Union leaders have said that “no progress” was made following their meeting yesterday with education secretary Gillian Keegan with the two sides ”no nearer a solution” over a pay agreement. Speaking to Tes, Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said that the meeting was “cordial” but there was “no clear answer” over the possibility of extra money being offered to resolve the industrial dispute this year. By Matilda Martin.

Dr Bousted has said that Gillian Keegan raised the prospect of teachers in 'shortage subjects' being paid more during discussions regarding pay and industrial action. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Winchester College is reportedly set to become the first independent school to join the wave of industrial action taking place from next month. Teachers at the school who are represented by the NEU are poised to strike, with staff at Radley College also said to be seeking trade union recognition that would enable them to ballot for strike action in the future. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

Economists at the Office for National Statistics have accused the NEU of using a 'biased' inflation measure, which, they say, is a 'very poor' indicator of general inflation ahead of the planned strikes. By Louisa Clarence-Smith and Catherine Lough, The Telegraph.

BBC News' 'Reality Check' looks at the pay rises offered to teachers in England and asks whether some will receive an increase of 15.9 per cent.

The Scottish education secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, has said that union leaders have turned down a compromise proposing reduced classroom working hours for primary school teachers as an interim measure until councils hire enough teachers to extend the deal to high schools. By Mark McLaughlin, The Times.

David James and Jane Lunnon, of Lady Eleanor Holles School and Alleyn’s School, reflect on the effects of the pandemic and consider what lies ahead for independent schools. This is an edited extract from the introduction to The State of Independence, Second Edition (Routledge).

Tes features a sample extract from the second edition of 'The State of Independence', edited by David James and Jane Lunnon, in which Jonathan Simons proposes a number of ways that independent schools could increase their accessibility. Mr Simons points to the benefits of "true partnering with the state sector", but also refers to polling carried out for the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which found that financial accessibility, in particular, was 'consistently the most popular answer' when voters were asked what benefits they would like to see independent schools provide. Jonathan Simons is a partner and head of the education practice at Public First.

Writing in The Telegraph, Dr Martin Stephen, a former independent school headmaster, disagrees with a proposal to introduce a 'set quota' for the number of disadvantaged students admitted by universities. He argues: "Quotas merely put a coat of paint over a huge crack in our education wall."

According to The Telegraph, official advice due to be issued by the Department for Education (DfE) in the coming months will warn teachers against “socially transitioning” pupils who question their gender. The DfE is expected to say that permitting pupils to change their names and pronouns to match their preferred gender 'could have a major impact on their psychological wellbeing'. By Camilla Turner.

Figures from the Pupil Safeguarding Survey, carried out by Edurio and The Key education support services, have revealed that one in 10 pupils in England have missed school in the last six months because they have 'felt unsafe'. The report, based on a poll of 70,000 English schoolchildren aged 7-18, found pupils are 'most likely to feel unsafe in corridors and playgrounds'. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

The National Education Union (NEU) has claimed that suspected cyber criminals are “trying to trick NEU members into giving them money”. The union has said its Facebook posts are being targeted by offenders and it is working with specialists to resolve the issue. By Samantha Booth, Schools Week.

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