School sixth forms and colleges are facing a real-terms reduction in their funding next year, leaders have warned, after ministers confirmed yesterday that rates for 16 and 17-year-olds will rise by just 0.5 per cent. Criticising the government's decision, Claire Green, post-16 and skills specialist at union ASCL, said the funding rate announced "does not align" with Labour's original pledge, adding: "Colleges and school sixth forms will be seeing a real‑terms cut in the amount per student that they receive." By Anviksha Patel and Josh Mellor, Schools Week.

The government abandoned plans to curb parents’ legal rights in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system shortly before publishing its Schools White Paper, The Times understands. The paper reports that proposals to take away parents' right to appeal to a tribunal when councils refuse to assess a child with SEND were reversed at the last minute. Hayley Harding, founder of Let Us Learn Too and a member of the government's SEND development group, said: "We were very relieved that the minister listened to our concerns and decided not to go ahead with the planned changes as a result." By Georgia Lambert.

Writing in Tes, Vic Goddard, executive principal and CEO of Passmores Co-operative Learning Community and a founding member of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, outlines five elements he believes are necessary in order for Labour's SEND reforms to work. Welcoming the proposals, which he says "represent the most serious attempt in a decade to reset mainstream inclusion", Mr Goddard writes: "The next step is making sure that reform reaches classrooms. Inclusion cannot simply be announced and partially funded. It has to be embedded in accountability, supported by sustained investment and expected in every school."

Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy after a teenage girl was stabbed at Thorpe St Andrew School near Norwich yesterday. BBC News has been told that students were advised to switch off their phones and hide under their desks when the secondary school was put into lockdown in the morning. Norfolk Police later said the boy was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent following searches of the area. Alice MacDonald, the Labour MP for Norwich North, described the stabbing as both "incredibly serious and deeply alarming". By Lewis Adams and Neve Gordon-Farleigh.

The 2026 ISC Digital Conference will return to the University of Roehampton on 19 June. This year's theme, 'human strategy, digital excellence', will bring together technology thought leaders and decision-makers to share their expertise and experience in keeping humans at the centre of achieving digital excellence. Keynotes, case studies and panel discussions will cover a range of topics, including strategy, artificial intelligence, learning, innovation, infrastructure and more. Further information, including ticket booking, is available via the link below. 

In a new blog for the ISC, Isabella Hitchen from The Buchan School explains how pupils of all ages have been getting stuck into a variety of STEM activities this British Science Week. "Our Nobel prize-winning former student William Henry Bragg would be proud of the place that science still occupies," writes Ms Hitchen, one of the school's Key Stage 2 teachers.

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