National News
Pupils with Send plans in England likely to double to one in 10 in rush for support
Sunday 6th September 2026Schools and councils express financial concerns as EHCP applications surge before potential change in provision‘Powerful example’: minister looks to Essex school for blueprint to transform Send provisionSchools and councils across England are expecting the proportion of children with special needs plans to double to one in 10, with families rushing to secure support before ministers bring in changes...
‘Powerful example’: minister looks to Essex school for blueprint to transform Send provision
Sunday 6th September 2026Georgia Gould says moving system towards inclusion will mean parents ‘don’t need to fight’ for support in futurePupils with Send plans in England likely to double in rush for supportGeorgia Gould is in a race against time...
Aged 41, I’m back at my secondary school – but this time they’ve let me in the staffroom | Nell Frizzell
Sunday 6th September 2026I’m one of many creatives turning to teaching mid-career, but that’s no bad thing...
‘Bold, brilliant, thrilling’: leading authors on the novels every school should teach
Saturday 5th September 2026A new term, a new PM … time for a new English curriculum? We ask writers from Ben Okri to Samantha Harvey to pick books that will inspire a lifelong love of readingFor the first time ever, we have a British prime minister who studied for an English degree...
Michael Owen doesn't tell his children he loves them - how big a deal is that?
Saturday 5th September 2026His comments sparked discussions around parenting, gender and culture, and just how important those three simple words are...
The Guardian view on music and drama education: reversing elitism starts at school | Editorial
Friday 4th September 2026The number of students taking creative subjects at A-level and GCSE is at a record low...
Even high school reporters are facing censorship now
Friday 4th September 2026As teenage journalists deal with threats to their school newspapers, they’re calling in attorneys for back upHigh school journalism is often seen as a gentle apprenticeship: a place where teenagers cut their teeth on post-game reports from Friday night football or incremental updates of a student-council race...
Britain’s schools are failing its young people – and 1m Neets are paying the price | Simon Jenkins
Friday 4th September 2026Obsessed with exams, devoid of vocational training: there is a total mismatch between schools and life beyond their gatesBlame the schools...
Schools in England face checks to root out unhealthy lunches
Thursday 3rd September 2026Ministers draw up inspection regime to enforce rules limiting sugar, fat and saltSchools could be reprimanded if they serve food containing too much fat, salt or sugar under new checks to ensure pupils receive healthy lunches...
Teenager in Wales given detention sentence for stabbing teacher in head
Thursday 3rd September 2026Judge voices concern about possible copycat incidents after boy, 16, found guilty over attack at school in PembrokeshireA judge has expressed concern over possible copycat attacks on school staff as he sentenced a teenager who stabbed a teacher in the head to four and a half years in youth detention...
‘Internal exclusion’ of England secondary school students almost triples in three years
Thursday 3rd September 2026Exclusive: new data shows poorer pupils and those with Send are disproportionately affected by the measureThe proportion of secondary school students in England removed from class and placed in “internal exclusion” as a disciplinary measure has almost trebled in three years, according to new data...
‘A huge learning curve’: apprentices on the benefits and pitfalls of vocational training
Tuesday 1st September 2026While many young people have found jobs and built careers, some have struggled to complete their coursesThe crisis in the youth employment market, with almost a million young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the UK, has placed fresh emphasis on ways of getting employees into the workforce...
‘Alarm bells were going off’: parents tell of ordeal at Send school closed down after abuse allegations
Tuesday 1st September 2026Annette and Kevin Maxwell say children with special needs have become moneymaking tool for private companiesAnnette and Kevin Maxwell were nervous about sending their son Jonah to a residential home for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send)...
Autistic boy who took replica knife to school has exclusion quashed by high court
Tuesday 1st September 2026Boy’s mother says she hopes case will help others, as judge says exclusion should be ‘a tool of last resort’The mother of a 10-year-old autistic boy who had his permanent exclusion from a primary school quashed by the high court has said she hopes the ruling helps other children...
The Guardian view on loneliness: the decline in friendship leaves gen Z exposed | Editorial
Tuesday 1st September 2026Problems with housing, jobs and technology have dented young people’s confidence in the future and each otherHope, Raye told a crowd at Reading festival on Saturday, was the theme of a set inspired by her second album...
UK houses near top state secondary schools cost £40,000 more, research reveals
Monday 31st August 2026Premium of nearly 10% paid by housebuyers comparable with cost of a cheaper private school over seven yearsA house near a top state secondary school costs an extra £40,000 on average, according to research that reveals education premiums that rank alongside some private school fees...
