Tuesday
Chemistry curriculum fails to reflect digital reality, RSC warns
Students are completing time-consuming tasks by hand, whereas professional scientists use advanced tools such as AI and machine learning, says Royal Society of Chemistry
Most teachers have a homeless child at their school
And three-quarters of teachers say that homelessness has led to pupils doing poorly in assessments, research shows
Monday
No extra funding for teacher pay, Treasury confirms
Treasury says the DfE must fund any teacher pay award from its existing budget, with no additional money being provided beyond spending review settlements
Exam board fined a record £2m for ‘serious breaches’
Ofqual says the size of Pearson’s fine for three separate cases reflects the ‘serious nature’ of its failures, which affected ‘tens of thousands’ of students
Google seeks to develop chatbot for teachers
Google DeepMind aims to build a version of its Gemini chatbot that can be used by teachers and is trained on the national curriculum in England
Why we need to pay more attention to the social side of attendance
Pupils with SEND have far higher absence rates than those without. We need systemic change, not simply a focus on attendance, argues this headteacher
What Ofqual’s new exam data reveals about grading errors
New Ofqual data on the number of GCSE and A-level marks changed on review after the summer 2025 exams provides more clarity on the accuracy of marking, explains Dennis Sherwood
What I’ve learned in my first term as a headteacher
From realising that you can’t do it all to the importance of taking your time with new initiatives, these are the key lessons one new head has taken from the past three months
Friday
Eton-backed free schools among projects spared in DfE review
Two maths schools have also been given the go-ahead but most of the 44 mainstream free-school schemes that were on hold look set to be scrapped
SEND spending favours mainstream ‘at expense of special schools’
Leaders question government decision to drop special and alternative provision free schools amid pressure for specialist places
Safeguarding review on ‘zero tolerance’ sparks national row
Hackney safeguarding chair will write to the education secretary to voice concerns over criticism of the review from DfE behaviour ambassador Tom Bennett
Only 7% of heads will spend more time on arts post-EBacc
School leaders are not planning changes to arts provision, despite the scrapping of the EBacc, polling reveals
