Responding to yesterday's column by James Marriott in which he warned that "a battle over private education looms", six readers have letters published in today's Times. Andrew Butler, deputy chair of governors at the John Lyon’s Foundation (which includes Harrow School), invites Mr Marriott to attend one of Harrow's equity, diversity and inclusion groups, not least to gain an insight into the school foundation's long history of charitable activity. Describing the depth of collaborative work taking place, Mr Butler states: "It [Harrow] works directly with thousands of the least privileged children in the UK, to improve their educational prospects." 

One reader warns that "adding VAT to private school fees will do nothing to address actual or perceived inequalities", while another suggests it would be better for such tax to be phased in "over a number of years" to enable "all parties to adjust in the least disruptive way". On the financial assistance offered by independent schools, a father of two sons who had both received such support writes: "Mr Marriott makes no mention of the generous scholarships and bursaries (in some cases full fees, uniform and extras) made available by private schools to pupils from less moneyed backgrounds." The letters appear at the top of the page.

High-impact sports such as rugby should be considered “abusive” to children’s brains, academics at the universities of Winchester, Nottingham Trent and Bournemouth have said. Having examined medical evidence around sports that can cause serious brain injuries, they concluded that the harm goes against child abuse laws. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times. 

Final figures were released yesterday for last year's GCSE and A-level results. The data, which was released provisionally in the autumn, confirms that the disadvantage gap at GCSE increased to the highest since 2011 at 3.94 (up from 3.84 in 2022), while at A-level, the average grade result was a B-, down from a B in 2022 but up from a C+ in 2019. By Jasmine Norden, Tes.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has released figures showing 16 per cent of children are leaving primary school with decayed teeth as a result of sugary treats and poor tooth brushing. By Shaun Wooller, Daily Mail.

A motion to raise the age at which children start school in Scotland is being supported by 18 MSPs from the SNP, Scottish Greens and Scottish Liberal Democrats. The EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, has also indicated that it would support the introduction of a national kindergarten. By Max Kendix, The Times.

Degree apprenticeships are proving to be a successful and popular career path, according to a report by the Association of Accounting Technicians. It suggests that by the age of 21 degree apprentice graduates can be up to £100,000 better off than their peers attending university. By Jane Hamilton, The Times. 

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