National News
Schoolchildren without smartphones penalised with higher bus fares
Saturday 26th September 2026Despite guidance keeping mobile phones out of England’s schools, cheaper travel may only be available via an appSchoolchildren who do not own smartphones face paying hundreds of pounds extra in annual bus fares as cheaper travel passes are digitised...
‘They accepted the money but didn’t take care of my child’: what Luna Wong’s death reveals about the treatment of international students in the UK
Saturday 26th September 2026When her parents waved her off to study in England they hoped it would be a fresh start the 16-year-old needed after struggling with her mental health in Hong Kong...
We all know a lack of exercise is bad for our bodies. So what is relying on AI doing to our brains? | Devi Sridhar
Friday 25th September 2026I suspect nearly all of my students use AI, and I worry about its corrosive effects...
The Guardian view on vocational GCSEs: why now? | Editorial
Thursday 24th September 2026Ministers’ commitment to cutting youth unemployment is admirable, but how new qualifications will help is unclearThe first question that should be asked about plans to launch a batch of vocational GCSEs is: how will these differ from the roughly 50 similar courses that already exist? Is this primarily a rebadging exercise, aimed at boosting the qualifications’ status and name recognition, while signalling how seriously non-academic education is taken by Andy Burnham and his education secretary, Lucy Powell? Or is there something the matter with the existing courses that they want to put right?The independent curriculum review completed last year recommended a moratorium on new technical awards, except where there is an “exceptionally compelling” case for change...
Londoners get £3bn a year subsidy because structure of council tax biased against north, says thinktank – UK politics live
Thursday 24th September 2026Resolution Foundation says households outside London are paying hundreds of pounds a year more in council tax than they would be under a fair systemTim Shipman has written about what will be coming up at the Labour conference next week in his cover story for the Spectator...
Badenoch says Tories could not form pact with Reform UK because they’re too ‘problematic’ – UK politics live
Thursday 24th September 2026Conservative leader suggests making a deal amid scandals surrounding Farage’s party could derail the reputational clean-up of her own partyTim Shipman has written about what will be coming up at the Labour conference next week in his cover story for the Spectator...
Did you sit vocational qualifications in the past and more recently in England? We would like to hear from you
Thursday 24th September 2026How did you find them? Were they helpful in getting you to the next stage in your education or in securing a job?Teenagers are to be offered new vocational GCSEs in England, marking the biggest changes to the qualification for more than a decade...
Teenagers to be offered new vocational GCSE subjects in school
Thursday 24th September 2026New GCSE subjects could include child development and building and construction as vocational courses are being introduced...
Home Office orders review after two small boats reach Kent without being intercepted – UK politics live
Thursday 24th September 2026Shabana Mahmood says the failure to intercept the two boats was ‘not acceptable’Tim Shipman has written about what will be coming up at the Labour conference next week in his cover story for the Spectator...
UK defence contractors to offer 40,000 apprenticeships, placements and jobs
Wednesday 23rd September 2026Wes Streeting says he leads a ‘ministry for growth’ as Labour seeks to show more defence spending will create UK jobsDefence contractors have promised to create 40,000 apprenticeships, work experience placements and jobs for young people each year, as Wes Streeting claimed to be overseeing a “ministry for growth”...
Teenagers to be offered new vocational GCSE subjects in school
Wednesday 23rd September 2026New GCSE subjects could include child development and building and construction as vocational courses are being introduced...
Pupils to be offered vocational GCSEs in radical shake-up of system in England
Wednesday 23rd September 2026Courses such as finance and construction form part of PM’s push for education ‘that offers a path for everybody’Teenagers are to be offered a range of new vocational GCSEs under a radical shake-up of the school system in England designed to tackle a crisis that has left nearly a million young people out of work or training...
Schools not ready for AI and 'crying out' for government guidance, report warns
Tuesday 22nd September 2026Author Sir Anthony Seldon says AI needs to be addressed with the same urgency as a war or epidemic...
New Ofsted inspection regime is damaging our health, headteachers say
Monday 21st September 2026School leaders’ union says new system is worse than one it replaced and has left members feeling overwhelmedHeadteachers in England want Ofsted to stop grading their schools, saying its new inspection regime is harming their mental health and creating greater stress than the system it was designed to replace...
Union calls for halt to graded Ofsted inspections over health concerns
Sunday 20th September 2026The National Association of Head Teachers says inspections in England may pose a "risk to life" for school leaders...
