This week I highlight the approval of SEND reform plans for over 100 Local Authorities and the potential impact of KCSIE 2026 on work experience opportunities for students.

Local SEND reform plans underway
Over 100 councils have now had their SEND reform plans approved by the DfE, detailing how they will develop partnerships between key stakeholders such as schools, trusts and Integrated Care Boards to deliver provision for pupils with SEND. The approved plans form part of phase one of the governments wider SEND reforms.

Impact of KCSIE 2026 on work experience opportunities for students
School leaders are warning that requirements for checks on employers offering work experience could impact on government plans for a national mission expanding these opportunities. These concerns relate to a change introduced through the Crime and Policing Act 2026.

There have been urgent calls for clarity on what it is expected from employers and schools, as headteachers report that businesses are already withdrawing from offering placements because of the burden of paperwork amid legal concerns. The Careers and Enterprise Company has said it is in urgent contact with the government to seek clarity on what the changes will mean for schools and employers offering work experience.

This week I report on the Education Secretary’s plan for schools to tackle misogyny and publication of a new report which proposes a ten-point plan for AI in education.

Education Secretary’s plan for schools to tackle misogyny
This week the Education Secretary set out a new plan to challenge toxic influences and tackle harmful attitudes in schools. Schools will be supported with a practical framework to tackle misogyny with resources including practical guides, teacher training and parent support.

Publication of a new report which proposes a ten-point plan for AI in education
Sir Anthony Seldon and Tim Bunting’s report, ‘Britain’s Greatest Education Opportunity Ever’, has just been published by Public First. It looks at polling of 4,000 young people in England and how they’re using AI in schoolwork and wider life, and what this means in relation to AI in education.

The report’s ‘Ten-Point Plan for AI in Education’ calls for rapid, system-wide action on AI, beginning with a landmark speech from the Prime Minister before the end of 2026 and the introduction of a ‘National AI Education Adoption Framework’ from September 2027.

This week I highlight new SEND and inclusion training materials for mainstream schools published by the DfE and the Government’s announcement that new vocational GCSEs will be introduced from September 2029.

New SEND and inclusion training
This week the DfE has published a collection of training materials to help mainstream schools develop inclusive teaching practices. The package can be delivered in house as part of a training day or as standalone sessions to help build staff confidence and expertise. Whilst schools are not required to deliver the training, they are encouraged to do so.

Vocational GCSEs to be introduced
From September 2029, pupils will be able to undertake vocational GCSEs as part of a new technical educational pathway being developed by the Government. Designed to sit alongside core academic GCSE subjects like English and Maths, the new qualifications will have an emphasis on skills and preparing pupils for the world of work.

Standards for the new qualifications will be set nationally by the regulator Ofqual to ensure grades are in line with other GCSEs and will gradually replace other qualifications at this level such as BTEC awards.

This week I report on revised school food standards which, subject to Parliamentary Approval, will come into force from September 2027; confirmation of a £5million investment in secondary schools to purchase books and reading materials and a call for evidence for a KS3 curriculum review.

Revised school food standards (anticipated September 2027 rollout)
The DfE has finalised updated school food standards guidance which, subject to Parliamentary approval, will take effect in schools from September 2027, with secondary schools granted additional flexibility on select items. The standards are intended to improve the nutritional quality of food served in schools and support efforts to tackle childhood obesity and tooth decay.

Schools must appoint a lead governor for school food and publish menus and food policies online. Compliance data will be collected via the Food Standards Agency and shared with Ofsted to inform leadership evaluations.

Secondary school reading materials grant (£5m investment)
To coincide with the National Year of Reading 2026, the DfE has announced that it is distributing £5 million to secondary schools in England to purchase books and reading materials. The funding covers all secondary schools with KS3 and KS4 pupils, including academies, free schools, maintained schools, special schools, and alternative provision settings.

Schools will receive allocations ranging from £450 to £1,400 based on pupil numbers and disadvantage weighting, without needing to submit an application. Accounts on the supplier platform, Browns Books, will be generated automatically, with login details sent out from earlier this week. All allocated funds must be spent and orders placed by 31 March 2027.

KS3 national call for evidence
The DfE-supported KS3 Alliance has launched a national call for evidence to re-evaluate Y7-9, addressing concerns that the early secondary years have become a “seriously overlooked” phase focused narrowly on GCSE preparation.

Evidence is requested across four focus areas: student engagement and belonging, literacy and numeracy, assessment and data usage, and skills and educational pathways.

The alliance is conducting regional events in Cambridge, Doncaster, Exeter, Leicester, Manchester, and Newcastle to gather local insights. Schools, academy trusts, researchers, and young people are invited to submit evidence until the deadline at 5pm on Monday 9 November.

This week I highlight England’s improved performance for PISA as well as confirmation that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers in this year’s provisional KS2 SATs results has increased.

International rankings see English pupils doing well
England’s secondary school pupils have risen up the international rankings for their attainment in maths, reading and science. This is according to the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that compares 15-year-olds’ attainment across different countries.

Attainment in England has improved across reading and science, while remaining the same in maths. Science showed the strongest gains, halting a decade-long decline. However, the report also highlights a gender gap developing in science internationally, where boys now significantly outperform girls, while disadvantage also continues to affect attainment.

SATs disadvantage gap rises to highest level in 4 years
The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers in KS2 SATs has reached its highest level since 2021/22, provisional annual data has revealed. The new figures also show that girls continue to outperform boys in meeting both expected and higher standards, while attainment among pupils with SEND has improved.

Welcome back to the start of another academic year. This week’s Update focuses on the latest version of KCSIE which came into force on 1 September, the new requirement for schools to have an allergy safety policy, updated Ofsted Inspection Guidance which comes into force on Monday and confirmation of the new Education Secretary.

