• Welcome to EdCentral

    Young minds are inspired and nurtured by those who teach them - whether that be at home, within an early years setting, at school, in college, at university, through an apprenticeship or other vocational/technical route, or by learning from colleagues in the workplace.

    Those who teach tend to enjoy learning the most when it comes from their peers. So we built a safe, secure environment where you can share your mistakes and your successes, compare experiences (both good and bad), bounce ideas, learn about best practice, and help and mentor one another.

    At the same time, we aim to keep you up-to-date with the latest education news, policy, research, events and CPD opportunities - and we publish blog posts to help you in your day-to-day practice and with your mental health and wellbeing.

    Because if we can help to make your life even just a little bit easier, then you can get on with what you do best - and your students, their communities, and society in general will be all the better for it.

    EdCentral is a not-for-profit social enterprise. Feel free to browse around and if you like what you see, please spread the word. If you're working at the front line of education and you have a blog piece or some research you'd like to share on our site, send it over to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and if it's relevant to our network we'd be happy to publish it.

    JOIN US TODAY AND BECOME PART OF OUR NETWORK OF TEACHING AND EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS

A safe place to  ...

A safe place to ...

Connect and collaborate:
Find kindred spirits and share your experiences. 

Inform practice:
Browse our fully searchable research library and access bite-size summaries. 

Start your own discussion groups:
Make them open to all EdCentral members or restrict them to invited contacts. 

Gain new insights:
Keep on top of policy changes, review expert blogs and learn about education thought leaders. 

Find inspiration:
Browse tales from the frontline, share ideas, and collaborate with like-minds. 

Discover new CPD opportunities:
Browse upcoming events to support your continuing professional development. 

... and to stay up to date with the latest education news

... and to stay up to date with the latest education news

Our unique, hand-curated daily EdNews digest is:

Time saving:
All the latest education news in one place - available to view from 9:00 a.m each weekday morning. 

Comprehensive:
Manually compiled from over 300 sources - covering mainstream media, education press, education unions, professional bodies, government departments and agencies, and key education commentators and bloggers. 

Interactive and fully searchable:
Filtered by phase, the new EdNews system also allows you to choose the topics you want to view. You can search the archives too, both from May 2022 onwards and prior to that via the historic archive page within the main EdNews menu tab. 

Flexible:
View on your desktop, laptop or any mobile device; quickly scan the headlines in plain list format or browse using dynamic view - both with direct links to the original news sources. 

Stay informed:
Don't miss out on the day's latest education news, sign up for our daily EdNews alert here

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

 
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
LOOKING BACK AT THE WEEK THAT WAS
Three of the week's headlines ...
Keegan: ‘Unacceptable’ number of parents letting kids skip Fridays
 
Read more
University leaders must take ‘personal’ care to protect Jewish students, Sunak says
 
Read more
John Swinney vows to be 'straight with the public' as he dodges question on boosting teacher numbers
Read more
Visit EdNews to filter all the education news by phase or topic
Three pieces of policy news - by phase
Follow this link to view the full version of Steve Besley's popular policy round-up - including an overview of all the important stories, his top headlines of the week, tweets and posts of note, the most memorable quotes, not-to-be-missed statistics and what to look out for next week.
As your starter for ten, we've chosen three items from each phase below ...
GENERAL:
Shadow Chancellor’s speech. Rachel Reeves challenged the government over its economic record and reiterated Labour Party plans for ‘a modern industrial strategy,’ a New Deal for Working People and a new Take Back Control Act for local growth as part of her approach for securonomics, in a speech to the City of London.
Online safety. Ofcom launched a major new consultation aimed at protecting children online with some 40+ measures listed covering ‘robust age-checks’ and the filtering out of harmful content, all set to be in place from next autumn.
Maths Academy. The government invited organisations to apply to set up a new National Academy for Mathematical Sciences, modelled on other Royal Academies to help champion the importance of maths, support the PM’s ambition for maths to age 18 and position the UK as a leader in mathematical sciences.


SCHOOLS:
Exams 2024. Ofqual wished candidates good luck and reminded them not to take mobile devices into exam rooms and not to search for exam papers online as this summer’s exam season got under way.
National curriculum. The Social Market Foundation called for GCSEs to be slimmed down with less formal assessment and for an independent system of cyclical curriculum review to be established as it published a new briefing on curriculum reform.
Alternative Provision. The government launched consultation on proposals ‘to improve practice and raise standards’ in unregistered alternative provision which see vulnerable children often placed for long stretches, proposing among other things time limits on placements, a set of national standards and better oversight generally.


FE/SKILLS:
Briefing on skills. The Association of Colleges (AoC) outlined some of the challenges and issues around UK skills, reiterating its call for a reformed tertiary system, as it published a briefing on skills for a House of Lords debate.
T level funding. The government confirmed the funding bands for the Wave 4 2024/25 T levels which remain as previously suggested earlier in the year.
Leadership training. The Education and Training Foundation announced the launch of a set of four free toolkits for leaders in the FE and skills sector covering sustainability, professional standards, equality, diversity and inclusion, and curriculum planning for adult and community learning.


