QA Education

School leaders warn administrative workload is rising across England, with staff spending hours each day on non-teaching tasks. Analysis from Access Education suggests disconnected systems across schools require staff to duplicate data entry and manually reconcile information. Government-commissioned research published in 2023 found that teachers and middle leaders reported spending an average of around two hours per day on administrative tasks, equivalent to approximately 10 hours per week.

By Sim Street – Assistant Headteacher, Brocks Hill Primary School As a teacher, my role is to equip pupils with the tools that they need to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives. In recent years, conversations about gender equality and gender stereotypes have taken on increasing resonance and importance. At their heart, these conversations are based around a simple idea – that everyone should be treated equally. Yet in today’s ever more complex world, they can feel surprisingly tricky.

New research from over 1,700 senior leaders in England, commissioned for Teaching Vacancies, shows schools are increasingly adopting fair, transparent and inclusive practices when it comes to teacher recruitment. These changes are enabled by features built into the service.

Primary schools across England can access Beyond Gender Stereotypes (BGS), a new free, evidence-based curriculum for KS2 pupils. It aims to support children to identify, understand and break free from gender stereotypes, empowering them to build healthy relationships. Grounded in community and school-based research, the curriculum offers a range of scalable, engaging and age-appropriate learning experiences using real-life, relatable examples.

Last month, the Food Foundation launched a powerful new film, as part of a major campaign calling for improved food standards and higher quality meals in schools. To better explore what schools, pupils and parents want the future of school food to look like, this week apetito’s Education division has launched a brand-new market research project.

New data protection changes are landing across the UK education sector, and they’re not just “for the DPO”. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) introduces updates that affect how schools share information for safeguarding, how they handle concerns from parents and staff, and what they should expect from suppliers whose services are used by children. Most school leaders already know the basics: minimise data, secure access, train staff, keep policies current.

Despite government progress towards removing RAAC from schools, significant concerns remain about the condition of England’s school estate, MPs warn today. The cross-party Education Committee has today published its report, ‘Foundations of Learning: Replacing RAAC and Securing School Buildings’. MPs on the cross-party committee find that despite the government making significant progress in removing and remediating RAAC, the experience has affected the learning and well-being of pupils.

A groundbreaking blueprint for tracking progress for pupils with SEND has been developed and launched by Outcomes First Group (OFG) – the UK’s largest provider of specialist provision. The new framework – ‘Progress X’ – is designed to transform SEND assessment and support – an area the Department for Education (DfE) identified as challenging but essential in the recent Curriculum and Assessment Review.

School leaders navigate a delicate balancing act. On one side sits the unavoidable pressure of budget constraints and financial accountability, while on the other rests the non-negotiable duty of care owed to every student who walks through the school gates. Every textbook placed on a desk, every meal served in the canteen, and every piece of equipment used in the classroom is a decision that affects both the bottom line and student wellbeing.

Ultra-processed and ‘beige’ foods now make up two-thirds of calories in UK school lunches, experts have warned. Despite dietary guidelines, around 80% of UK children eat less than the recommended number of vegetables, with one-third consuming less than one portion a day. At the same time, nearly half of toddlers’ daily calories now come from ultra-processed foods, rising to around 60% by age seven, with these products accounting for almost two-thirds of calories in typical UK school lunches.