30 September 2019 Over half of young people are now attending university

Official figures published last week show that over half of young people are now attending university for the first time

In 2017-18, 50.2% of 17- to 30-year olds in England participated in higher education; the figures show a steady rise in the higher education participation rate over the last year years

The participation rate for women is 56.6% and for men 44.1%

The Education Secretary urged universities to do more to ensure a diverse intake of students, particularly by encouraging more disadvantaged students to participate in higher education

20 September 2019 Report shows improved picture of careers support in schools

A report published by the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) indicates that careers education in schools is improving - more schools are meeting the Gatsby benchmarks for good careers programmes

The eight benchmarks include learning from career and labour market information, encounters with employers and experiences of workplaces

37% of schools achieved at least four benchmarks whilst 10% failed to meet any - these figures represent an improvement since 2017

The CEC is funded by the government to provide support for schools such as enterprise advisers and co-ordinators

16 September 2019 - Ofsted's inspection transition period will not apply to the full primary curriculum

Ofsted has transition arrangements in place to allow schools some time to develop their curriculum - these apply to four of the good criteria in the quality of education judgement in the new inspection framework, which was introduced at the start of September

It means that inspectors can use their professional judgement when a school has taken 'appropriate action but is still in the early stages of developing its curriculum'

However, Ofsted has announced that, for schools with primary pupils, the transition plans will not apply to reading, writing and mathematics - and will therefore only apply to science and the foundation curriculum

9 September 2019 - Government launches major review into the support for children with SEND

The government has launched a major review into the support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Education Health and Care plans were launched in 2014; the new review will look at how the system has evolved since then, how it can be made to work best for all families and ensure that the quality of provision is consistent across the country. 

It will also look at the role of health care in SEND in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care

3 September 2019 - Outstanding schools no longer to be exempt from Ofsted inspection

The government has announced that schools previously rated as outstanding will no longer be exempt from Ofsted inspections.

It will consult on how make this change and - subject to Parliamentary approval - bring them into the regular inspection cycle.

A National Audit Office report says that 296 schools have not been inspected for more than 10 years.  In the last academic year, 16% kept their outstanding status on inspection; in the previous year, the figure was 33%.