Ms Rachel, the controversial queen of toddler TV: ‘My goal isn’t to be the most liked. It’s to help kids and speak the truth’
Sunday 20th September 2026Her catchy videos have racked up billions of views, but Rachel Accurso’s statements on everything from Gaza to LGBTQ rights have caused a stir...
Water your plants and get an eye mask: 48 life rules every student – and adult – needs to know
Sunday 20th September 2026If you’re a fresher, this may be the first time you’ve ever lived away from home...
After 20 years of my school dinners campaign, I’m a happy man. At last, we’re going to feed kids properly | Jamie Oliver
Saturday 19th September 2026This week’s government announcement on school food standards is huge...
European education powerhouses rocked by falling scores in global study
Saturday 19th September 2026France and Germany among countries with low Pisa scores, which show how well 15-year-olds use school learning in lifeFrance’s were its worst ever...
Think it’s time for gen Z to ‘grow up’? You’re even more out of touch than the British state | Gaby Hinsliff
Friday 18th September 2026We can’t expect young people to make a seamless transition from childhood to adulthood in this chilly economic climate...
‘It was a mess. I had to do something’: the personal struggle that inspired rap star Giggs to start a special needs school
Friday 18th September 2026After a battle to get his autistic children properly assessed, the London MC has co-founded a specialist centre in Kent to help neurodivergent kids realise their potentialIt has been a busy few weeks for the London rapper Giggs...
Children and mature adults we know about, but why is society so clueless about young people in between? | Gaby Hinsliff
Friday 18th September 2026While there’s much mocking of gen Z, the idea that the state should do more for those aged 18 to 25 is catching on around Westminster...
Bad Apples review – Saoirse Ronan’s suffering teacher best thing about school horror-satire
Thursday 17th September 2026Ronan plays a teacher who finds a way to deal with a disruptive pupil in Jonatan Etzler’s implausible film, but it’s not shocking or funny enoughHere is a strange, heavy-handed and unpersuasive black comedy which owes what success it has to the star-power of its lead, Saoirse Ronan, who is incapable of giving an uninteresting performance...
Union claims victory as ministers agree to fully fund pay rise for teachers in England
Wednesday 16th September 2026National Education Union welcomes news that schools will not have to partly fund increase from their own budgetsThe UK’s biggest education union is claiming a major victory after the government bowed to pressure and agreed to fully fund a forthcoming pay increase for teachers in England in a sudden U-turn on previous policy...
Schools in England get extra £500m in bid to avoid teachers' pay strike
Wednesday 16th September 2026The offer of extra money by the government reduces the prospect of strike action by the largest teaching union...
Students in Gaza ‘devastated’ after plan for them to study in Belgium fails
Wednesday 16th September 2026Belgian government unable to agree on evacuation of 13 students to take up scholarships at universitiesStudents who are unable to leave Gaza and take up scholarships at Belgian universities have said they are devastated after Belgium’s government hit deadlock on a plan enabling them to leave the war-torn territory...
‘It sits at the meeting point of science and the humanities’: should you study psychology?
Wednesday 16th September 2026Psychology has become one of the most popular courses at university...
Parents seek out school uniform deals, cutting average spend to £54.53
Tuesday 15th September 2026Overall grocery inflation jumps to 2.3%, as Ocado and Lidl gain market shareBusiness live – latest updatesParents and carers spent 12...
Why has university become such a scam? | Zoe Williams
Monday 14th September 2026Graduates are leaving with an average debt of £53,000 – while entry-level jobs plummet...
Deep-fried food banned under new school dinner rules in England
Monday 14th September 2026The government describes its new school food standards as "once-in-a-generation changes"...
Deep-fried food banned under new school dinner rules in England
Sunday 13th September 2026The government describes its new school food standards as "once-in-a-generation changes"...
Researchers hope powerful new microscope will reveal ‘root cause’ of incurable bowel disease
Sunday 13th September 2026No run-of-the-mill tech, ‘Curie’ operates at 10 times the resolution of conventional microscopy and could spur discoveries leading to new treatmentThe number of young people living with debilitating and incurable bowel conditions worldwide is growing, but researchers now hope a one-of-a-kind microscope will help them understand such diseases and find new treatments...
‘Really helpful’: the AI bootcamps aimed at addressing UK youth unemployment
Sunday 13th September 2026Pilot project in Preston comes with apprenticeship offer for Neets at end of three-week courseIn a youth centre opposite Preston bus station, the UK government is trying to address two of the greatest challenges facing the national economy: AI and youth unemployment...