KCSIE 2026
The latest version of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 was published on 1 September and came into effect immediately.

Comparing the final version against the July 2026 ‘for information’ version there are six substantive changes. Four of these introduce racism and faith-based prejudice as an explicit safeguarding category, appearing in Part One, in the definition of child-on-child abuse, and as a whole-school culture expectation. The remaining two changes tighten the definition of sexual abuse (to bring it in line with Working Together); and tightens the safer recruitment of volunteers working in EYFS settings.

Allergy Safety and Benedict’s Law
New allergy safety duties take effect from this month, requiring schools to have an allergy safety policy and follow statutory guidance. Further measures cover staff training, adrenaline devices, allergy management and incident reporting. The NGA has helpfully produced new guidance to ensure Governing bodies know what their responsibilities are.

Updated Ofsted Inspection Guidance
Ofsted has published updated inspection information, toolkits and operating guidance for use from 7 September 2026. The updated school inspection materials clarify expectations around safeguarding, inclusion, medical conditions and allergy safety, mobile phone policies, enrichment, SEND, attendance, behaviour, alternative provision and strategic documentation.

New Education Secretary
Over the summer, Lucy Powell was appointed Education Secretary following Andy Burnham’s appointment as Prime Minister. She inherits a significant programme of ongoing education reform, including SEND, curriculum and assessment, workforce, funding, and post-16 education.

After last week’s bumper update we finish off the academic year with a short and sweet governance update.

The DfE has updated it’s governance guides for academy trusts and maintained schools to reflect changes to the Academy Trust Handbook and other recent guidance spanning allergy safety, inclusion, school meal expansion, sustainability leadership and more.

I will provide a full briefing as an agenda item at our first meeting in the Autumn term.

Until then have a relaxing and enjoyable summer and see you all in September.

This week I report on the publication of KCSIE 2026 which comes into force on 1 September; confirmation that statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions will be updated and new statutory guidance on allergy safety in schools has been published; new non statutory guidance on tackling bullying and harassment of school staff has been published; updated guidance on the cost of school uniforms has been published and new Regional RISE plans have been released.

KCSIE 2026 published
On Tuesday the DfE published the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 which will take effect on 1 September. Key additions include:

• The requirement for boards to review filtering and monitoring systems annually.
• Guidance for schools supporting children questioning their gender with greater clarification on rules relating to toilets, changing rooms and school sport.
• Robust cover arrangements for when the Designated Safeguarding Lead is unavailable, such as using a confidential shared email inbox.

Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school
The DfE has confirmed that it will revise the statutory guidance Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school to reflect the points raised in the recent consultation. Further work will take place to clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of education settings and of healthcare professionals before publishing the updated guidance.

The DfE has published new statutory guidance on allergy safety in schools. From September governing bodies must ensure that their school has an allergy policy, supports pupils with allergies through appropriate healthcare plans, and holds spare adrenaline auto-injectors for emergencies. All staff should also undergo dedicated allergy awareness training.

Preventing and tackling bullying and harassment of school staff
New non statutory guidance on how to prevent and tackle intimidation, harassment and bullying of school staff has been published by the DfE. The guidance outlines the government’s expectations of schools and provides clarity for employers on:

• their legal duties to prevent and address bullying and harassment
• the actions they should take to ensure all staff are supported, respected and protected in line with the school’s behaviour policy; staff behaviour policy or code of conduct; parental code of conduct, or any similar shared agreement between the school and parents or carers

As well as a list of resources that provide useful tools or further information on specific issues.

Updated Cost of school uniforms guidance
The DfE has published updated guidance on the cost of school uniforms. From September all schools must limit the number of compulsory branded items of uniform and PE kit to three or fewer; secondary and middle schools are allowed a tie as a fourth.

New Regional RISE plans unveiled
The regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) programme is set to deliver nine regional plans which explain how support will be delivered locally to improve outcomes.
The plans will focus on regional challenges for schools and trusts and are in addition to the
four national RISE priorities, which include:

• raising attainment
• developing an inclusive mainstream
• support for reception
• improving attendance

You can access the North East’s plan using this link.

This week I highlight confirmation of teachers pay awards for the next two years and the announcement that KS2 SATS results will be delayed.

Teachers pay confirmed and executive pay rules tightened
This week the DfE confirmed teachers pay awards for the next two years. Teachers will receive a 3.5% pay rise from September 2026 and a further 3% from September 2027. These rises are largely funded but schools and trusts will need to find 1% from existing budgets.

Significant changes have also been made on MAT executive pay with the introduction of ministerial approval for salaries above £174k, a cap on bonuses and a rule tying executive pay growth to teacher pay growth.

SATs results delayed
KS2 SATs results have been delayed and instead of schools receiving them on 7 July they will now be available on 16 July. This is due to delays preparing the system used to make results available to schools.

This week I report on new DfE guidance to support SEND reform, updated DfE Careers guidance and an update to the cyber security core standard in the Meeting Digital and Technology standards in schools and colleges.

New DfE guidance to support SEND reform
New guidance has been published to help schools and trusts understand expectations across key areas of SEND reform, including the inclusive mainstream fund, inclusive education estates and inclusion bases.

Updated DfE careers guidance
This week, the DfE has published its annual update to careers guidance. There are no changes to legislation or statutory duties, but it now reflects the latest developments in education and skills policy and strengthens expectations in key areas. The updates cover:

• Work experience reform
• Ofsted’s updated inspection framework
• Qualifications and skills reforms
• New national data on provider access

Meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges
This week the Cyber security core standard was updated to reflect new technical requirements introduced by the National Cyber Security Centre as part of the Cyber Essentials 2026 standard.