ISC Daily News Summary

The Scottish Government has confirmed that a new, fifth, pay offer will be presented to teachers very soon, after unions said any new deal would need to be "significantly" improved to avoid further industrial action. By Jamie McIvor, BBC News.

According to The Telegraph, university leaders have threatened to cut the salaries of striking lecturers if they fail to reschedule classes cancelled during industrial action. Tens of thousands of staff across 150 universities are walking out for a total of 18 strike days in February and March (including today) in a dispute over pay and pensions. By Louisa Clarence-Smith.

Writing in Tes, Jonathan Taylor, director of education for the Repton Family of Schools, discusses the "profound benefits" of collaboration between international schools and the wider community and says there is a "compelling case for charitable action being at the heart of any engagement strategy".

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) suggests that around 115,000 more girls would need to study maths or physics A-levels, or both, to reach equal numbers of male and female students studying engineering and technology degrees. Analysis by the EngineeringUK charity shows that just eight per cent of first-year female undergraduates who had studied maths and/or physics at A-level went on to take engineering and technology degrees, compared to 23 per cent of first-year male undergraduates who had studied at least one of the subjects at A-level. By Eleanor Busby, The Independent.

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will reportedly not support the Department for Education's (DfE) £6 billion plan to subsidise 30 free hours for one to three-year-olds, even though he is under pressure to encourage parents to return to work. By Arj Singh and Chloe Chaplain, iNews.

The Telegraph asked each of the Russell Group universities to provide the top 20 schools, colleges and institutions they made undergraduate offers to for 2021, and has produced an interactive table displaying these findings. By Connor James Ibbetson, Louisa Clarence-Smith and Alexandra Wiberg Rasmussen.

Professor Steven Greer, a former human rights lecturer at the University of Bristol, has claimed that university professors are “dumbing down” their courses due to a fear of being cancelled by "intolerant students". Writing in his new memoir, Professor Greer speaks of his alarm about freedom of speech on campuses in light of his own experience. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.