National News
Schools in Puerto Rico are bracing for Trump cuts after gains made during the Biden years
Friday 28th March 2025The island, with the seventh-largest school district in the US, is unusually reliant on federal fundingMaraida Caraballo Martínez has been an educator in Puerto Rico for 28 years and the principal of the elementary school Escuela de la Comunidad Jaime C Rodriguez for the past seven...
Pizzas, iPads and praise stamps: pupils reap rewards for attending school
Thursday 27th March 2025Schools combining incentives with sanctions saw better response than those relying purely on punishmentPizza parties and iPads are being offered to pupils as incentives to improve school attendance, according to a new report which says sanctions alone are less likely to work...
Banning us from social media is ‘neither practical nor effective’, UK teenagers say
Thursday 27th March 2025UK youth parliament concludes tech firms should do more to protect users from violent and inappropriate contentBanning teenagers from social media is neither a “practical nor effective” solution to the growing problem of youth violence, young people from across the UK have told MPs...
School dinner payment app criticised for £10 refund fee
Thursday 27th March 2025After pulling out of the market Squid is charging parents who want to withdraw their remaining fundsA payments company that was used by parents to pay for school dinners has drawn criticism for charging them £10 to withdraw the remaining funds in their accounts after it pulled out of the market...
Special needs schools way over capacity in England
Thursday 27th March 2025There were 8,000 more secondary pupils in special schools than places in 2023-24, official figures show...
University of Sussex taking legal action over £585,000 free speech fine
Thursday 27th March 2025Vice-chancellor Sasha Roseneil accuses Office for Students of seeking to ‘persecute’ rather than solve problemsThe University of Sussex is taking legal action to overturn a record fine levied by England’s higher education regulator, accusing the regulator of seeking to “persecute” it rather than solve problems...
Institutions fear bigger penalties after landmark University of Sussex fine
Wednesday 26th March 2025Universities UK say ruling may harm efforts to ‘prevent harassment and hate speech’ on campusA landmark freedom of speech ruling against the University of Sussex that resulted in a fine in excess of half a million pounds, has prompted fears other institutions could face investigation and even bigger penalties...
University of Sussex fine sparks fears of bigger penalties for other institutions
Wednesday 26th March 2025Universities UK says ruling raises concerns about how to prevent harassment and hate speech on campusA landmark freedom of speech ruling against the University of Sussex that resulted in a fine in excess of half a million pounds has prompted fears other institutions could face investigation and even bigger penalties...
Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada
Wednesday 26th March 2025Jason Stanley, who says grandmother fled Berlin with his father in 1939, says US may become ‘fascist dictatorship’A Yale professor who studies fascism is leaving the US to work at a Canadian university because of the current US political climate, which he worries is putting the US at risk of becoming a “fascist dictatorship”...
Parents 'frustrated' by collapse of school cash app
Wednesday 26th March 2025Parents are being charged a £10 admin fee to retrieve cash put into the sQuid app...
Don’t just blame Trump – Democrats paved the way for this campus crackdown | Musa al-Gharbi
Wednesday 26th March 2025Both parties are responsible for the mess facing Columbia and other institutions...
University of Sussex fined £585,000 for failing to uphold freedom of speech
Wednesday 26th March 2025OfS inquiry concludes into case of Prof Kathleen Stock, who was targeted over views on trans rights and gender issuesEngland’s university regulator has been accused of “perpetuating the culture wars” after fining the University of Sussex a record £585,000 at the conclusion of an investigation into freedom of speech on campus...
University of Sussex fined £585k in transgender free speech row
Tuesday 25th March 2025The university is fined by the higher education regulator for failing to uphold freedom of speech...
The Guardian view on gender gaps in education: girls and boys both need attention | Editorial
Tuesday 25th March 2025A new study contradicts received wisdom about underachieving boys...
Pupils eating in tent a year after school closure
Tuesday 25th March 2025Pupils still eat meals in a marquee a year since dangerous concrete was found at their school...
Reform UK will go to war with teaching unions, says Nigel Farage
Tuesday 25th March 2025Outburst comes after anti-racism campaigners disrupt event in South Yorkshire and are escorted out The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has accused “leftwing” teaching unions of poisoning the minds of young people “against everything this country has ever stood for”...
The Guardian view on social networks: the friendships that can change your life | Editorial
Monday 24th March 2025Whether forged in neighbourhoods, clubs or universities, cross-class links can boost social mobility and break down dividesSocial capital is a key concept in the social sciences and – even though most people don’t use the term – also in common sense...
