DfE updates

The DfE provide a sporadic email to keep you updated on key education issues. If you or colleagues would like to receive this email directly, please ask them to use this subscription form. You can view the November email here.

November 20th 2023:

This is your regular email from the Department for Education (DfE) to keep you updated on key education issues.

If you have colleagues who would like to receive this email directly, please ask them to use this subscription form.

For action

Unless marked as mandatory, these actions are optional for education settings.

all settings: Respond to consultation about mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse

all settings: Request a free portrait of His Majesty the King Charles III

schools and early years settings: Update on the Online Safety Act

schools with further education provision and further education settings: Help us improve information to students about Higher Technical Qualifications

schools and local authorities: Find a tuition partner to deliver tutoring to your pupils

schools: Respond to consultation on formulae and equation sheets for GCSE exams in 2024

schools: Complete our online smoking, drinking and drug use survey

schools: Take part in focus groups on schools’ experiences of pupil premium

early years settings: Share the Childcare Choices campaign with parents and carers

News and developments

all settings: new information on the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs)

all settings: How the Artsmark Award can support arts and cultural education

schools and further education settings: Ofqual guides for qualifications in 2024

schools and local authorities: Keeping your students safe with lesson plans from Act for Youth

schools and local authorities: New evidence that it is never too late to improve attendance, and how DfE, schools and LAs are using attendance data

early years settings: Early Years practitioner wellbeing support resources published

local authorities: Vodcast on the updated Early Years Foundation Stage Profile 2024 handbook

Forward look

Wednesday 29 November: Register for a ‘Monitor your school attendance’ webinar for schools and local authorities at 11:00am to 12:00pm.

Wednesday 29 November: Register for a webinar on ‘Cutting the Cost of School Uniform’ for schools at 4:00pm, and hear from school leaders about how they have implemented the statutory Cost of School Uniform Guidance.

For action

Action for all settings: Respond to consultation about mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse

On 2 November 2023 the Home Office launched a consultation setting out the government's proposals for implementing a mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse.

The consultation asks for feedback on a small but significant set of remaining policy questions, following the call for evidence which took place for 12 weeks earlier this year.

It is very important that the government hears from as many people and organisations as possible that could be affected by this new duty.

Please send your views through the consultation online or by email by 30 November 2023. Please do also circulate the consultation to any staff and contacts that you think will be interested to respond.

Action for all settings: Request a free portrait of His Majesty the King Charles III

In April 2023, the Government announced a new scheme to allow public authorities across the UK to apply for a free portrait of His Majesty the King to celebrate the new reign. The scheme has launched and portraits are available to order below.

Maintained nurseries, primary & secondary schools, pupil referral units (including Alternative Provision and Free schools), state funded special schools, non-maintained special schools and colleges are eligible.

The supplier chosen to operate this scheme is Cubiquity. Eligible settings can request their free portrait by the deadline of 2 February 2024.

Please refer to the FAQs for questions about the portrait and the scheme itself.

Details will be provided shortly for other public bodies wishing to purchase a portrait or any authorities who would like to purchase additional portraits.

Queries relating to this scheme should be directed to hmkportraitscheme@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Action for schools and early years settings: Update on the Online Safety Act

The Online Safety Act has received Royal Assent. The Act imposes obligations on those services within its remit to deliver additional protections for children accessing these services.

Education and childcare providers subject to existing legal duties and statutory guidance (such as Keeping Children Safe in Education) to safeguard and protect children are not within the Act’s remit.

The exception is Ed-tech user-to-user services which provide services direct to learners without a regulated educational provider in the middle. If these services are likely to be accessed by children, even if these services are accessed from school devices, they will be subject to the Act. Services potentially within the Act’s remit may wish to take independent advice.

All schools should continue to adopt a whole school approach to online safety and safeguard children from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material.

Action for schools with further education provision and further education settings: Help us improve information to students about Higher Technical Qualifications

We want students to make the best choices for their future. The Department for Education and our research partner Kantar Public would like your help to improve the information students receive about Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). HTQs are a post-18 option for students, delivered at universities and colleges, that are designed to provide the skills employers need.

We want providers of Level 3 qualifications, including schools with further education provision, to take part in this exciting opportunity to find out what engages your students to make informed choices and enables them to make the best decision for their future. Taking part is easy and we will supply all the materials you will need.

