Policy
The latest news, analysis and advice on government policy and legislation. Find a breakdown of new documentation, case studies from leaders and comment from high-profile educators
Friday
2nd Jun 2023
Poorer pupils harder hit by Covid lockdowns, warns ONS
Students in deprived areas were almost twice as likely to report falling behind in their education due to pandemic disruption, new research shows
Why Labour will make fixing perilous state of schools a priority
Labour shadow schools minister Stephen Morgan MP explains why the Conservatives’ track record on managing school estates shows it’s time for a change of government
How segregation and selection still dominate NI education
Schools in Northern Ireland have much to boast about in terms of international rankings but there are myriad tensions within the education system – not least over academic selection, finds John Morgan
Thursday
1st Jun 2023
Levelling-up law to smooth church school academisation
Amendment ensures land for newly built academy schools would continue to be held in charitable trust
Weekly round-up: Teacher strikes and Sats ‘debacle’
This week’s education round-up includes the threat of coordinated strike action by teachers and heads, demands for an inquiry into this year’s Sats reading paper and an RSE review
9 big messages from ‘national discussion’ on Scottish education
There is a sense of urgency in a major report based on the views of 38,000 people on the future of Scottish education
Attendance crisis ‘becoming normalised’, warns de Souza
Children’s commissioner calls for a national campaign to fix attendance as latest data shows more than a fifth of pupils were persistently absent so far this academic year
DfE has forgotten about children and families in pursuit of standards
Former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield explains why, if the government is truly committed to giving children the best start in life, it needs a department whose name makes that clear
Wednesday
31st May 2023
‘Overwhelming appetite for change’ in Scottish education, report finds
The results of Scotland’s ‘national discussion’ about the future of education were published and debated at Holyrood this afternoon
Poorer schools get smaller share of funding, IFS warns
Decades worth of ‘progressive’ spending policies aimed at schools in disadvantaged areas are gradually being eroded, new report finds
RSE: DfE names experts advising on ‘age-appropriate’ lessons
Panel appointed following concerns that children are ‘being taught concepts they are too young to understand’