Numbers drop in overseas student applications
Monday 24th March 2025The University of Lincoln is calling for visa rules for international students to be changed...
'Private schools VAT hike costing taxpayers more'
Sunday 23rd March 2025A Lincolnshire mother says the council is paying thousands to take her daughter to a state school...
Education secretary orders inquiry into allegations of student loan fraud
Sunday 23rd March 2025Bridget Phillipson instructs Public Sector Fraud Authority to look into whether millions of pounds falsely claimedFraud experts will investigate the university loans system amid concerns that students are falsely claiming millions of pounds without intending to study, the education secretary has announced...
Elton John backs Ed Sheeran’s call for UK to put £250m into music education
Sunday 23rd March 2025Coldplay, Harry Styles and Stormzy also join the Suffolk songwriter in campaigning for music funding in schoolsElton John, Coldplay, Harry Styles, Stormzy and Central Cee are among the artists backing a call from Ed Sheeran for Keir Starmer to commit £250m of funding for music education...
Columbia should have said, ‘see you in court,’ not ‘yes, Mr President.’ | Margaret Sullivan
Saturday 22nd March 2025Institutions must resist thuggish bullying. There is no satisfying Trump...
‘I was raped at the age of 10’: sexual abuse and harassment reported at 1,664 UK primary schools
Saturday 22nd March 2025Experiences of harassment, groping, inappropriate touching and rape anonymously reportedWarning: contains content some readers may find distressingChildren and adults have anonymously reported testimonies of sexual abuse and harassment at 1,664 primary schools in the UK through a website for survivors, which has called for age-appropriate sex education to be taught to children under the age of nine...
Teenagers excluded from school ‘twice as likely’ to commit serious violence
Saturday 22nd March 2025Large-scale analysis of UK police and education records reveals link between expulsion and violence within yearTeenagers who are permanently excluded from school are twice as likely to commit serious violence within a year of their expulsion than those who were merely suspended, a large-scale new analysis of police and education records has shown...
‘Raped at age of 10’: sexual abuse and harassment reported at 1,664 UK primary schools
Saturday 22nd March 2025Experiences of harassment, groping, inappropriate touching and forced penetration anonymously reportedWarning: contains content some readers may find distressingChildren and adults have anonymously reported testimonies of sexual abuse and harassment at 1,664 primary schools in the UK through a website for survivor stories, which has called for age-appropriate sex education to be taught to children under the age of nine...
Department for Education confirms launch of natural history GCSE
Friday 21st March 2025Campaigners have been calling for the qualification for years but plan stalled despite a curriculum being drawn upTeenagers may be able to learn about the importance of newts, bats and jumping spiders after the government announced the introduction of a GCSE in natural history...
‘They will consider prosecuting me’: parents on why their children are missing school – and the consequences
Friday 21st March 2025Many say absence is due to England’s mainstream schools being unable to meet needs of neurodivergent pupils• Anna Maxwell Martin calls for end to ‘cruel, idiotic’ fines for school absence• Record 170,000 children missed at least half of classes in 2024The latest figures from the Department for Education suggest school absence is at a record high in England, with more than 170,000 children being “severely absent” and missing for at least half their lessons last year...
Anna Maxwell Martin calls for end to ‘cruel, idiotic’ fines for school absence
Friday 21st March 2025Exclusive: actor says experience of school refusal showed her more compassion is needed, not exclusions‘They will consider prosecuting me’: parents on why their children are missing school – and the consequencesThe actor Anna Maxwell Martin, best known for TV shows including Motherland, Line of Duty and Ludwig, has called for more compassion for families struggling with school refusal, and a scrapping of fines for non-attendance...
Labour to scrutinise school smartphone bans as pressure grows over impact on teenagers
Friday 21st March 2025Exclusive: TV drama Adolescence adds to pressure from MPs for action to help schools tackle impact of social mediaBridget Phillipson is to begin in-depth scrutiny of smartphone bans in schools in England as pressure grows from MPs to act on the effect of social media on teenagers...
Record 170,000 children in England missed at least half of classes in 2024
Thursday 20th March 2025Department for Education data shows that 2.3% of pupils were ‘severely absent’, up from 2...
GCSEs harm our young people. Ministers should have the guts to abolish them – and start again | Simon Jenkins
Thursday 20th March 2025A report out this week highlights how destructive the cult of the exam is in Britain’s schools...
The Guardian view on the arts in schools: classrooms need more creativity | Editorial
Thursday 20th March 2025The promising early signs are that Prof Becky Francis’s education review will boost music, art and dramaIf the review of English schools led by Prof Becky Francis leads to a boost for the arts, this will be an excellent outcome...
