The Telegraph reports that teenagers sitting their GCSE and A-level exams in England this term face tougher grading than their peers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Ofqual, the exam regulator in England, has chosen to return to 2019 grading levels, while grades are expected to remain higher than they were in 2019 in the devolved nations. The article quotes Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council (ISC). By Louisa Clarence-Smith.

A new SATs assessment taken by 10 and 11-year-olds has been described as a "disgrace" by hundreds of parents who say it has damaged their children’s mental health. Pupils had to answer a question every 34 seconds, and even high achievers were said to have struggled to complete last week's reading paper, which required children in Year 6 to read 2,106 words across three texts - a 34 per cent rise on 1,564 last year. By Shayma Bakht, The Times.

Schools minister Nick Gibb has promised to look at concerns that last week’s SATs were too difficult amid claims one reading paper left some Year 6 pupils in “tears”. Mr Gibb has said the tests should not be “too hard” as that is “not the purpose” of the assessment. By Tara Cobham, The Independent.

The Independent invites readers to take a quiz to find out if they would pass the Year 6 SATs maths paper. By Maryam Zakir-Hussain.

In a new blog to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, Valerie Sheriff, Rupert House School’s designated mental health lead, highlights the ways in which the school is promoting mental health and wellbeing among its pupils and staff.

Addressing delegates at the National Conservatism Conference, Katharine Birbalsingh claimed that political correctness is getting worse everywhere, particularly at independent schools. Ms Birbalsingh, founder of the Michaela Community School, said: “Since you take your children out of a state school and put them in a private school, you think you’ve dealt with the problem. What you don’t get is that the private schools are just like the state schools in terms of culture. In fact, in many ways, they’re worse." By Dominic Penna, The Telegraph.

Lindsey Hughes, head of Channing School, will tell the annual AMCIS conference today that school marketing budgets are the last thing that schools should axe, despite increasing financial pressures. Mrs Hughes will add that, "above all, a school must live up to how it is selling itself and ensure it is providing a quality product". Independent School Management Plus.

In a letter to The Times, Clarissa Farr argues that prioritising the subject of gender fluidity in schools, following the findings of a recent Civitas survey suggesting one in 10 older teenagers would like to change gender, is "disproportionate to the requirement". Instead, the former independent school high mistress suggests: "Children should be taught how to think rather than what to think. I would go further and say that they simply need the conditions where they learn how to think for themselves". The letter can be found halfway down the page.

Nick Gibb has said industrial action by tens of thousands of teachers could have been averted if the government had communicated more clearly that their pay offer was fully funded. The ballot for repeated strikes “might have gone a different way” if teachers had been better reassured, the schools minister admitted. By Jane Merrick, iNews.

According to Gillian Keegan, the National Education Union (NEU) should “seek clarity” from the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) over its claim the government has “failed to provide adequate information on funding” for teacher pay. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

The 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) has ranked England in fourth place for reading attainment. Compared against 42 other countries, England has climbed up the rankings since it came joint eighth in the previous Pirls study in 2016, though its average reading achievement score has fallen slightly from 559 in 2016 to 558 in 2021. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

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