ISC Daily News Summary

The Guardian has published a number of private messages sent between staff at the Independent Schools Council (ISC) about Bridget Phillipson and provided to the Labour Party in a subject access request. In one message, an official expressed a wish that Ms Phillipson could “appreciate the great good our sector does”. In response, an ISC spokesperson said: “ISC has been consistently clear that it is opposed to the Labour party’s stated policy on independent schools, not the Labour party itself. Indeed, ISC would welcome the opportunity to work with the Labour party to build on the good work already being done in the sector, instead of Labour penalising parents with a tax on their choice of school.” By Pippa Crerar.

Six schools in the UK have been selected among 10 shortlists for the T4 Education World’s Best School prizes – more than any other country in the world. ACS International School Cobham is in the running for this year's community collaboration prize. By Eleanor Busby, The Independent.

The delayed consultation on the content of a proposed British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE is being launched today by the Department for Education (DfE). The 12-week consultation over the qualification, to be taught in schools, will come as a relief to campaigners after it was reportedly delayed twice. By Irena Barker, Tes.

A survey of admissions staff by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) suggests the hours spent by students writing personal statements for their applications to UK universities may be in vain. According to the findings, the average time spent reading a personal statement was two minutes, with two out of five statements read for just a minute or less. By Richard Adams, The Guardian.

iNews considers whether grade boundaries will be lower in 2023 now exam support measures, designed to mitigate against the effect of school closures during the pandemic, have largely been removed. By Alex Finnis, iNews.