Please share your details with us via this Expression of Interest form if you are interested in participating.

Action for schools and local authorities: Find a tuition partner to deliver tutoring to your pupils

Schools can use the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) grant to contribute to 50% of tutoring costs. The tuition partner route allows you to build partnerships with expert tutoring organisations that have been quality-assured by DfE.

Use the Find a Tuition Partner service to shortlist organisations, compare prices and send an enquiry with your school’s needs.

This route may help schools that would benefit from external resource to deliver tutoring. Tuition partners can also reduce administrative burden by helping schools plan tutoring, track delivery and evaluate impact.

Charlotte Clinton, deputy headteacher of Lancasterian Primary School said:

“We’ve had a really positive experience with our tuition partner, Action Tutoring. They made it easy for us and the children to access. The tutors covered appropriate and useful content, and provided the school with weekly feedback.”

For more information on NTP, read the NTP guidance for schools.

Action for schools: Respond to consultation on formulae and equation sheets for GCSE exams in 2024

The Department for Education has confirmed students taking exams in 2024 will not need to memorise the usual formulae and equations for GCSE maths, physics and combined science, as they must in a normal . These proposed arrangements recognise the disruption this cohort of students experienced during their secondary education due to national school closures during the pandemic.

Ofqual is now consulting on a proposal to provide formulae and revised equation sheets in the exams for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science in 2024.

The consultation closes on 30 November 2023. Please respond to the consultation with your views.

Action for schools: Complete our online smoking, drinking and drug use survey

NHS England is calling for secondary schools in England to participate in its survey during this autumn term on smoking, drinking and drug use among young people.

As the Government’s main source on alcohol, drug and tobacco/vaping use among young people in England, the findings are used by numerous government departments and local authorities to inform policy-making.

For taking part, your school will receive a personalised report showing how your school’s data compares against national averages, and two PSHE Association lesson plans about how data is gathered and used in research.

The survey takes 20-30 minutes and is completed online by pupils in school. Findings are completely confidential, and full instructions will be provided ahead of the survey taking place.

To take part, please email the Ipsos survey team at: SDDsurvey@ipsosresearch, or call 080 8101 2066.

Please follow this link for further information.

Action for schools: Take part in focus groups on schools’ experiences of pupil premium

The pupil premium policy team is seeking headteachers to join some small focus groups, to meet remotely for a 90-minute discussion about the pupil premium.

The focus group discussions will be confidential and will help to improve our understanding of school leaders’ experiences. We want to engage with headteachers from primary, secondary, and special schools, and from those with different sized cohorts of pupil premium eligible pupils.

We are aiming to hold the focus groups between 27 November and 8 December 2023 at 4.30pm. If you are interested in participating, please contact pupil.premium@education.gov.uk to register your interest.

You are welcome to pass this invitation on to a senior colleague who leads on pupil premium strategy at your school. Further information will be provided ahead of the focus groups.

Action for early years settings: Share the Childcare Choices campaign with parents and carers

On 27 October 2023 we updated the eligibility checker on childcarechoices.gov.uk, enabling parents to access personalised information on the support available to them, including which of the new transformational childcare offers they will be eligible for depending on the age of their child and earnings.

An additional feature added to the website is a subscribe for updates function, which will give parents the opportunity to sign up for regular newsletters letting them know when they should take action to make sure they are getting the support they are entitled to – including information about wraparound for primary school children and when the new 15 hours for two-year-olds becomes available for sign-ups, with the offer beginning in April 2024.

We also produced a communication toolkit for partners which includes key information and resources about the government childcare support and how they can support the campaign.

News and developments

Information for all settings: New information on the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs)

We are re-issuing this article due to an error in the previous version, with apologies for any confusion caused.

As announced in the SEND and AP improvement plan, published in March 2023, the NPQ for SENCOs will replace the national award for SEN coordination (NASENCO) as the mandatory SENCO qualification from September 2024.

Teaching of the NPQ will commence in Autumn 2024. We have published further information on the qualification SENCOs should take to meet the mandatory requirements for the role. We will continue to update this page as more information becomes available.

Information for all settings: How the Artsmark Award can support arts and cultural education

The Artsmark Award is a creative quality standard that supports all education settings to develop and celebrate their commitment to arts and cultural education.

