free by default" as a result of the announcement.
  
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• ‘Just not monetizable’: humanities programs face existential crisis at US universities

  20-01-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Fears over the future of humanities spread amid layoffs and restructurings at scores of public and private universitiesLast month, students at Montclair State University in New Jersey held a mock funeral outside the university’s college of humanities and social sciences building. Carrying bouquets of flowers, they stood by a tombstone inscribed with the names of the school’s 15 departments, including English, history and sociology.“We are gathered here today, in front of the hu
  
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• Guidance: Turing Scheme: international placements, 2026 to 2027

  20-01-2026 11:00 via gov.uk
  Guidance on funding for international study and work placements through the Turing Scheme, for schools, further education and higher education providers.
  
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• Strategy to boost UK education abroad in major £40bn growth drive

  20-01-2026 01:01 via gov.uk
  Bold new strategy will grow education exports to £40bn a year by 2030, supporting UK jobs and investment.
  
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• Policy paper: The UK's International Education Strategy 2026

  20-01-2026 01:01 via gov.uk
  Strategy setting out the government’s plans for UK international education and how it will support the sector access global opportunities.
  
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• Government to drive action to improve children’s relationship with mobile phones and social media

  19-01-2026 23:30 via gov.uk
  Government launches consultation on children's social media use and bans phones in schools to protect young people's wellbeing and ensure safer online experiences.
  
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• Robert Jenrick boasts that Reform is for the workers, but it’s a class war trap – and Labour shouldn’t fall for it | Polly Toynbee

  19-01-2026 18:17 via theguardian.com
  Though Labour’s voters are more likely to be the educated middle-classes, its focus must be fighting inequality. We know Farage’s party will only enrich the wealthyClass politics is back, as if it ever went away. Robert Jenrick declares that Tories are toffs and “the divide in British politics has become Reform’s workers party versus the Tory posh party”. He says the Tories are so “out of touch” they are no longer “the party of working people, of p
  
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