HE:
Campus matters. The PM met with leading Vice Chancellors to consider growing concerns about campus tensions spreading from US universities to those in the UK and to discuss plans for tackling any harassment and antisemitic abuse that might arise.
UCAS applications. UCAS announced it was waiving the application fee from this September for students in receipt of free school meals and was introducing an entry grades tool for applicants to be able to see both offer rates and previous entry grades as part of a set of measures to encourage wider applications to university. 
Living costs. The HE Policy Institute (HEPI) and partners reported on detailed research looking into just how much students today need to live and study on, suggesting a figure of around £18,600 outside London as a basic minimum income standard, a figure that falls short of current maintenance support.
Access all issues of Steve Besley's Education Eye
Latest research, reports and studies
Testing patience: Reducing the burden of the English school curriculum | SMF
The Exchequer benefits and costs associated with the Graduate Route visa | London Economics
Does educational research lack discipline? | BERA
Developing intrinsic motivation with students | Teacher Toolkit
One-on-one high-impact tutoring and early literacy: A pilot study using current school staff | BEIB
Mapping speech, language and communication outcomes in York | Nesta
How does school start time impact young students' outcomes? | BEIB
Effect of AI powered virtual agents on learning outcomes | BEIB
Using principles from cognitive science to design a school mathematics curriculum | BERA
New teacher professional development research on decomposition and recomposition | Ambition Institute
Young people say construction among top job choices | Careers & Enterprise Company
Why the answer to the $64,000 question is ... $64,000: How much do students need to live on? | HEPI
Race, racism and hope | BERA
Randomised controlled trial evaluation of the White Rose Maths Reception Jigsaw | NFER
What do Ofsted and speed dating have in common? | FFT Education Datalab
Assessing the costs of removing undergraduate tuition fees across the UK | London Economics
Philosophical discourse surrounding artificial intelligence: Extended findings of a meta-synthesis on ChatGPT | BERA
Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives report calls for schools to be at the centre of a fresh start for Sure Start | Centre for Young Lives
Search our education research section
COMING UP IN THE NEXT WEEK
Parliament and elsewhere
SATs Week (Monday 13 May – Thursday 16 May).
Mental Health Awareness Week (Monday 13 May – Sunday 19 May).
Migration Advisory Committee report on the Graduate Route (Tuesday 14 May).
House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee evidence session on apprenticeships and training (Tuesday 14 May).
Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) HE Funding and Access Conference (Tuesday 14 May).
Skills and Education Group Conference (Tuesday 14 May).
Westminster Hall debate on the impact of smartphones and social media on children (Tuesday 14 May).
Institute for Employment Studies Annual Conference (Thursday 16 May).
Events and CPD opportunities
Tuesday 14 May: SEND Provision - London | Optimus Education (in-person event)
Tuesday 14 May: AoC Finance Conference and Exhibition 2024 | AoC (in-person event)
Wednesday 15 May: HR Update and People Strategy | Optimus Education (in-person event)
Wednesday 15 May: National Degree Apprenticeships Conference 2024 | Government Events (online event)
Wednesday 15 May: Mental Wellbeing in HE Conference 2024 | Advance HE (in-person event)
Wednesday 15 - Thursday 16 May: AoC Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference 2024 | AoC (online event)
Saturday 18 May: researchED Bournemouth | researchED (in-person event)
Running an education-related event that you'd like to see included in our calendar? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with details and a link to the booking info.
See all events
Three interesting daily facts
MONDAY 13 MAY
On this day in 1787 the First Fleet comprised of eleven ships of convicts and headed by Arthur Phillip set sail for Botany Bay, Australia.
On this day in 1989 thousands of students began a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
On this day in 2017 a 22-year-old UK blogger halted the spread of a global ransomware cyber-attack by accidentally identifying the kill switch.
 
TUESDAY 14 MAY
On this day in 1832 Felix Mendelssohn's concert overture 'Hebrides' premiered in London.
On this day in 1955 the Warsaw Pact was established when eight communist bloc countries signed the mutual defence treaty.
On this day in 1998 legendary singer, actor and show-business icon Frank Sinatra died of a heart attack at the age of 82 in Los Angeles.
 
WEDNESDAY 15 MAY
On this day in 1618 German astronomer, Johannes Kepler, discovered his 'Harmonics law', the third of his three planetary laws.
On this day in 1718 James Puckle, a London lawyer, patented the world's first machine gun.
On this day in 1928 Mickey Mouse made his first ever appearance in the silent film 'Plane Crazy'.
 
THURSDAY 16 MAY
On this day in 1920 Joan of Arc was canonised as a saint by Pope Benedict XV.
On this day in 1929 the first Academy Awards ceremony was held at a dinner party in Hollywood, California.
On this day in 2013 human embryonic stem cells were successfully made using cloning techniques.
 
