Education Media - EdCentral - Results from #300

Ofsted to include safer sleep in inspections – early years minister Olivia Bailey

Ofsted will now consider safe sleep practices as a routine part of inspection, alongside an update to safe sleep requirements in the early years curriculum from September.

Councils report 'very significant surge' in EHCP assessment requests

Local authorities are reporting a surge in demand for education, health and care plan (EHCP) assessments since the government unveiled plans to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system.

Northumbria pension switch scheme ends with nearly half signed up

Majority elect to stay enrolled on more expensive TPS despite offer of incentives up to £12,000.

Can pensioners bring back buzz to university life?

Developers behind ‘university retirement communities’ believe the model can benefit pensioners, students and institutional finances.

UKRI’s three-day research grant call ‘unfair on applicants’

Rush to ‘get funding out of door’ after delayed budget settlement will harm quality of submissions and staff well-being, warns ex-UKRI director.

Can peace studies thrive in the era of ‘strongmen’ leaders?

With thousands dying in armed conflicts across the world, peace studies may hold valuable insights on ending war. But suspicions over the discipline’s innovative theories mean its voice has not always been heard, writes Jack Grove.

If we want growth, we must build on what already works

Our country’s future will require higher-level skills – and different pathways to obtain them need not be in tension.

The global window on higher education.

Trusts with higher disadvantage and SEND face 75% bigger deficits

Tes analysis sparks calls for reform of funding and accountability systems to better support academy trusts with high numbers of vulnerable pupils.

Snubbed schools more likely to get repairs cash if they shut

A north east trust snubbed for cash for repairs three years in a row was told its latest bids would have stood a better chance if its academies had shut.

Outsourcing firm misses out as Teach First hangs on to contract

Teach First fended off a challenge from an international outsourcing company to keep its contract to recruit “high potential” graduates into the profession.

Censured academy trusts continue to slide into the red

Almost half of ailing academy trusts censured by ministers after registering losses of up to several million pounds have continued their financial slide, a Schools Week investigation has found.

DfE mulls replacing Tories’ Mandarin Excellence Programme

Ministers are considering replacing the long-running Mandarin Excellence Programme with a new scheme to support the language.

Managed moves could be “consigned to the history books” by new government guidance preventing oversubscribed schools from prioritising them in admissions.

Labour ‘taking credit’ for teachers recruited before it won power

Labour has been accused of “taking credit” for teacher recruitment that occurred before it entered government, after claiming it has already met 70 per cent of its landmark target.

‘This one might have legs’: Inside Ofsted’s decision to inspect school that postponed MP visit

Ofsted boss Martyn Oliver ordered watchdog staff considering inspecting a school that postponed an MP’s visit to move “as quickly as you can” as “this one might have legs and we need to be in front of it”.