Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to embark on his latest “missions tour” to promote the Labour Party's policies on education, which includes a pledge to broaden the national curriculum to give students more access to sport, music and drama. It comes as analysis by Labour reveals 40 per cent of all British cultural stars nominated for major awards in the last decade were educated at independent schools. By Kiran Stacey, The Guardian.

Labour will wait until after the election to set out its full plans to tackle the “enormous” challenge facing the SEND system, shadow education Bridget Phillipson told journalists at the ASCL school leaders' union conference in Liverpool. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Speaking to The Times, Ms Phillipson said a Labour government would embed critical thinking into the national curriculum, particularly across history, IT and maths. She said: “It’s not about suggesting that young people have to view the world in a certain way, but rather about giving them the tools to question, for teachers to support them to engage critically and think about the world around them.” By Nicola Woolcock.

The Observer reports that plans to deliver thousands of new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school places by 2026 are falling behind schedule, with some insiders doubting that the schools will open on time. Many of the special schools announced last year will focus on autism, an area of increasing need. By Anna Fazackerley.

One of the biggest education issues facing the next government will be the state of SEND sufficiency in England, warns Warren Carratt, the CEO of a trust with 14 special schools. Writing in Tes, Mr Carratt says: "It is clear from the rising numbers of pupils entering specialist provision... that we must start questioning if our mainstream school system is truly set up to enable schools to provide for pupils with SEND."

Former prime minister Liz Truss is calling for the government to support a move to safeguard girls’ and women-only spaces for biological females. Ms Truss has introduced a private members’ bill to the House of Commons that she says will “for the first time define sex in law as biological sex”. By Will Hazell, The Telegraph.

Ofsted has warned that meeting MPs’ calls for “deeper and richer” inspections could cost an extra £8.5 million a year. Responding to the Commons Education Select Committee’s inquiry report into school inspection, released today, the inspectorate wrote: “We have continually been asked to do more with less." By Cerys Turner, Tes.

Oxbridge colleges must actively help their state school-educated pupils succeed, rather than hope a “magical sorting hat” will uncover their talent, according to Helen Mountfield. The principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, has said her college was able to recruit 93 per cent of its undergraduates from UK state schools and see them flourish due to the extra effort it put in. By Richard Adams, The Guardian.

Exams regulator Ofqual has asked exam boards to introduce new security measures, chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham has said. It follows police investigations being launched after cyber attacks at three exam boards last year. By Samantha Booth, Schools Week. 

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) monitors the national and educational press in order to keep independent schools up-to-date with relevant education news. The DNS is a service primarily for schools in membership of ISC associations, although other interested parties can choose to sign-up. We endeavour to include relevant news and commentary and, wherever possible, notable public letters. Where capacity allows, we may include links to ISC blogs, press statements and information about school or association events. News stories are selected based on their relevance to the independent sector as a whole. Editorial control of the DNS remains solely with the ISC.

Sign-up to the email service is available on our website.

Members can contact the ISC if they know in advance of news, letters or opinions that are likely to feature in the media, or are aware of existing coverage which they would like to see featured in the DNS.

Headlines and first-line summaries are written by the ISC with the link directing to the source material. You should read and comply with the terms and conditions of the websites to which we link.