Education news
22 August
Curriculum & qualifications
GCSE results 2025: Which subjects saw the biggest rises in top grades?
14 out of 15 most popular GCSE subjects saw a rise in top grades.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/gcse-results-2025-which-subjects-saw-the-biggest-rises-in-top-grades/
6 data insights from GCSE results
Looking beyond the headline outcomes from GCSE results day, Tes picks through the data to reveal trends that schools should know about.
GCSE results: joy at Maesteg school, but Wales still lagging behind England
Wales’s top grades rate of 62.5% is behind England’s 67.1% , but there were many success stories at the Llynfi valley secondary.
Why GCSE English and maths resits policy is ‘not fit for purpose’
The curriculum and assessment review is due to set out its recommendations for young people who do not secure a decent pass in the autumn.
Mental health investment could transform GCSE results
A new report shows that supporting young people with mental health would improve school outcomes and boost the economy.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/mental-health-investment-could-transform-gcse-results/
Tech problems are putting the entire exam system at risk
Exam boards must act to ensure examiners can do their jobs properly. Faith in the system hinges on it.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/examiners-deserve-better-than-the-tech-problems-they-face/
Students who use keyboards in exams get better scores, research finds
Exclusive: All pupils, including those with learning difficulties, made big improvements in tests when using word processors.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/aug/20/students-keyboards-exams-better-scores-research
Exclusive: GCSE exams hit by February cyberattack
Exam papers from two boards were affected, but Ofqual says students can have ‘full confidence’ in their results this year.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/secondary/gcse-exams-hit-by-cyberattack
Girls and boys ‘should learn about periods together’
And they should have more than two lessons about menstruation throughout their school careers, warns University College London study.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/girls-and-boys-should-learn-about-periods-together
Starmer will give 16-year-olds the vote – but they aren’t studying politics
Subject shunned by 97pc of GCSE students amid dearth of teachers with relevant qualifications.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/20/starmer-gave-votes-16-year-olds-snubbing-politics-gcse/
Inclusion
Students want more support for back-to-school anxiety
Few students feel comfortable speaking to a teacher, school counsellor or mental health professional about anxiety of returning to school, survey finds.
Members of taskforce on ‘broken’ SEND system named
Former education secretary, children’s commissioner and trust leaders among members.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/members-of-taskforce-on-broken-send-system-named/
School Improvement
Ministers aim to export London’s academic success to England’s struggling schools
Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson says Rise scheme will use techniques from Blair government’s London Challenge.
Why are London schools outperforming the rest of England?
From gentrification to immigration, we explore reasons for growing attainment gap between capital and other regions.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/aug/15/why-london-schools-outperforming-rest-england
Equalities
Underperformance of boys at GCSE level ‘should be a matter of national concern’ professor says
Professor Alan Smithers said the talents of boys are not being developed as ‘fully’ as they could be.
10 years of the Scottish Attainment Challenge: has it been a success?
Today marks exactly a decade since Nicola Sturgeon’s landmark speech on Scottish education – Emma Seith looks at the legacy of a career-defining promise by the former first minister.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/general/scottish-attainment-challenge-10-years
Disadvantage
Implement uniform branded item cap ‘right now’, Phillipson tells schools
DfE tells schools to ‘immediately’ limit branded items ‘ahead of the new term’.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/implement-uniform-branded-item-cap-right-now-phillipson-tells-schools/
1 in 4 of parents sacrifice food or heating to afford children’s school uniform
Almost half of parents in Parentkind’s survey are worried about the cost of buying uniform for the start of the school year.
The five-figure windfall families could get if Labour change key benefit
Tens of thousands of families with multiple children could receive thousands of pounds more in annual payments if the two-child benefit cap is abolished.
https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/two-child-benefit-scrap-labour-families-b2809884.html
Disadvantaged white pupils have ‘particularly poor’ outcomes
Educational inequality has become ‘more pronounced’ since Covid, warns report highlighting the low attainment of disadvantaged white pupils.
Poorer pupils do better in more disadvantaged schools, report says
Researchers also find worst-performing areas for disadvantaged kids likely to have more poor white youngsters.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/poorer-pupils-do-better-in-more-disadvantaged-schools-report-says/
Tech
Children’s exposure to porn higher than before 2023 Online Safety Act, poll finds
Children’s commissioner for England says findings show little had improved despite new law and tech firms’ promises.
5 ways porn is affecting young people in your school
A bleak new children’s commissioner’s report reveals where schools need to focus pastoral efforts to tackle the concerning impact of pornography on young people.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/general/children-pornogaphy-report-affecting-young-people
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