Last week marked Artsmark Celebration Week, and we spoke with Emily Reid, assistant headteacher at St. Bernard’s School in Cheshire, who shared details on the Artsmark journeys of schools across Ellesmere Port. Click here to read the blog.

Find out how your education setting can begin their Artsmark journey.

Information for schools and further education settings: Ofqual guides for qualifications in 2024

Ofqual has published an updated version of the Guide for Schools and Colleges and Student Guide for 2023/24. The guides cover both GCSEs, AS, A levels, other general qualifications, and vocational and technical qualifications.

Information for schools and local authorities: Keeping your students safe with lesson plans from Act for Youth

The PSHE Association has relaunched Act for Youth in collaboration with DfE and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office.

Act for Youth is aimed at 11-16 year olds to teach them about the three recommended actions to take during a marauding terrorist attack – RUN, HIDE and TELL. These are lesson plans that will support those in the sector to mitigate the risk from terrorism and protect their students.

Information for schools and local authorities: New evidence that it is never too late to improve attendance, and how DfE, schools and LAs are using attendance data

On 2 November 2023 the Children’s Commissioner reported new data suggesting that persistent absentees in Year 10 whose attendance improved in Year 11 were much more likely to get five good GCSEs than those whose attendance didn’t. NHS guidance can aid parents in making judgements about mild illness and seeking support with attendance challenges.

87% of schools are sharing daily attendance data with DfE and using the ‘Monitor your school attendance' service - a free tool that helps visualise data and monitor pupil attendance. Read about how 2 schools have been making use of it to tackle attendance and access your school attendance data.

Information for early years settings: Early Years practitioner wellbeing support resources published

The Department for Education has published an Early Years Practitioner Wellbeing Support resource on the Help for Early Years Providers platform.

The resources bring together:

Information on the benefits of investing in staff wellbeing in early years settings

Case studies from four early years settings who have shared their insights on best practice to support staff wellbeing

A list of external resources for early years practitioners and managers

Information for local authorities: Vodcast on the updated Early Years Foundation Stage Profile 2024 handbook

The Department for Education has published a new vodcast for local authorities on the updated Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile 2024 handbook. The vodcast includes:

An overview of the EYFS Profile and findings from the evaluation of the 2021 EYFS reforms.

Key changes made to the updated EYFS Profile 2024 handbook and updated EYFS exemptions guidance.

Links to resources and information that provide further support for completing the EYFS Profile.

Contact the Department for Education

The Department for Education helpline is available to answer your general queries.

October 3rd 2023:

This is your regular email from the Department for Education to keep you updated on key education issues.

If you have colleagues who would like to receive this email directly, please ask them to use this subscription form.

For action

Unless marked as mandatory, these actions are optional for education settings.

all education settings: Security and emergency planning guidance
all settings: Share information on Measles / MMR vaccination
all education settings: Support children and young people to take part in The Big Ambition survey
schools and local authorities: Access the most recent attendance data and compare pupil attendance
schools and local authorities: Recruit an academic mentor to maximise your NTP funding
schools: Access free financial education training for teachers and school leaders

News and developments

all settings: Recruitment for Chair of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Pension Board
schools and further education settings: Five new online CPD units launched through the Universal SEND Services programme
schools: Support with implementing flexible working in your school
schools: How the ‘Get help buying for schools’ service helped get the best cleaning services for my school

Forward look

Thursday 5 October: Academy Finance Professionals Power Hour – Land and Buildings tool
Tuesday 10 October: Webinar session for school leaders on the pupil premium and recovery premium strategy planning process
Wednesday 11 October and Friday 13 October: Webinars for schools on the tuition partner route of the National Tutoring Programme
Dates throughout November: School Business Professional roundtable events

For action

Action for all education settings: Security and emergency planning guidance for education settings

We are aware of several recent malicious email threats to education settings in a number of local authority areas. The police have said these incidents are malicious communications and there has not yet been a credible threat. We recognise that threats of this nature are very upsetting and can be disruptive to the calm learning environments you strive to create.

Education settings are not advised to initiate a lockdown unless it is actively recommended by the police, or you are satisfied that it is a proportionate response to an immediate physical threat on-site.

If your education setting receives a threat, alert the police immediately and follow their advice and guidance. You should also engage your local authority as the management responsibility for school security is shared between local authorities, governing bodies, proprietors and headteachers. Local authorities also have established links with police and local resilience forums.

