During a House of Lords debate on the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, Conservative peer the Earl of Effingham criticised the government's decision to impose a VAT levy mid-academic year, warning that it "placed additional burdens on families." He highlighted that not all pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs), meaning many parents must pay transport fees. Calling for a review of the exemption on bus services for pupils with SEND, Lord Effingham added: "Fairness should extend to all pupils, particularly those with SEND, regardless of where they receive their education."

Supporting this, Conservative peer Lord Moylan called the VAT on independent school bus services "bizarre," noting that "no other form of transport is subject to VAT." He labelled the policy "one of the consequences of the government’s vindictive action against private schools" but emphasised that the SEND issue "is about the whole range of schools, and it is crucial that it is resolved soon."

The Minister, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, responded that transport for pupils with SEND in independent schools "may already be exempt from VAT" in cases where vehicles have 10 or more seats or are modified for disabilities. "Other ‘closely related’ goods and services other than boarding (i.e. goods and services that are provided by a private school for the direct use of their pupils and that are necessary for delivering the education to their pupils) will remain exempt from VAT”, he added. Hansard.

Ofqual “will take action” if it finds that the higher proportion of independent school pupils being given extra time in exams is due to unfairness. The chief regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, said “extra work” is being undertaken as he is “concerned” at the gap between independent and state school candidates who are granted special exam access arrangements. Figures published by Ofqual in November showed that more than two in five (41.8 per cent) of all candidates in independent centres (most of which independent schools), were granted extra time in their exams in the last academic year, compared with 26.5 per cent of candidates in non-selective state schools. By Eleanor Busby, The Independent. 

Most academy trust CEOs say the removal of academy freedoms will have no impact on their ability to run and improve schools, a survey of 120 trust leaders by Edurio for Schools Week has found. The poll asked leaders for their views on whether the schools bill changes would impact their work, with questions relating to proposals to take away academy freedoms on curriculum, pay and employing unqualified teachers. A further question focused on Labour’s plans to introduce new trust compliance orders. Overall, 60 per cent of respondents said the reforms “would not affect our work”. By Jack Dyson.

Almost one in five (18 per cent) secondary school teachers in England have seen pupils with knives in school, a Teacher Tapp survey commissioned by Sky News has found. More than 4,000 teachers responded to the poll, which asked about their first-hand experiences of pupils with weapons. Despite recent high-profile knife attacks in UK secondary schools, only 15 per cent of respondents said they had received any formal training or guidance on how to deal with pupils with knives. Commenting on the findings, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Pepe Di'lasio said: "We ignore these results at our peril." By Katerina Vittozzi.

Writing in Independent School Management Plus, Sir Anthony Seldon says artificial intelligence (AI) is an "unstoppable tide of innovation" that the education world can only attempt to understand. Sir Anthony Seldon is founding director of Wellington College's new global education network, Wellington College Education (WCE).

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