The number of Welsh learners has increased by 12 per cent in a year, and has surpassed 20,000 for the first time, according to the latest data from the National Centre for Learning Welsh (NCLW). More than 4,000 of the Welsh learners were aged 16-24, an increase of 56 per cent on the year before, and six times as many as in 2018-19. The NCLW receives funding from the Welsh government as part of its target to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050. Speaking to BBC News, Emma Winter, a singer and primary school teacher from Merthyr Tydfil who has been learning Welsh for two years, said her lessons include "people younger and older than I am, from all sorts of backgrounds". By Iolo Cheung.

Almost one in ten university freshers do not have a single A level or equivalent, according to figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. The numbers have more than doubled in a decade, from 31,000 (five per cent) of the intake in 2014-15 to 75,000 (nine per cent) during the academic year 2024-25. Of those, 50,000 students did not have a GCSE or equivalent, up from 12,000 a decade before. The figures, which have prompted concerns that some institutions are taking students without the skills or ability to complete their course, cover undergraduates and postgraduates, part- and full-time students and those at the Open University. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times. 

Schools Week meets Jo Rowley, president of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and deputy head at Walton High School in Stafford. Ms Rowley talks about her career path into education, and how she has used her presidency to champion those in other leadership roles. Ms Rowley welcomes the government's review of education, adding that while she has yet to examine the Schools White Paper in detail, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform is needed because the system "just isn’t working". By Freddie Whittaker.

A third of teachers say the nation's reading crisis cannot be solved, a survey by YouGov for technology company Renaissance has found. Of the 1,000 teachers questioned, 33 per cent said they are "not confident" that the challenges children currently face with reading can be addressed. On what is stopping young people reading, 86 per cent blamed "too much time spent on screens", while 82 per cent pointed to "insufficient support at home". Almost all respondents (91 per cent) said reading for 15 minutes every day can boost pupils' skills and attainment. The findings come after children's laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce warned last weekend that children who are not regularly read to at home begin school as "second-class citizens". By Eleanor Harding, Daily Mail. 

Michelin star chef Galton Blackiston has said swapping to blunt-ended knives could be "revolutionary" in addressing knife crime among young people. The utensils, which have been designed to reduce the chance of a fatal injury should they fall into the wrong hands, have been introduced at Framingham Earl School near Norwich as part of a campaign by anti-knife charity the Joe Dix Foundation. Praising the initiative, the school's headteacher, Becky Arnold, told BBC News pupils had been well educated on how to avoid knife crime because of the PSHE curriculum and external speakers raising awareness. By Debbie Tubby and Neve Gordon-Farleigh.

In a new blog for the ISC, Rohan Edwards from Magdalen College School explains how engaging with local communities, listening to the needs of young people and sharing good practice are key to effective partnership working. Mr Edwards notes that while it is essential to demonstrate measurable results, the close relationships that give partnerships their strength must not be lost: "As the sector gets better at evaluating partnerships, demonstrating real long-term impact becomes increasingly important. The balancing act is to find measurable benefits without losing the personal connections that create meaning, too." 

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