The department had published guidance to support settings in planning against security related risks and incidents. The School and college security guidance and the Emergency planning and response for education, childcare, and children’s social care settings guidance also covers agency responsibilities, and the robust plans and measures settings should have in place to protect their students and staff.

All education, childcare, and children’s social care settings should have emergency plans in place. Your plan should explain how you would respond if you needed to take any temporary actions in the event of an emergency. The aim of an emergency plan is to help you and your staff plan for and respond effectively to an emergency.

Your emergency plans should be generic enough to cover a range of potential incidents including those happening during, and outside, normal working hours including weekends and holidays.
Education settings should have a competent person or persons to lead in health and safety, and security including online or cyber security attacks. This may or may not be the same person and this role will sit alongside the designated safeguarding lead.

Action for all settings: Share information on Measles / MMR vaccination

Measles cases are rising across the country, with over 102,000 children starting primary school in England being at risk of catching the disease. We are asking education settings to share key messages from the NHS about MMR / measles and how to get vaccinated.

The Back to school MMR Guidance from the NHS includes information to share, as well as example social media posts which can be found here: NHS Vaccine Poster and NHS MMR Poster.

Measles is highly infectious and if left unvaccinated nine out of ten children in a classroom can catch the disease if just one child is infectious. Please share these resources with colleagues, parents, and where suitable, community organisations to increase awareness and encourage parents to get their children vaccinated.

Action for all education settings: Support children and young people to take part in The Big Ambition survey

The Children’s Commissioner for England has recently launched ‘The Big Ambition’ to hear directly from children, young people, and parents across the country.

This is an opportunity to hear from all children, in every part of the country and in every setting. The survey will be used to encourage policymakers to think about children and young people’s needs, to ensure children’s voices are reflected in the decisions that will affect them in years to come.

Education settings play a critical role in enabling us to hear from as many children and young people as possible. That is why we are encouraging all settings in England to take part and let their pupils have their say on what is important to them!

To find out more head to The Big Ambition page. To take part in The Big Ambition survey visit: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/thebigambition.

Action for schools and local authorities: Access the most recent attendance data and compare pupil attendance

We have updated the free attendance tools with the latest data for the current academic year.

Schools can access the 'Monitor your school attendance' tool and use the ‘Compare your attendance’ dashboard to compare with other schools in the local authority. Recent updates show data for the current academic year. Use it to compare absence and unauthorised absence for your school, as well as special educational needs and free school meals pupils.

Schools, local authorities and trusts can view and compare Pupil attendance and absence in England with the latest data for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

Data collection principles outline how DfE uses the data it collects. We have made some minor updates to our data collection principles which will enable more effective use of the data to better support schools, trusts and local authorities with school attendance.

Action for schools and local authorities: Recruit an academic mentor to maximise your NTP funding

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) grant can be used cover 50% of your school’s tuition costs. To make the most of your funding, we can help you recruit an academic mentor who will join your staff and work alongside teachers to provide one-to-one and small group tutoring. Academic mentors can reach a large number of pupils and help embed tutoring within your school.

Watch how Crewe Technical College is using an academic mentor to support students with low reading ages.

For more information, read our guide to academic mentors or email tutoring.support@service.education.gov.uk.

Action for schools: Access free financial education training for teachers and school leaders

The Money and Pensions Service is working with partners to offer free financial education training for teachers and school leaders between now and March 2024.

A range of options are available to help education settings deliver quality learning about money. Follow the links to find out more about:

The LifeSavers’ flexible financial education programme for primary schools.
Young Money financial education professional learning for school leaders and teachers in primary and secondary schools.
Financial education training and resources for alternative provision settings from the LifeSavers programme and the National Literacy Trust – for primary and for secondary ages.

News and developments

Information for all settings: Recruitment for Chair of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Pension Board

The Secretary of State is seeking to appoint a dynamic and inspirational individual to independently chair the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Pension Board.

The role is being advertised on the gov.uk public appointments page and will be live until midnight on Tuesday 31 October 2023.

Information for schools and further education settings: Five new online CPD units launched through the Universal SEND Services programme

There are 5 new online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) units planned as part of the National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen) Universal SEND Services programme, to help SEND practitioners explore the most commonly observed barriers to learning, regardless of age, label or area of need.

