Education

• Government launches scheme to ‘boost’ political participation among pupils

  The Government has launched a programme aimed at teaching young people about politics and promoting participation in the political system.

  

• Scottish education spending cut by £400m since 2010

  Local authority education spending has fallen by more than £400m since 2010, new research has revealed today.

  

• Councils urged to provide free education transport for young people with disabilities

  Councils across England should ensure their education transport policies properly support young adults with disabilities, ombudsman warns.

  

• Excluded pupils ‘abandoned’ by education system, MPs say

  Pupils who have been excluded from school are being ‘failed’ by the education system, MPs warn.

  

• South East councils call for powers to tackle skills shortage

  Councils have called for more powers to help address the skills shortage as report shows nearly all jobs will soon be closed to people without qualifications.

  

• Gap between spending per pupil in England and Wales ‘eliminated’

  School funding in England has fallen faster than in Wales, ‘virtually eliminating’ the gap between the two nations, financial experts reveal.

  

• Whitehall ‘failing’ to learn from high-profile academy failures, MPs say

  The Government is ‘failing’ to learn from high-profile academy failures which have been damaging to the education of the children involved, MPs say.

  

• Primary school standards ‘continue to rise’

  This year has seen an increase in the number of children who have reached the expected standard in Key Stage 2.

  

• Meeting the challenge of 21st century schools

  Austerity budgets and rising demand for places has long made building for schools a challenging subject for local authorities. One programme in Wales is showing what can be achieved, as highlighted by Morgan Sindall in this sponsored article.

  

• Academies no better than council schools, think tank finds

  There is ‘little difference’ between academies and local authority schools when it comes to performance, according to an education think tank.