The Telegraph reports that a number of schools across the country have asked pupils to wear face masks again following a spike in COVID-related staff absences. By Louisa Clarence-Smith.

The Office for Statistics Regulation has told the Department for Education (DfE) that it must ensure the impact of COVID is fully explained in the 2022 secondary school league tables so that the data can continue to be designated as national statistics. By John Roberts, Tes.

Conservative MP Robert Halfon has written a letter on behalf of the Education Select Committee to new education secretary James Cleverly suggesting exam boards should be fined for errors in exam papers this year following reports of several mistakes in exam papers and advance information. By Samantha Booth, Schools Week.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has warned that thousands of children in England could be without complete Year 6 SATs results after some papers went missing and others were marked incorrectly. By Hazel Shearing, BBC News.

UCAS, the university and college admissions service, has said that more school leavers are showing interest in degree apprenticeships and other higher level opportunities alongside their university applications. By Nicola Woolcock and Matilda Davies, The Times.

A poll carried out by Alpha Academic Appeals has revealed that one in six university students admitted to cheating while taking online exams in the past academic year but hardly any were caught. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

According to a survey from the National Governance Association, two-thirds of school or trust governing boards have at least one vacancy as the number of empty posts hits a six-year high. By Tom Belger, Schools Week.

Newly published government guidance advises schools to “assess and balance” the risk of a potential strip-search to a pupil’s mental and physical wellbeing before calling the police following national outcry over the treatment of a 15-year-old black girl, known as Child Q, who was strip-searched by female police officers in 2020. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

The DfE has told schools they must “collect, monitor and analyse” data on the isolation of pupils in order to “interrogate repeat patterns”. By Callum Mason, Tes.

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