French high schools rush to put Macron’s phone ban into force
Monday 31st August 2026Unions say ban will take time to enact, while president also wants under-15s social media ban as key legacyFrench high schools are rushing to put in place a ban on mobile phones this week as Emmanuel Macron pushes for children to spend less time in front of screens...
More and more undergrads are living at home. That’s a crying shame – here’s why | Rohan Sathyamoorthy
Monday 31st August 2026Spiralling rental costs have made living with parents the only option for some students...
Smelling test: children need education in sniffing aromas, scientist says
Monday 31st August 2026Exclusive: Dr Will Tullett says better understanding of scents can improve wellbeing and perception of the worldChildren need a better education in sniffing aromas, a leading historian of smells has said, noting it may improve their wellbeing and help them understand the world around them...
Meet the gen Zers finding job opportunities teaching English abroad
Sunday 30th August 2026Some young people are teaching in countries like South Korea as education funding is gutted and recent grads face a tough job market in their own countriesA year ago, Arianna Marie, 25, was struggling to control the students in her Florida elementary school classroom...
Six ways parents could make the return to school a little easier
Sunday 30th August 2026Parenting experts give their top tips on how to make sure back-to-school runs as smoothly as possible...
‘In walked this big bundle of energy’: the day Dolly Parton came to Rotherham
Saturday 29th August 2026Country star came to South Yorkshire town in 2007 for UK launch of the Imagination Library, her book donation schemeShane Jarman was up a ladder decorating a Christmas tree at the school where he was deputy headteacher when he got a call asking him to come to Rotherham hospital ASAP...
Tom Towelling Teaches You to Knit review – quirky yarns and a pop quiz in maths
Friday 28th August 2026Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Hopping from a PowerPoint on hairlines to songs about favourite motorways, Towelling’s set is fun but drops a stitch or twoThe route from the classroom to the comedy stage is well travelled, and ex-maths teacher Tom Towelling makes it the thread of his show here, conducting his audience like so many recalcitrant pupils under his charge...
Number of young people in UK not in work or education falls below 1 million
Thursday 27th August 2026Figure is 30,000 higher than a year ago but latest data is a boost to efforts to reverse the rise in economic inactivityBusiness live – latest updatesThe number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the UK fell below 1 million in the latest three-month period...
What does Neet stand for and why does the UK have so many?
Thursday 27th August 2026Ministers want to tackle the high number of young people not in education, employment or training...
Russia says it could hit UK military targets over supply of missile technology to Ukraine – UK politics live
Thursday 27th August 2026Kremlin threatens British targets inside and outside Ukraine and says UK and France bear ‘direct responsibility’ for Ukrainian strikes on Russia Speaking on the media round this morning, the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, said he expected Meta’s new protections for young people in the US to apply to the UK, but that the government was already taking action on this issue...
Youth unemployment in UK falls below 1 million
Thursday 27th August 2026Number of Neets is 30,000 higher than a year ago but figures boost efforts to reverse rise in economic inactivity The number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the UK fell below 1 million in the latest three-month period...
One in eight young people still out of work or education ahead of major review
Thursday 27th August 2026Just under one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (Neet)...
Number of young people who are ‘Neet’ in UK falls below 1 million
Thursday 27th August 2026Figure is 30,000 higher than a year ago but latest data is a boost to efforts to reverse the rise in economic inactivityBusiness live – latest updatesThe number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the UK fell below 1 million in the latest three-month period...
Russia says it could hit UK military targets over supply of missile technology to Ukraine – as it happened
Thursday 27th August 2026This blog is now closed. You can find the rest of our UK politics coverage hereSpeaking on the media round this morning, the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, said he expected Meta’s new protections for young people in the US to apply to the UK, but that the government was already taking action on this issue...
‘I just give from my heart’: how Dolly Parton’s philanthropy focused most on helping children
Wednesday 26th August 2026Parton put her millions behind causes she believed in – from Covid vaccines to the Imagination Library, which sends children around the world a free book every monthDolly Parton dies aged 80 | Celebrity tributes | A life in picturesParton’s peerless career turned country music cliches inside outShare your tributes and memories of Dolly PartonIn 1991, Dolly Parton made an startling offer to every seventh and eighth-grade student in Sevier County, Tennessee where she grew up: the world-famous singer would personally give them $500 each if they graduated high school...
Year of after-school care now costs £2,800 a child in parts of UK
Tuesday 25th August 2026Bills have jumped 42% in England over the past 10 years – and that excludes the cost of breakfast clubs and extracurricular activities Parents of primary schoolchildren in England will pay 42% more for after-school childcare this year than they did 10 years ago, with annual bills now exceeding more than £2,800 a child in some parts of the UK...
