Robin Walker has been elected as chair of the Education Select Committee, which plays a key role in scrutinising the Government's education policy. Mr Walker succeeds Robert Halfon, the committee's former chair. By Callum Mason, Tes.

Mr Walker told Schools Week that, in addition to continuing the committee's focus on attendance, safeguarding, skills, careers and SEND, he would like to work with colleagues to seek an “early inquiry” into childcare and early years. By Amy Walker.

Addressing delegates at the Times Higher Education Conference, Robert Halfon, the new universities minister, said that supporting disadvantaged pupils should be one of the “three purposes” of universities and dismissed concerns about a fall in the number of independent school pupils getting into Oxbridge. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

A study published by the Higher Education Policy Institute has recommended that students should take part in activities within the wider community to 'give them a greater sense of belonging'. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

In a letter to the School Teachers’ Review Body, which advises on teacher pay, education secretary Gillian Keegan has hinted that teacher pay rises next year will not necessarily be covered by government funding and may need to come from school budgets. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

Teachers’ unions have reacted to the news, calling for the Government to provide financial support for schools struggling to keep up with rising costs and teacher pay rises. By Amy Walker, Schools Week.

Writing in Schools Week, Stephen Morales, chief executive at the Institute of School and Business Leadership, warns that "the current financial situation leaves even the most efficient, innovative and well-structured schools (and trusts) highly exposed, disarmed, and unable to weather the financial crisis".

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), has tried to reassure headteachers that 'strike action will not lead to the closure of schools'. The union is holding its first ballot on industrial action over pay in its 125-year history. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

Members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) have voted to take strike action in the hope of securing a better pay offer. Officials have said they are considering a strike for the week beginning 5 December. BBC News.

References to the word 'woman' could be taken out of NHS services in Scotland under new guidelines that propose moving away from “gendered healthcare”. Concern is also reportedly growing over the gender service for young people in Glasgow, which follows a similar model to the Tavistock children’s gender clinic. The Tavistock clinic is being closed by NHS England. By Helen Puttick, The Times.

The Times includes a comment piece by former educational psychologist Carolyn Brown considering the issue of gender identity in light of an increasing number of pupils in Scotland identifying as trans.

Jamie Barton, headteacher of Jewellery Quarter Academy in Birmingham, writes in Tes about his school's experience of bullying and how the introduction of a policy on mobile phone use was the first step in addressing the issue.

Marina Gardiner Legge, headmistress of Oxford High School GDST and president-elect of the Girls' Schools Association (GSA), is interviewed in Independent School Management Plus, where she discusses the "extraordinary power" of students, the rewards of being a headteacher as well as the challenges school leaders are facing. By Irena Barker.

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