ISC Daily News Summary

Writing in The Telegraph, schools minister Nick Gibb argues that improving the education sector is a gradual process "achieved through a series of small steps, involving the introduction of multiplication tables and phonics checks". He also adds that there is much work to do to ensure that "all children have the best opportunity to succeed in life".

According to research by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) into the impact of the pandemic on the attainment gap, poorer seven and eight-year-olds are nine months behind their peers in reading skills and eight months behind in maths. Those behind the research are calling for the protection of pupil premium funding, in light of the findings. By Aine Fox, The Independent.

The Department for Education's (DfE) data on this year's A-level results has been summarised in Tes, with a focus on some of the key trends. According to the data, the disadvantage gap is the widest on record and top grades in STEM subjects outnumber those in the arts. By Gráinne Hallahan.

According to the Higher Education Policy Institute think tank, university personal statements should be abolished and replaced with brief questions 'to make admissions fairer'. The organisation says the free-form essay part of the application discriminates against disadvantaged candidates and prevents them from showing their full potential. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

An official survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found that half of higher education students in England are facing financial difficulties as the cost of living rises. More than three quarters of those surveyed are worried that the pressure will impact their academic achievements, according to the findings. By Kevin Peachey, BBC News.

Andy Homden and Paul Cabrelli, founders of Consilium Education, consider the continual expansion of international schools despite recent global upheaval including the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Tes.

In yesterday’s Daily News Summary, when referencing the findings of the COVID Social Mobility and Opportunities (COSMO) study, we erroneously reported that ‘almost half’ of the 13,000 pupils surveyed said they have self-harmed in the last year. The correct statistic is ‘almost a quarter’. We apologise for this mistake.