ISC Daily News Summary

The Office for Students (OfS) has called on top universities in England to significantly increase places for disadvantaged students, in an effort to halve the "access gap" within higher education in the next five years. By Sean Coughlan, BBC News. The article quotes Mike Buchanan, executive director of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

Mr Buchanan also spoke on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme (listen from 2:45:00) and LBC (listen from 2:28:00). During the discussion, he highlighted how independent schools are "channels for disadvantaged kids to get into the most selective universities", adding "to use a crude measure of school type to discriminate will simply stop that flow".

You can read the ISC's statement in response to the OfS report here.

According to a report published by the National Federation for Educational Research, teachers in England have the second-lowest levels of autonomy when compared with those working in other professions. By Catherine Lough, Tes.

As part of a wider discussion on provision for looked-after and adopted children, Lord Lexden, president of the Independent Schools Association, asked the Government if plans to enable looked-after children to access a boarding education had progressed.

New research suggests praising pupils is a more effective method of improving class behaviour than reprimanding them for being disruptive. By Eleanor Busby, The Independent.

A study has found toddlers who have three or more hours of screen time at the age of two do less physical activity in later childhood. By Henry Bodkin, The Telegraph.