Education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should not be abolished, according to a report from the Commons Education Select Committee. It also calls for minimum standards of support for SEND in schools, as well as more training for teachers. In response, the Department for Education said ministers are listening to families as they prepare to "transform outcomes for every child with SEND". By Kate McGough, BBC News.

Schools Week outlines the report's schools-related recommendations, which include monitoring and disclosing the number of pupils with SEND annually, establishing national standards for provision, and incorporating SEND screening as a core part of early years services. By Freddie Whittaker.

The proportion of young people who are unhappy at secondary school is twice as high as in primary, Parentkind's National Parent Survey has revealed. One in five respondents said their child was only rarely or never happy at school, representing around two million children and young people nationally. The survey also found that school unhappiness doubles between primary and secondary school, from 12 per cent to 25 per cent of those who responded. The top reasons for pupil unhappiness were cited as unengaging lessons (42 per cent), difficulty with friendships (34 per cent), and social isolation (30 per cent). Describing the findings as a "wake-up call", Parentkind CEO Jason Elsom said: "When children enjoy being at school, they thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. When they do not, their confidence and prospects suffer." By Ben Sturt, Tes. 

The most influential people in the UK are five times more likely to have gone to an independent school, according to research conducted by the Sutton Trust. A new report from the social mobility charity states that around six per cent of the population are independently educated, but of the FTSE 100 chief executives who were schooled in the UK, 37 went to independent schools, 34 per cent attended state comprehensive schools, and the remainder attended grammar schools. The report also found that more than two thirds of FTSE 100 chairs were independently educated in 2025, a 15 percentage point increase from 2019. For the first time, this year's study included social media influencers and content creators, of whom 18 per cent attended independent schools and 68 cent went to state comprehensives. The Sutton Trust is urging ministers to require employers with more than 250 staff to report on the socioeconomic background of their workforce and encourage reporting of class pay gaps. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times. Also reported by Robyn Vinter for The Guardian and covered by Independent School Management Plus. 

In a letter to The Times, Jonny Timms, head of Walhampton School, says Bridget Phillipson is right to prioritise parent partnership, but warns the education secretary against "turning it into a customer service exercise". Describing the value of "real partnership", which is "forged through authenticity and shared purpose", Mr Timms concludes: "Treating education as a transaction erodes its very humanity, whereas keeping it human benefits everyone." The letter can be found halfway down the page.

Sir Martyn Oliver, the head of Ofsted, has said that were he to return to school leadership, one of his first priorities would be to impose a complete ban on mobile phones. Addressing delegates an event hosted by The Times and Parentkind, Sir Martyn reflected on his own experience as a headteacher in 2009, when a simple instruction to "put your phone away" or face confiscation was broadly effective. "Something fundamentally changed" after the pandemic, he added. By Georgia Lambert and Nicola Woolcock.

Writing in Tes, Jo Saxton CBE, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), considers the new three-question format for personal statements, designed to help students express themselves with more confidence and clarity. Reflecting on recent survey findings suggesting that 65 per cent of teachers in England view the new format as an improvement, Dr Saxton writes: "So far, it seems the new approach is proving positive for both teachers and students."

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