Robin Fletcher, chief executive of the Boarding Schools' Association (BSA), has said the 'Hogwarts effect', which saw an increase in the number of pupils attending boarding school in order to be like Harry Potter, is still strong among overseas students but less so among pupils in the UK. By Adi Bloom, Tes.

A study by the University of Roehampton has found fewer 16-year-olds in England are gaining a computing qualification. Miles Berry, an author of the report and member of the ISC Digital Strategy Group, has said the new GCSE has a reputation for being harder than other subjects, which is putting off less academic students. By Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News.

Leaders at British boarding schools will attend an event in Ghana, supported by the UK’s Department for International Trade and British High Commission in Accra, to appeal to students in a market where interest in UK boarding has risen. By Viggo Stacey, PIE News. The article uses figures from the Independent Schools Council's annual Census.

Two academics discuss results from international assessments, which have looked into the effect of class size on educational outcomes. By David Rutkowsi and Dirk Hastedt, Tes.

A report commissioned by Gordonstoun School on its outdoor learning activities was unveiled yesterday at the BSA annual conference. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Pupils who are self-harming and taking overdoses are being turned away up to four times before receiving help due to huge cutbacks in the provision of child and adolescent mental health services. By Dave Speck, Tes.

Citizens UK has found secondary school pupils who are entitled to free school meals are losing out on millions of pounds every year in unspent lunch funds, which is kept by the meal providers. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

England Athletics is launching a running scheme #RunAndRevise, which hopes to encourage pupils to support their mental health over the exam period through running. By Paige Neal-Holder, BBC News.

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) monitors the national and educational press in order to keep independent schools up-to-date with relevant education news. The DNS is a service primarily for schools in membership of ISC associations, although other interested parties can choose to sign-up. We endeavour to include relevant news and commentary and, wherever possible, notable public letters. Where capacity allows, we may include links to ISC blogs, press statements and information about school or association events. News stories are selected based on their relevance to the independent sector as a whole. Editorial control of the DNS remains solely with the ISC.

Sign-up to the email service is available on our website.

Members can contact the ISC if they know in advance of news, letters or opinions that are likely to feature in the media, or are aware of existing coverage which they would like to see featured in the DNS.

Headlines and first-line summaries are written by the ISC with the link directing to the source material. You should read and comply with the terms and conditions of the websites to which we link.