Education News
IBB Law’s specialist education team is dedicated to enabling children and young people achieve beyond their dreams. We only act for children, young people and their parents. We are focused on achieving the best possible outcomes for those at the heart of education.
We provide advice and support across the full range of education issues. We monitor decisions in the courts, new statutes, rules, regulations and guidance from Government. We also take note of reports from digital media. The monitoring and recording of developments in education are collated in this Education News page. Hyperlinks are included to identify the primary source to assist those looking for more information.
New Ofsted reporting regime comes into force. School Report Cards are introduced. The Government stated, in September 2024, that these “will provide parents with a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing and ensure that inspections are more effective in driving improvement. Recent data shows that reports cards are supported by 77% of parents.”
Anti Bullying Week. “From playgrounds to parliament, our homes to our phones, this Anti-Bullying Week let’s ‘Choose Respect’ and bring an end to bullying which negatively impacts millions of young lives.”
Dyslexia Awareness week (7 October – 13 October 2024)
Report from the Children’s Commissioner reveals that hundreds of children with special educational needs are missing from education in England. “More than 11,500 children in England went missing from education over the course of one year – despite having previously attended. New analysis found these children went missing between spring 2022 and spring 2023 – and many have particular vulnerabilities that makes tracing them even more urgent. It provides, for the first time, a clearer picture of who these children are, their backgrounds and their circumstances. Compared to their peers in state-funded education, the children whose last-known destination was missing education were 1.4 times as likely to have a special educational need (SEN), 1.5 times as likely to live in the most deprived neighbourhoods and 2.7 times as likely to have a social worker as a child in need. They were also more likely to be making the transition to secondary school from primary, aged 10 at the start of the school year.”
BBC reports that, “A new study says north-east England will continue to have the highest rate of children being excluded and suspended from schools in England. According to research by the thinktank IPPR and charity The Difference, Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Newcastle are among the worst places for children missing out on education. The reports also highlights a direct link between deprivation in the region and high suspension and exclusion figures.”
The Government announce that, “Single headline (Ofsted) grades for schools will be scrapped with immediate effect to boost school standards and increase transparency for parents…Reductive single headline grades fail to provide a fair and accurate assessment of overall school performance across a range of areas and are supported by a minority of parents and teachers. …For inspections this academic year, parents will see four grades across the existing sub-categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership & management.”
GCSE results day
BBC report that, “The GCSE pass rate across England, Wales and Northern Ireland has fallen for a third year running. With 67.6% of all grades at 4/C or above, down from 68.2% last year, that overall pass rate has now returned to 2019 levels – the last year exams were sat before Covid. The Joint Council also report that, “Overall results for 16 year olds at all GCSE grades (7/A, 4/C, 1/G) remain higher for female students compared to male students.”
NSPCC reports they have seen a 300% increase in contacts to their Helpline about physical punishment against children. 45% of these calls were serious enough to require a referral to social services or the police. The NSPCC calls on the Labour Government to close the legal loophole in England and end the use of physical punishment against children.
Increase in fines for parents, in England, for taking children out of school without permission, comes into force. The fines are increasing from £60 to £80 (doubling to £160 if not paid within 21 days) and from £120 to £160, with no early payment discount for a second notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within any given 3 year period.
A level results day, along with AS level and T level.
BBC report that, “the percentage of top A-level grades has arisen for the first time since 2021 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Overall this year 27.8% of all grades were A* or A – up from 27.2% in 2023, although it is a different story in each individual nation.”
32.1% of all English 18-year-olds have been accepted into university with 75.7% of applicants being accepted into their first choice university up from 71.6% in 2023 and 74.5% in 2019. The gap between the most and least disadvantaged 18-year-olds in England has widened as has the gap in regional entry rates.
“The Office for Students (OfS) will bring in new requirements for universities to protect students from harassment and sexual misconduct, as a survey published today finds that 20 per cent of students have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour.”
HM Treasury issue technical consultation on the VAT and business rates changes affecting private schools. The Government are announcing that the VAT exemption for private schools will disappear on 1 January 2025 and will apply to all pre payments made on or after 29 July 2024.
“The Secretary of State for Education has stopped the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 and re-affirmed the government’s firm commitment to freedom of speech, with universities expected to deliver on their duty to protect it. The Education Secretary will consider options for the Act in the long term, including repeal. The move to stop implementing the Act reflects widespread concern that the legislation is disproportionate, burdensome and damaging to the welfare of students while not addressing hate speech on campuses.”
Report commissioned by local authorities because “The SEND (special educational needs and disability) system in England is ‘failing to deliver for children, young people and their families’ and ‘despite the continuing and unprecedented investment, the system is not financially sustainable.’” The key findings of the report are that reform of the SEND system is essential, unavoidable and there is a need for national reform.
Education (Co-ordination of School Admission Arrangements and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/698) come into force. The regulations require each local authority in Wales to formulate a qualifying scheme for co-ordinating school admission arrangements for maintained schools in their area (excluding maintained nursery schools or maintained special schools). A qualifying scheme must comply with the requirements in the Schedule to the regulations. They also require that information about the local authority’s qualifying scheme be included in the local authority school prospectus from the admission year 2026 to 2027. The information to be included in the prospectus includes a description of how school admission applications can be made, when offers will be communicated and how applications outside the normal admission round will be determined, a description of when admission refusal appeals will be heard, and a copy of the common application form for the scheme.