We would like to hear from young people in England who didn’t pass English and/or Maths GCSE
Monday 24th August 2026How did it affect your plans for either further education or getting a job? Did you go through resits? Tell us The government plans to introduce a new “stepping stone” qualification from 2028 for students in England who do not achieve a pass in GCSE maths or English...
How can we stop destroying the prospects of a generation? Scrapping compulsory GCSE resits will be a start | Polly Toynbee
Monday 24th August 2026Michael Gove calls the axing of his Tory strategy ‘bringing back stupid’...
We would like to hear from people in England who didn’t pass English and/or Maths GCSE
Monday 24th August 2026How did it affect your plans for either further education or getting a job? Did you go through resits? Tell us The government plans to introduce a new “stepping stone” qualification from 2028 for students in England who do not achieve a pass in GCSE maths or English...
‘Standard’ velvet hangers? There’s nothing standard about some of the items on John Lewis’s uni essentials list| Emma Beddington
Monday 24th August 2026It used to be that dorm rooms were chaotically messy...
How a new era of heatwaves could shake up the school calendar
Saturday 22nd August 2026Teachers warn it could be increasingly difficult for classrooms to function during the hottest months...
I asked 13 college grads for dorm essentials that stood the test of time
Friday 21st August 2026I asked 13 people about the things they have carried from college into adulthood –and found their modern day equivalents21 things tweens want for back-to-school season, according to tweensSign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better thingsOne of the highlights of the summer before college was trotting off to my local Linens N Things to outfit my new home, a triple dorm room in the Little Building at Emerson College in Boston...
Broken toilets, leaking roofs: Why India's 'cockroach' party wants to fix schools
Friday 21st August 2026The poor state of government schools is the focus of a new campaign by India's Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)...
Fix schools, say India's 'cockroach' protesters. Schoolchildren agree
Friday 21st August 2026The poor state of government schools is the focus of a new campaign by India's Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)...
Broken toilets, leaking roofs: Why India's 'cockroach' party wants to fix schools
Friday 21st August 2026The poor state of government schools is the focus of a new campaign by India's Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)...
The Guardian view on GCSE results: much to celebrate, much to reform | Editorial
Thursday 20th August 2026Another post-pandemic cohort has shown its resilience and talent...
Leaders attack ‘demotivating’ plan to make pupils who fail GCSEs retake maths and English
Thursday 20th August 2026Government announce plan for ‘stepping stone’ qualification as 620,000 year 11 students face retaking maths or English after failure to achieve grade 4The government’s plans to make young people continue studying maths and English if they fail GCSEs could be demotivating and ineffective, according to education experts and school leaders after retake pass rates slumped this year...
'Relentless' GCSE resit cycle 'simply not working', school and college leaders say
Thursday 20th August 2026Pass rates for maths and English resits remain significantly lower than students taking them for the first time...
GCSE results: girls still ahead but gender gap narrows as hundreds of thousands of pupils receive grades – as it happened
Thursday 20th August 2026Nearly a quarter of girls’ entries received one of the higher grades against around a fifth of those from boysAlmost one in four boys in England get top grades in mathsMyles McGinley, managing director of the Cambridge OCR exam board, said more pupils are taking GCSE business studies than in previous years, describing this generation of young people as “increasingly entrepreneurial”...
Five key takeaways from GCSE results day 2026
Thursday 20th August 2026Resits are up, the gap between boys and girls has shrunk and England's regional divide has widened...
GCSE results: almost one in four boys in England get top grades in maths
Thursday 20th August 2026Overall results slightly better than last year, with share receiving grades 7, 8 and 9 rising by 0...
Students wait for GCSE and BTec grades as app launches for 750 schools in England
Thursday 20th August 2026Some pupils in England will be able to see their grades on their phones from 11:00 BST on Thursday...
Students get their GCSE and BTec grades as app launches for 750 schools in England
Thursday 20th August 2026Some pupils in England will be able to see their grades on their phones from 11:00 BST on Thursday...
GCSE results: girls still ahead but gender gap narrows as hundreds of thousands of pupils receive grades – latest updates
Thursday 20th August 2026Nearly a quarter of girls’ entries received one of the higher grades against around a fifth of those from boysAlmost one in four boys in England get top grades in mathsMyles McGinley, managing director of the Cambridge OCR exam board, said more pupils are taking GCSE business studies than in previous years, describing this generation of young people as “increasingly entrepreneurial”...
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