MPs criticise “rip-off” interest rates and unfair changes to repayment terms during a debate in Parliament

A compelling and fitfully harrowing child’s-eye account of a mother’s unravelling

Stefan Merrill Block was nine when his mother pulled him out of school. It was the early 1990s and the family had recently moved from Indianapolis to Plano, Texas, where Block’s father had started a new job. While Block and his older brother, Aaron, had been wrenched away from their schoolmates, their mother had...

The government has unveiled its long-awaited plans for reforming SEND provision in England – but what do those most impacted make of the changes?

Lawsuit is latest action by Trump administration against a university and escalation of president’s feud with California

The justice department sued the University of California, Los Angeles on Tuesday, alleging the university created a hostile work environment for Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff after protests against the war on Gaza broke out across campus.

The lawsuit claims UCLA...

Education leaders and MPs say government needs to be careful about mental health impact on leaders and teachers in already overstretched sector

Teachers and schools face “a huge ask” implementing the government’s special needs proposals affecting hundreds of thousands of children, according to education leaders and MPs who otherwise gave the plans a cautious welcome.

Under the plans unveiled by...

Teachers at two Greater Manchester schools took to the picket lines after claims of violent children

Councils seek powers to require more schools to take children as heads say funding would meet needs.

Unite Group cuts rents at some universities and raises cash by selling London site to joint venture for £186m

Business live – latest updates

A drop in the number of international students coming to the UK has hit the student housing provider Unite Group, which lowered its profit outlook for the third time in four months as weaker demand prompted it to cut rents in some cities.

Shares in the...

Some graduates in England say “punishing” student loan repayments have led them to cut their hours at work.

What is behind the growing anger over plan 2 student loans and what could reforms mean for graduates?

Pressure is building on the government to reform the student loans system, with politicians and campaigners piling in, and a minister conceding there are “problems” with the current set-up.

Yesterday the consumer champion Martin Lewis – who last month locked horns with Rachel Reeves –...

Robyn and Adam say changes to SEND provision could impact children like their eight-year-old son Oli.

Plant-based meals will be the standard option for students at the University of Southampton.

Bridget Phillipson and her team are making sure MPs and the public grasp the need to overhaul the special educational needs system

In her first week as a cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson held a meeting for new Labour MPs with one subject – special educational needs. Almost 100 MPs came to that first meeting.

There were new MPs for whom the issue was personal to their own families – Jen...

Parents and teachers will be wondering what resources ministers can secure for Labour’s revamp of system

• Fewer children in England to get EHCPs by 2035 under Send overhaul• Parents of children with Send give changes in England a mixed response• The impact of Send changes in England: four likely scenarios for children

There is always an extra cost to delivering a tailored service, which is how...

Amid relief that changes will avoid significant disruption for families, there are fears some children will not benefit

Parents of children with special needs say they are relieved that the government’s long-awaited overhaul will avoid significant disruption for their families – but told the Guardian they fear getting help will remain a struggle.

Becky, whose son Kyllian has a number of...

Building up support and expertise in mainstream schools will take time and ministerial focus

With its education white paper, the key section of which concerns support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), the government is returning to a more holistic view of schools. High standards and inclusion should be “two sides of the same coin”, the document states. The...

Bridget Phillipson’s 10-year plan is generous in places, but her party might not be in power long enough to see it through

Whether the change is down to the shifting of the Overton window or the demise of basic decency, one awful feature of the current national conversation is becoming clearer by the day: the demonisation of disabled and vulnerable children and young people – and their...

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the government’s long-awaited plans for the special educational needs and disabilities system. Can the controversial overhaul convince parents and MPs? Plus, the latest on the Gorton and Denton byelection

To read Jonthan Liew’s Sunday Read on the Gorton and Denton byelection, click here

Continue reading…

We look at situations where pupils could be affected by new special educational needs and disabilities system

How will children and their families be affected by the government’s overhaul of special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision in England’s schools? That will depend on their age, with the bulk of changes not taking effect until 2030, according to the white paper and...

The government has set out broad changes it will make to the SEND system in England in the coming years.

Ties to the disgraced financier run deep through the academic world, documents released by the DoJ show

Major institutions of higher education in the US are reckoning with the latest release of the Epstein files after discovering the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s relationships with board members, professors and administrators on campuses across the country.

In some cases, professors...