The latest units explore:

Mental wellbeing
Resilience
Anxiety
Sensory differences
Physical needs

Find the full list of units at the nasen Whole School SEND website.

Information for schools: Support with implementing flexible working in your school

5 more Flexible Working Ambassador Multi-Academy Trusts and Schools (FWAMS) have been appointed, to complement the 7 appointed last term. FWAMS offer bespoke support to leaders in MATs, primary and secondary schools, AP/PRU and special school settings, and are part of a programme to help leaders embed flexible working.

A toolkit of practical resources has been published to help with requesting and implementing flexible working. Learn more on the gov.uk page.

Information for schools: How the ‘Get help buying for schools’ service helped get the best cleaning services for my school

In the latest Buying for Schools blog Zoe Allcott, a Business Manager at Thrive Education Partnership, shares her experience of using ‘Get help buying for schools’ to buy cleaning services.

“The fact that it exists, is free to use and helps us all to achieve our main objective - to ensure we have the best outcomes for our children – is brilliant. I would highly recommend it.”

Read Zoe’s blog here.

Forward Look

Thursday 5 October: Academy Finance Professionals Power Hour – Land and Buildings tool

The October Academy Finance Professionals Power Hour from 11am to 12 noon will provide useful information on the Land and Buildings tool, why the information is collected and how it is processed, including a demonstration of the online form.

There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.

Tuesday 10 October: Webinar session for school leaders on the pupil premium and recovery premium strategy planning process

Join the Department for Education for a webinar on 10 October at 4:00pm to 5:00pm on pupil premium and recovery premium (PP/RP) strategy planning this autumn term. The session will include guest presentations by the Education Endowment Foundation and a primary school headteacher.

Wednesday 11 October and Friday 13 October: Webinars for schools on the tuition partner route of the National Tutoring Programme

Join us for webinars on 11 October 3:30pm to 4:00pm and 13 October 12:30pm to 1:00pm for schools on the tuition partner route of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). We will talk about tuition partners in detail, and how they can support pupils. We will be joined by our delivery partner, Tribal Group, and a guest speaker from a school to share their experiences.

Throughout November: School Business Professional roundtable events

The DfE’s Schools Commercial Team is hosting several School Business Professional roundtable events. They are free to attend and will give you the chance to network face-to-face with colleagues from other schools and trusts and discuss your procurement priorities. Book your free place at your nearest event:

September 18th 2023:

This is your regular email from the Department for Education to keep you updated on key education issues.

If you have colleagues who would like to receive this email directly, please ask them to use this subscription form.

For action

Unless marked as mandatory, these actions are optional for education settings.

schools and local authorities (mandatory): Submit your year-end statement for the National Tutoring Programme
secondary schools (mandatory): Review and publish your provider access arrangements
schools: Action short of strike action by NASUWT
schools: Share your views through our Workload Taskforce research
schools: Schools Commercial autumn term webinars and regional roundtables open for booking
schools and local authorities: Access the monitor your school attendance tool
early years settings and schools with early years provision: Take part in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment support survey

News and developments

all education settings: Prevent duty guidance has been updated for all phases of education
schools: teach the facts about tax with HM Revenue and Customs’ free, interactive lesson

Forward look

Friday 29 September: deadline for schools and local authorities to submit the National Tutoring Programme year-end statement for academic year 2022/23
Tuesday 10 October: Webinar session for school leaders on the pupil premium and recovery premium strategy planning process. Sign up via Eventbrite.

For action

Action for schools and local authorities: Submit your year-end statement for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP)

Schools and local authorities (including virtual school heads) that received the 2022/23 NTP grant have until 2pm on Friday 29 September to submit the year-end statement.

You must report all tutoring delivered in the 2022/23 academic year (from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023). Failure to submit the form will result in your full funding allocation being recovered by the ESFA.

Schools that converted to an academy after 1 August 2023, should select their old establishment and URN when completing the form, rather than the new one.

We have published guidance on how to submit your year-end statement, which includes a short video for schools.

If you experience any technical issues with the form, contact the ESFA Help Centre.

For any other tutoring queries, email the NTP support desk.

Action for secondary schools: Review and publish your provider access arrangements

Your school must comply with the provider access legislation, introduced in January 2023. By meeting this statutory requirement, you will help your pupils to understand apprenticeships and wider technical options and to make informed decisions about their next step.

