ISC Daily News Summary

Students are to be told for the first time the actual A-level grades that universities accept for courses rather than just the formal entry requirements. The move is intended to increase transparency around admissions, which are based on a combination of predicted grades, GCSE results and personal statements. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan has warned that parents working from home have contributed to an “unacceptable” rise in children missing school on Fridays, after analysis of government figures found school absences increase by 20 per cent on that day of the week. Ms Keegan also said schools are facing "major challenges" as parents opt to take their children out of lessons for holidays and long weekends. By Chris Smyth, Max Kendix and Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children's commissioner, has called for the government to fund pupils who arrive in alternative provision (AP) late or face disruption to their GCSE exams to repeat Year 11. She also said funding should be offered to enable a “graduated stepdown programme of support for all Year 11 leavers”, amid concerns AP schools lack the resources to support the transition into post-16 education. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Ministers have heard that schoolchildren are pretending to eat out of empty lunchboxes and eating rubbers because they do not qualify for free school meals. During a House of Commons debate, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson said the situation "has to stop". By Jabed Ahmed, The Independent.