ISC Daily News Summary

Ofqual has warned school pupils to not be “distracted” by hoaxers “trying to sell fake exam papers on social media”, following the start of GCSE and A-level exams across England this week. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Jane Lunnon, head at Alleyn's School, appeared in front of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee yesterday which explored diversity and inclusion in STEM. Mrs Lunnon highlighted some potential factors contributing to the underrepresentation of girls in A-level physics, discussed curriculum reform and suggested that VR could be used to enhance the teaching of all subjects. Mrs Lunnon’s contribution to the session can be viewed on Parliament TV, from 10:32:30, and the full transcript can be read here.

Also speaking at the session, leading physicist Professor Dame Athene Donald claimed that girls do not take physics at A-level because they think the subject is only for white boys, adding "if you are black or if you are a woman, you don't see yourself fitting in". By Kate McGough, BBC News.

New findings from a survey by Talking Futures suggest more than two-thirds of parents of 11 to 18-year-olds in England are lost in a “job fog”, feeling overwhelmed as their children express interest in careers they know nothing about. By Amelia Hill, The Guardian.

iNews report that the Government is planning an intervention to stop the student loan interest rate hitting an “eyewatering” 12 per cent this September. By Will Hazell and Hugo Gye.

According to The Times, a new programme is being introduced in 1000 state secondary schools that will give pupils the opportunity to complete a mental wellness “check-in”, from which any pupils whose mental health is at “high risk” can be identified. By Nicola Woolcock.

Oliver Mundell, the education spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, has claimed the Scottish Government has failed children in Scotland by scrapping its promise to close the education attainment gap between children from the poorest backgrounds and their wealthier peers by 2026. By Daniel Sanderson, The Telegraph.

According to a report from the Scottish Funding Council, a record number of Scottish students from deprived backgrounds enrolled in universities for the first time in 2020-21. By Emma Seith, Tes.