The law requires all state funded secondary schools to ensure that all pupils during school years 8-13 have at least 6 opportunities to meet a range of providers of approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. 2023/24 is the first full academic year that this strengthened legislation has been in force.

You are reminded that a provider access policy statement must be published on your school’s website explaining how the school intends to comply with the legal requirements.

Read more in DfE’s careers statutory guidance and to access further support and guidance visit The Careers & Enterprise Company website.

Action for schools: Action short of strike action by NASUWT

NASUWT has issued instructions to members to begin action short of strike action (ASOSA) from 18 September in schools where they secured a mandate in their July ballot. This will affect some schools in England.

Schools should consider mitigations to reduce the likelihood of any disruption, for example reviewing timetabling or moving meetings. Leaders can ask their staff if they are taking part in ASOSA, to support contingency planning, although staff do not have to confirm this. Employers should expect all staff to fulfil their contractual obligations.

Whether ASOSA amounts to a breach of contract will depend on exactly what the action is and the terms of the employee’s contract. If there is any doubt about whether an employee is in breach, the employer should seek legal advice on the individual case.

Action for schools: Share your views through our Workload Taskforce research

The DfE recently announced they will be setting up a taskforce of union representatives, experts and experienced practitioners to explore way to reduce teacher and leader workload.

The DfE is interested in speaking to school senior leadership teams to inform recommendations from the taskforce. If you are interested in sharing your perspective, please fill in this sign up form and a researcher will be in touch.

Action for schools: Schools Commercial autumn term webinars and regional roundtables open for booking

The Schools Commercial Team is hosting free webinars this term to help those who buy for schools save time, buy compliantly, and get great value. View the full schedule and register to attend.

If you would like to join other School Business Professionals from across your region to network, share your procurement issues and priorities, and find out more about the free procurement support available from the DfE, you can register to attend one of our upcoming regional roundtables.

The roundtables are free to attend, and locations have now been confirmed for the autumn term. Register now.

Action for schools and local authorities: Access the monitor your school attendance tool

85% of schools are sharing daily attendance data with DfE. Schools, local authorities and trusts get access to the Monitor your school attendance tool.

Analysis of daily attendance data shows that 55.5% of pupils absent in the first week of term go on to be persistently absent.

We’ve been improving the Monitor your school attendance tool to help you identify pupils that need support early.

What’s new?

indicators for termly trends in attendance
data visualisations for quick trend insight
weekly view of a pupil attendance
pupil attendance codes from the start of the academic year improved loading times
fixes to some data quality issues

We want to hear about your experience of using your attendance data. Sign up to take part in a research project.

Action for early years settings and schools with reception schools: Take part in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment support survey

The Department for Education has launched a short survey to seek the views of early years practitioners, teachers and school and setting leaders on assessment in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Feedback from the sector will help ascertain what support, if any, would be beneficial for supporting effective assessment in the EYFS.

If you work in the early years, please take the time to fill in this short, anonymous survey: Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) assessment support survey. Have your say by Tuesday 3^rd October.

News and developments

Information for all education settings: Prevent duty guidance has been updated

The Prevent duty guidance has been updated to reflect several recommendations of the Independent Review of Prevent. This includes changes to the guidance for education settings.

There are no new legal requirements or responsibilities for education settings and changes are not anticipated to come into effect until 31^st December 2023, at the earliest.

Information for schools: teach the facts about tax with HM Revenue and Customs’ free, interactive lesson

Tax Facts is an educational programme for schools that introduces students to how the UK tax system works.

It provides free, interactive, curriculum-linked resources – including a lesson plan, classroom presentation, activity sheets and videos. There’s even the option to invite an HMRC member of staff to deliver the lesson in your school.

Find out how Tax Facts helped a school prepare their students for the world of work on our Teacher Blog.

Contact the Department for Education

The Department for Education helpline is available to answer your general queries.

Caseworkers for schools affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC)

The Department for Education has published updated guidance for responsible bodies with confirmed RAAC that advises them to vacate spaces with confirmed RAAC.

We have provided a dedicated caseworker for every school and college with confirmed RAAC, to provide tailored support including when face-to-face learning is in place. Funding for emergency mitigation work, including structural support and temporary accommodation, will also be available. They can be contacted by emailing raac.awareness@education.gov.uk.