FRIDAY 17 MAY
On this day in 1792 the New York Stock Exchange was formed at 70 Wall Street.
On this day in 1961 Fidel Castro offered to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers.
On this day in 1990 the World Health Organization took homosexuality out of its list of mental illnesses.
Awareness days from around the world
MAY IS
UK:
Time For A Cuppa, Make May Purple/Action On Stroke Month, National Walking Month, National Share A Story Month, Local And Community History Month, Big Asthma Bake Sale, The Big Paddle Cleanup, National Smile Month.
WORLDWIDE:
National Teen Self Esteem Month, Zombie Awareness Month, National Clean Air Month, Maternal Mental Health Month, May Measure Month, Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Tourettes Awareness Month, National Returning Youth Month, National Miniature Garden Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Global Employee Health And Fitness Month, Better Speech And Language Month, Als Awareness Month, National Preservation Month, National Wildfire Awareness Month, National Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, National Foster Care Month, Correct Your Posture Month, International Drum Month, National Dental Care Month, Coeliac Disease Awareness Month, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month, National Asparagus Month, National Stroke Awareness Month, National Moving Month, National Brain Tumor Awareness Month, National Mental Health Awareness Month, Sturge-weber Syndrome Awareness Month, Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, National Military Appreciation Month, Melanoma Awareness Month, National Water Safety Month, National Chamber Music Month, Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month, National Mediterranean Diet Month, National Strawberry Month, National Salsa Month, National Salad Month, National Recommitment Month, National Photography Month, National Lyme Disease Awareness Month, National Hamburger Month, Get Caught Reading Month, National Egg Month, National Blood Education Pressure Month, National Bike Month, National Barbeque Month, Older Americans Month, Date Your Mate Month, National Inventors Month, American Cheese Month.

 
THIS WEEK IS
UK:
ME Awareness Week, National Weaning Week, Food Allergy Awareness Week, Coeliac UK’s Awareness Week, Mental Health Awareness Week, Dementia Action / Awareness Week, National Stationery Week, Learning At Work Week, Foster Care Fortnight.
WORLDWIDE:
American Craft Beer Week, National Police Week, National Salvation Army Week, National Etiquette Week, Bike to Work Week, Christian Aid Week, National Women’s Health Week, Water Saving Week, Be Nice to Nettles Week.
 
MONDAY 13 MAY
WORLDWIDE:
World Cocktail Day, Writing for Health & Healing Day, National Crouton Day, National Women's Checkup Day, National Fruit Cocktail Day, National Apple Pie Day, National Frog Jumping Day, Cough Drop Day, Leprechaun Day, International Hummus Day, Top Gun Day.
 
TUESDAY 14 MAY
WORLDWIDE:
National Decency Day, National Buttermilk Biscuit Day, National Underground America Day, National Dance Like A Chicken Day, International Chihuahua Appreciation Day, Online Romance Day, International PMO Day, National Buttermilk Biscuit Day.
 
WEDNESDAY 15 MAY
UK:
Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Day.
WORLDWIDE:
Peace Officers Memorial Day, Bring Flowers To Someone Day, National Juice Slush Day, National Nylon Stocking Day, National Chocolate Chip Day, International Family Day, National Straw Hat Day, International Vascular Birthmarks Awareness Day, World Product Day, International Customer Support Day.
 
THURSDAY 16 MAY
WORLDWIDE:
National Coquilles Saint Jacques Day, National Classic Movie Day, National Mimosa Day, National Barbecue Day, National Do Something Good For Your Neighbor Day, Honor Our LGBT Elders Day, National Piercing Day, National Biographer’s Day, National Sea Monkey Day, National Love A Tree Day, Horse Rescue Day, Global Accessibility Awareness Day, International Day of Living Together in Peace, Wear Purple for Peace Day, National Waiters Day, International Boys’ Day, International Day of Light, National Notebook Day, Drawing Day, National Biographers Day.
 
FRIDAY 17 MAY
WORLDWIDE:
National Defence Transportation Day, World Hypertension Day, Malcolm X Day, National Idaho Day, National Graduation Tassel Day, National Walnut Day, NASCAR Day, National Pizza Party Day, National Bike To Work Day, National Bike To School Day, National Cherry Cobbler Day, National Pack Rat Day, National Endangered Species Day, Cheese Souffle Day, World Telecommunications Day, National Mushroom Hunting Day, National Work From Home Day, National Pinot Grigio Day, Shades Day, International Virtual Assistants Day, International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, World Neurofibromatosis Awareness Day.
Share
Tweet
Forward
Not already an EdCentral member? If you're interested in sharing ideas and collaborating with your peers we provide a safe secure environment where that can happen. You can register here

If you would like to receive an email copy of this weekly round-up you can opt in here

Steve Besley's education policy updates are also available via email. Head over to this page if you'd like to sign up

EdNews

Stay informed with EdNews - curated by our team from over 250 different sources

Find out more

EdCentral Logo