Big drop in overseas students at Scottish universities
Thursday 20th March 2025The decline comes after foreign student numbers reached an all-time high in the previous year...
Labour to scrutinise school smartphone bans as pressure grows over impact on teenagers
Thursday 20th March 2025Exclusive: TV drama Adolescence adds to pressure from MPs for action to help schools tackle impact of social mediaBridget Phillipson is to begin an in-depth scrutiny of smartphone bans in schools in England as pressure grows from MPs to act on the effect of social media on teenagers...
Madrid plans to limit computer and tablet use in primary schools to two hours a week
Thursday 20th March 2025Teachers will be banned from setting homework involving screens in effort to tackle ‘risks’ of intensive use of IT at young ageThe regional government of Madrid has unveiled plans to limit the use of computers and tablets in primary schools to a maximum of two hours a week in an effort to tackle “the risks associated with the early, intensive and inappropriate use of information technology”...
US universities face choice to surrender or fight back against Trump’s takeover
Thursday 20th March 2025‘Extraordinary fear’ takes hold at universities as Trump campaign threatens investigations or loss of federal fundsThe Trump administration’s unprecedented pressure campaign on American higher education – which is forcing major universities to bow to its demands or risk investigations and the loss of millions of dollars in federal money – is so far facing little pushback from the schools affected...
Who can get 15 and 30 hours of free childcare?
Thursday 20th March 2025Childcare support for working parents varies across the UK, depending on the child's age...
Childcare costs fall for the first time in 15 years – but nurseries are worried
Thursday 20th March 2025The Coram charity's survey shows annual nursery costs for a child under two in England have fallen...
NI teachers offered 5.5% pay rise again
Wednesday 19th March 2025In February, the majority of teachers rejected an offer of 5...
Group of Labour MPs seeking to steer young men away from ‘toxic influencers’
Wednesday 19th March 2025Exclusive: new group of predominantly male MPs urge party to speak to men directly to tackle toxic masculinityDozens of Labour MPs have joined forces in an effort to steer young men away from “toxic influencers” and the manosphere with positive messages about fatherhood and the promise of better paternity rights, the Guardian has learned...
I’m a recent Stem grad. Here’s why the right is winning us over
Tuesday 18th March 2025Corporations started wooing my friends as soon as college began...
Fewer GCSE exams proposed in Labour’s curriculum review – but Sats to stay
Tuesday 18th March 2025Interim report for schools in England to also recommend more emphasis on digital and media literacy, sustainability and climate sciencePupils should sit fewer GCSE exams and Michael Gove’s English baccalaureate faces being scrapped under plans to be recommended in Labour’s long-awaited curriculum review...
How Covid changed children in Britain
Tuesday 18th March 2025Uncertainty, disruption, increased screen use and crippling anxiety are some of the legacies since pandemic school closuresWhen it comes to disasters, children are habitually “ignored and mistreated”, according to the disasters expert Prof Lucy Easthope...
Parents in England: share your experience of your children being absent from school
Tuesday 18th March 2025We would like to hear from parents and the reasons why their children have been finding it difficult to attend schoolFive years after Covid closed schools in England, there is still a crisis in school attendance...
Ofsted ex-chief says schools bill ‘very likely’ to make education in England worse
Monday 17th March 2025Amanda Spielman says outlined changes ‘put unions and union members ahead of children’Oftsed’s former chief inspector has sparked a row with the government after saying the proposed legislation on schools was “very likely” to make education in England worse...
Harvard offers free tuition to students from families earning under $200,000
Monday 17th March 2025Ivy League school is latest US university to make step with aim to make it affordable to ‘more students than ever’Harvard University is offering free tuition to more students, the Ivy League school announced on Monday, joining a growing number of higher education institutions in the US to take such a step...
T-levels are a disaster – and young people are suffering because ministers won’t admit it | Susanna Rustin
Monday 17th March 2025They were supposed to boost vocational learning, but they’re not popular with students and the dropout rate is high...
Starmer urged to introduce wealth tax instead of cutting disability benefits – UK politics live
Monday 17th March 2025Diane Abbott says a wealth tax of 2% on people with assets over £10m would raise £24bn a yearAmanda Spielman, the former head of Ofsted, has accused the government of putting the interests of teaching unions ahead of the needs of pupils...
Parents tell of school closure 'sleepless nights'
Monday 17th March 2025Parents and carers say their fight against the closure of Queensway Primary in Yeadon will continue...
AI offers 'generational opportunity' for schools
Monday 17th March 2025Allison Gardner says schools should be commended for using artificial intelligence in teaching...
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