ISC Daily News Summary

iNews reports that exam boards are "very worried" by the prospect of being overwhelmed by the number of students seeking to appeal against their A-level and GCSE results this year. By Will Hazell.

A study from researchers at Queen's University Belfast and Goldsmiths College, University of London, has suggested that teachers' grades could be biased towards students with more "agreeable" personalities. By Sean Coughlan, BBC News.

According to Ofqual's 2021 to 2022 corporate plan, the regulator anticipates more technology in exams in the future due to the pandemic acting "as a catalyst to these new approaches". By Samantha Booth, Schools Week.

Ofsted’s annual parents survey reveals that nearly nine out of 10 respondents believe their child’s school handled the coronavirus crisis well. By Dave Speck, Tes.

A report by the Education Policy Institute, which was funded by the Gatsby Foundation, has urged the Government to improve teachers' pay or risk new recruits leaving the profession once the economy picks up. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found almost a third of the Department for Education’s extra COVID spending will be taken from existing budgets or underspends in other areas. By Tom Belger, Schools Week.

The Sutton Trust is urging ministers to put early years at the heart of the education recovery programme, suggesting that schools in England will be 'picking up the pieces' for years to come if preschool children are not prioritised. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

Mickey Revenaugh - vice president, business development for Pearson Global Online Learning - writes in Independent Education Today, asking the question: "Has the pandemic redefined what school means?"

The Telegraph has refreshed its online article looking at the "best value private schools in the UK". By Victoria Lambert.

Analysis published by the Office for Students (OfS) has uncovered differences in the likely job and study outcomes among graduates of different university and college courses. By Nicola Woolcock and Rosa Ellis, The Times.

Ofsted has warned that initial teacher education (ITE) partnerships are over-reliant on school placements to teach content and do not offer trainees a “sufficiently ambitious” curriculum. By James Carr, Schools Week.

Dr Tony Sewell, chair of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, has claimed "immigrant optimism" can lead to pupils from ethnic minorities outperforming their white peers at school. By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph.

Researchers at Cambridge University believe that giving every child the opportunity to take part in more physical activities could help close the achievement gap between wealthy and poorer pupils. BBC News.

The Times looks at proposed reforms designed to support "equitable" mathematics instruction in California, which could see achieving the “right answer” in a maths problem no longer being a pupil’s main objective - with the framework looking at the ways that students’ “mathematics identities are shaped in part by a culture of societal and institutionalised racism”. By Ben Hoyle.