Banning Phones in Schools Is Still a Good Idea, Despite Disappointing Data
There are no magic bullets in education.
Education
My kids are taking their first big exams – and revealing my own anxieties about AI and long division | Emma Brockes
As the traditional route of school, university and entry-level job is ever more precarious, it’s no wonder parents are feeling the strain
Called on to do long division, how would you fare? I had no illusions going in. I couldn’t do it the first time round and, four decades later, it seemed unlikely the situation had improved. (For a split second I thought AI might help, but it was like...
Palestinian ambassador protests to Foreign Office over ’erasure’ by British Museum
Objection after museum removes word ‘Palestine’ from list of countries of ancient Levant and Egypt and from some explanatory panels
The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has called for Foreign Office intervention after the British Museum removed references to Palestine from its exhibits.
The UK recognised the state of Palestine in September 2025, but the same year the museum removed the name...
‘Close to zero impact’: US study casts doubt on effect of phone ban in schools
Researchers say findings are not reason to shy away from restrictions as MPs consider ban in England’s schools
Strict bans on mobile phones in schools have “close to zero” impact on student learning and show no evidence of improvements in attendance or online bullying, a study has found.
Researchers at US universities including Stanford and Duke looked at nearly 1,800 US schools where...
Dangerous baby-sleep advice given to parents by self-described experts, secret filming reveals
The advice puts babies at risk of serious harm, even death, medical professionals have told the BBC.
One in four humanities students in Australia to take more than 25 years to pay off student loans, treasury finds
Job ready graduates program will also leave almost two-thirds of humanities and creative arts students with debts exceeding $50,000
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One in four humanities students will take more than 25 years to fully repay their student loans because of Morrison government changes to university fees, newly public Treasury modelling reveals.
The job...
Where Duolingo falls down: how I learned to speak Welsh with my mother – podcast
Once violently defended from extinction, Welsh is still a part of daily life. By learning my family’s language, I hoped to join their conversation
By Dan Fox. Read by Matt Addis
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‘Go inside, he will kill you’: Israeli militants step up West Bank school attacks
Education is being targeted across Palestine, with the murder of 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan only the latest in a spree of violence
The Israeli reservist shot 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan in the head just outside the western gate of the Mughayyir boys’ secondary school, where he was studying in ninth grade.
Aws collapsed instantly, bleeding heavily. More shots rang out as his friends ran to his...
Revise, recall, then rest – your exam season survival guide
Teachers and tutors share tips for students to get through exam season.
Ofsted inspections pushing headteachers to ‘point of destruction’, union chief says
NAHT leader says schools watchdog for England does not raise standards, amid opposition to ‘Nando’s-style’ scoring
School leaders are being pressurised “to the point of destruction”, the head of a teaching union has said, as he put the education establishment “on notice”.
During a speech to the union’s annual conference in Belfast, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National...
‘It ruined my night’: photographers accused of targeting women at St Andrews May Dip
Students taking part in university’s annual ritual say images of them in swimwear are being published without consent in national newspapers
When the sun rises at dawn on Friday, hundreds of St Andrews University students will brave the chilly North Sea for the annual May Dip, an undergraduate ritual said to bring good luck in exams. But the students won’t be alone at the beach. In recent...
What is Ofsted and how does the new school ratings system work?
The rating system changed after the death of head Ruth Perry highlighted the pressure of inspections.
Meta in row after workers who say they saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs
Meta and its subcontractor disagree over why over 1000 Kenya-based workers were made redundant.
I took an algorithm to court in Sweden. The algorithm won | Charlotta Kronblad
Gothenburg promised to optimise school admissions with a piece of code. The resulting chaos showed how unaccountable systems are ruining lives
We like to imagine that injustice announces itself loudly. That when something goes wrong in the public system, alarms go off and someone takes responsibility or is held accountable if they do not. But in 2020 in Gothenburg, injustice arrived quietly,...
Office for Students’ University of Sussex humiliation is a symptom of deeper failings
England’s higher education regulator must rebuild trust with troubled sector after series of blunders under previous leadership
In its brief and unhappy life, England’s Office for Students has been offered a series of challenges it has largely failed to meet. This week the latest and most embarrassing of those was unveiled, when the high court decisively rejected the higher education...
Oxford’s new £185m humanities hub is polished, refined … and funded by a Trump ally
Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman’s portrait hangs discretely in a building that promises cultural clout and architectural poise – yet can seem rather bland and bloodless
When the wealthy Paduan banker Enrico Scrovegni commissioned the building of his eponymous chapel in the 14th century, he made sure that he was immortalised in the lavish frescoes adorning its interior. Florentine artist Giotto...
University wins record freedom of speech fine challenge
A record fine had been issued by the Office for Students over the university’s trans and non-binary inclusion policy.
Sussex University overturns £585,000 fine as high court rejects free speech breach claim
Ruling is blow to Office for Students after it issued fine for handling of protests over professor’s trans rights views
Sussex University has overturned a £585,000 fine by England’s higher education watchdog after the high court rejected claims the university had breached free speech regulations involving its former professor Kathleen Stock.
The ruling is a damaging blow to the credibility and...
Teaching in classes grouped by ability does not hamper progress of less able pupils, study finds
Research on maths teaching in English secondary schools upends decades of debate over mixed-ability education
Teaching pupils in classes grouped by ability improves the results of high-flyers but does not affect the progress of less able children, according to a study that upends decades of debate over mixed-ability education.
The research by University College London’s Institute of Education...
Calls for ‘student premium’ to support disadvantaged young people after GCSEs
Social mobility groups say post-16 funding gap risks young people falling out of education, work and training
A coalition of 14 social mobility organisations is urging the government to fund a “student premium” to support disadvantaged young people post-16 and prevent them from “falling through the cracks” into joblessness.
State-funded schools in England currently receive additional pupil...
Half of England’s schools unfit due to leaks, mould and faulty toilets, poll finds
NAHT survey says widespread disrepair forcing closure of playgrounds and classrooms, with Send facilities also hit
Half of headteachers say parts of their school are either out of use or unfit for purpose due to leaks, damp, mould, asbestos, ageing boilers and malfunctioning fire doors, according to a new survey by the National Association of Head Teachers(NAHT).
Among those who say their...