In an interview with GB News, shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry acknowledged that Labour’s VAT plans risk increasing class sizes at state schools "in the short term". When asked by Camilla Tominey about predictions that thousands of fee-paying pupils may have to move to the state sector, Ms Thornberry said: "Certainly, some schools that have vacancies [may take former independent school pupils]. My primary schools and my secondary schools have space, and they're very welcome... it's fine - and if we have to, in the short term, have larger classes, we have larger classes." By Ben Chapman. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has since insisted Labour’s tax plans would not lead to larger class sizes in the state sector. When asked about Ms Thornberry’s comments, Ms Phillipson said: “No, I’m afraid that is not right.” The senior frontbencher added that she is happy to have a word with Ms Thornberry about her remarks “because that is not the position”. By Archie Mitchell, The Independent.

Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association (ISA), is quoted in The Telegraph on the impact of the VAT pledge. He referenced the fall in new pupils at independent schools, and the potential for more school closures, adding: “It’s a state sector that has been underfunded, and this will put greater pressure on it. We would rather be part of the solution than putting extra pressure on the state sector." A number of schools in membership of the Independent School Council's (ISC) constituent associations are mentioned. By Charles Hymas. Education secretary Gillian Keegan has written an article titled State schools will be damaged by Labour’s ill-thought-through VAT plans, in which she refers to the tax policy as "self-defeating". She writes: "This would increase class sizes, artificially choking access for disadvantaged pupils to high-demand places at good and outstanding state schools across the country and lowering the standard of education." (The item can be found beneath the news story, half-way down the page).

The Labour Party's plans to impose VAT on independent school fees could lead to the “McDonaldisation” of education if schools are forced to make drastic cost cuts, the headteacher of a prep school in the West Midlands has warned. Deneal Smith, headteacher of Bootham School, is also quoted on the potential impact of the tax policy. "We cannot diminish that offering [of 25 A-levels], which is the reason parents send their children here – those smaller classrooms and more bespoke programmes. I’m doing my best to maintain everything that’s made the school what it is.” Poppy Wood, The Telegraph. 

As part of its childcare plan, Labour has pledged to create 100,000 additional childcare places and more than 3,000 new nurseries using funds from VAT levied on independent school fees. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said that, if elected, his party will "create the childcare places needed to turn the page, and rebuild Britain”. By Sofia Ferreira Santos and Alice Evans, BBC News.

Pay and conditions are making it harder for state schools to retain staff, leaders have warned, as analysis of ISC figures suggests more than 8,500 teachers have moved from state to independent schools since 2019. The news comes despite a government decision to reduce its teacher recruitment targets, partly because of what it says is improved recruitment from outside the state sector. By Lucas Cumiskey, Schools Week.

The Sunday Times talks to teachers from the UK who have left their roles to work in schools abroad, following the publication of government figures that suggest the number of teacher vacancies is at its highest since 2010. By Sian Griffiths. 

The proportion of state school pupils accepted into the University of Cambridge has fallen this year for the first time in a decade. According to undergraduate data published by the university, 1,895 pupils joined from state schools this academic year, making up 72.6 per cent of successful UK applicants. The numbers mark a small drop from the previous year, when 72.9 per cent of the university's undergraduate intake was state-educated. By Poppy Wood, The Telegraph. 

Writing in Tes, author and educator Catherine Bruton calls for the return of storytelling in classrooms, saying: "I have seen first-hand the power of stories to help children frame or express difficult experiences and make sense of trauma."

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