Rise of the student commuters: weighing the costs of living at home or in halls
Sunday 13th September 2026Changing social trends and creative timetables are making it more likely for students to stay at home while they study...
Revealed: the university courses students regret – and those they don’t
Saturday 12th September 2026We looked at graduates’ satisfaction levels after leaving university – and while most were happy, up to a third wish they’d picked a different subjectGloomy headlines might claim that a degree is less worthwhile than it once was, but one sliver of good news is that the most recent graduates don’t regret their time on campus...
Is university still worth it? What you need to know before committing
Saturday 12th September 2026With AI, an unsettled jobs market and rising student costs, it’s crucial to make the most of your experience“To me it’s definitely still worth going to university – absolutely it is,” says Nick Hillman, chief executive of the Higher Education Policy Institute thinktank...
Methodology behind the 2027 Guardian University Guide
Saturday 12th September 2026The compiler of the Guardian university league tables explains the technicalities of the processThe main table and subject tablesHow to use the Guardian University GuideDownload the spreadsheetsView the full guideWe use eight measures of performance, covering all stages of the student life cycle, to put together a league table for 66 subjects...
The Guardian University Guide 2027 – the rankings
Saturday 12th September 2026Find a course at one of the top universities in the country...
How to use the Guardian University Guide 2027
Saturday 12th September 2026Don’t be overwhelmed by the choice on offer – use this guide to help make a selectionThe 2027 league tableView the full guideWelcome to the Guardian University Guide 2027...
Northern Ireland schools must give girls option to wear trousers from next year
Friday 11th September 2026DUP education minister accused of dragging feet before revising guidelines that also apply to PE and gamesSchools in Northern Ireland must give girls the choice to wear trousers as part of their uniforms as well as for PE and games, according to revised guidelines...
Mail on Sunday ends up funding state school scholarship via payout to MP
Friday 11th September 2026Labour’s Catherine Atkinson says she will give students £5,000 paid to her by paper that falsely accused her of concealing private school educationA new scholarship supporting state-educated students will be inadvertently funded by the Mail on Sunday (MoS), using a payout it made after being threatened with legal action by the Labour MP Catherine Atkinson...
Pupils missed 15m hours of school time during UK’s June heatwave, study finds
Friday 11th September 2026At least 760,000 children in England and Wales missed lessons as more than 1,700 schools closed or finished earlyThe gruelling heatwave that hit the UK in June caused pupils to miss more than 15m hours of lesson time as soaring temperatures forced hundreds of schools to close, according to a study...
Many teachers disagree with hardline attendance policies, report suggests
Wednesday 9th September 2026Staff at schools in England say enforcement is ‘relentless’ and occasional holiday less worrying than disengagementTeachers have so little belief in the importance of pupils’ full school attendance that they would take their own children on term time holidays if they could, staff have told a three-year research programme...
Teachers say holidays in term can be worth more than time in school
Wednesday 9th September 2026School staff tell focus groups they believe school system in England and Wales cannot deal with attendance crisisTeachers have so little belief in the importance of pupils’ full school attendance that they would take their own children on term time holidays if they could, staff have told a three-year research programme...
Babies born to anaemic mothers have smaller brains, study finds
Wednesday 9th September 2026Key regions of the brain linked to movement, learning and emotions were affected and may lead to cognitive problems Babies born to mothers with anaemia have smaller brains, particularly in key regions linked to movement, learning and the regulation of emotion, according to a study...
Thousands of teens missing education 'under the radar' of official stats, report warns
Tuesday 8th September 2026The children's commissioner for England says many are enrolled at college but aren't showing up...
Meta continues to run ads promoting child sexual abuse material in India - report
Tuesday 8th September 2026The report follows a BBC Eye investigation that found Instagram running paid ads promoting such material in India...
The Guardian view on English schools: teachers and pupils should be proud of bucking a downward trend | Editorial
Tuesday 8th September 2026International comparisons suggest that some things are being done right in England’s classroomsTeachers, headteachers, children, parents and politicians should all feel proud of England’s schools, which have bucked a disappointing international trend...
Australia’s classroom disruption among worst in world, prompting calls for ‘digital detox’
Tuesday 8th September 2026Public school students are the equivalent of two and a half years behind their independent peers, as global report shows decline in reading and mathsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPublic school students are more than two years behind their independent counterparts and Australia’s classroom disruption remains among the worst in the world, a global report has found...
English pupils ahead of rest of UK in international school tests
Tuesday 8th September 2026The latest Pisa report also warned of a global decline in teenagers' reading skills...
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