ISC Daily News Summary

Jason Hollands, of the investment service Bestinvest, offers a range of advice to readers on affording school fees, with information on bursaries and scholarships as well as regional fee variations. Reference is made to figures from the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which show that around a third of pupils receive some financial assistance with fees. By Esther Shaw, The Telegraph.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has said it will hold a formal ballot for a nationwide strike in England over funding, pay and working conditions. The ballot will be the first in the union's history and is set to be held during the summer term at a date yet to be decided. By Peter Chappell, The Times.

Ofsted's chief inspector Amanda Spielman has said changes will be made after the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry in January. Ms Spielman said the inspectorate was piloting amendments to its complaints system, but added the single overall grade for schools would stay. BBC News.

Ms Perry's sister, Julia Waters, said Ofsted's response showed it was “insensitive to the situation and deaf to the urgency of the calls for change”. By Benedict Smith, The Telegraph.

Writing in Schools Week, Colin Diamond from the University of Birmingham's Education Leadership Academy outlines a number of ways in which Ofsted could be reformed, with one suggestion being that school performance "could be summarised in a scorecard rather than one-word judgements".

New figures from the Department for Education (DfE) have shown that pupil absence rates at schools in England have climbed to their highest level so far this calendar year, with around 8.4 per cent of pupils absent across the week ending March 31, up from 7.0 per cent the previous week. It is the highest level since the last week of the autumn term in December 2022, when the rate stood at 14.3 per cent.By Ian Jones, The Independent.

Lal Chadeesingh, principal adviser at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), looks at what can be done to reduce absence among pupils and the importance of understanding the barriers to good attendance. Tes

Analysis by Tes has revealed that exam student absence is still 75 per cent higher than before the pandemic lockdowns, prompting concerns over the plan to return GCSE grade standards to pre-COVID levels. The absence rate among disadvantaged Year 11 students who will sit their GCSE exams this summer is more than double that of their peers, according to DfE and FFT Education Datalab data analysed by Tes. By Matilda Martin.

A report from education think tank EDSK suggests opting for coursework over exams would deliver “less accurate and trustworthy” grades in light of the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The report said it has become a "virtually impossible task" to establish for certain whether a student produced the work they submitted as part of coursework amid the expansion of platforms such as ChatGPT. By Eleanor Busby, The Independent.

Tes explores the DfE's report 'Flexible working in schools: exploring the costs and benefits' (published earlier this year), and offers advice on how schools can best promote and facilitate flexible working. By Gráinne Hallahan.