During a debate in the House of Lords on sporting and performing arts opportunities for pupils in state schools, Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Garden of Frognal highlighted cross-sector partnerships that have contributed to the sharing of facilities and expertise. "However, the imposition of VAT has been devastating for many small specialist schools which have contributed greatly to opportunities for state school pupils. A number have had to close or curtail their outreach offers," she said, before asking: "Will the government review their VAT demands on small specialist independent schools to enable them to survive and continue their valuable work with the state schools?" Responding, education minister Baroness Smith of Malvern claimed the impact of the VAT on fees policy "has not led to a higher number of schools closing than the trajectory over recent years". Agreeing that independent-state school partnerships "open up opportunities", she added: "While there are some good examples of that, I am still not sure – given that I worked on this the first time I was in the Department for Education – that this is on the scale we would want to see." Hansard.

A "national year of numeracy" would help end the "intergenerational cycle" of poor maths skills across England, a report by the House of Lords' Numeracy for Life Committee has said. Established earlier this year to address the "shockingly low" day-to-day maths skills of adults, the committee has made a series of recommendations to ministers on how to tackle the problem. In their final report, published today, peers have called for a year-long campaign called the national year of numeracy to "promote and celebrate the importance of numeracy, its teaching and practice". The report has also recommended an increased focus on numeracy skills before children start school. By Albert Tait, The Telegraph.

Schools Week outlines the report's key recommendations for how schools can improve numeracy, which include the provision of dyscalculia training and continual investment in specialist maths teachers. By Esmé Kenney.

Moving pupils between sets during the school year "may carry an attainment cost rather than deliver gains", according to a study by the National Institute of Teaching. Having analysed data from one multi-academy trust covering 21 secondary schools and more than 10,000 students, the researchers found that moving up a set during the year was not followed by better attainment in English, maths, history or geography. Science was the only subject to show improved attainment after mid-year set changes. By Kyle Tormey, Tes. 

Primary school children could face criminal investigation for questioning a classmate's desire to change gender under proposed government legislation, Baroness Falkner has warned. In a report for the Policy Exchange think tank, the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said the draft law, which would make it an offence to pressure someone to change their sexuality or gender identity, contains no minimum age for prosecution, raising concerns that children could potentially be caught by its provisions. Lady Falkner said the legislation could put parents at risk of going to prison simply for asking their child whether they really wanted to change gender. "This draft bill appears oblivious to human rights law in Britain," she said. By Daniel Martin, The Telegraph.

The Telegraph's View calls for the bill to be given "the highest level of scrutiny" and says "the central issue remains that sexuality and gender identity are not the same, and should not be treated as such in law". Urging ministers to act, it concludes: "The government must not slide further."

Students taking Cambridge International AS- and A-level exams next spring will receive their results almost two weeks earlier, Cambridge International Education has announced. Results for the June 2027 exam series will be released on 28 July, whereas this year's results were issued on 11 August. The exam board said the change was in response to feedback that earlier results would make a practical difference by giving students extra time to secure university places, apply for visas and make travel arrangements. By Emma Seith, Tes.

In an article for The Times, former GP partner Dr Mark Porter argues that parents should take up the new NHS chickenpox vaccination offer, warning that the illness can lead to serious complications despite often being regarded as a routine childhood infection. He says the catch-up programme is particularly important because some children may have lower levels of natural immunity following reduced exposure during the pandemic. The article is followed by a brief summary of who is eligible for the chickenpox vaccine, which is given as part of MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, varicella). 

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