A report published by the Education Select Committee has highlighted how white working-class pupils persistently underperform compared with their peers from other ethnic groups, concluding "there has been muddled thinking from all governments and a lack of attention and care to help these disadvantaged white pupils in towns across our country". By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph.

Robert Halfon, chair of the Committee, has called for an end to "divisive concepts like white privilege that pits one group against another", adding: "Disadvantaged white children feel anything but privileged when it comes to education." By Catherine Lough, Tes.

According to The Independent, the Committee's report has prompted a "culture wars" row at Westminster, with one Labour MP warning that controversial claims about the use of the term "white privilege" risk "legitimising narratives of white supremacy". By Andrew Woodcock and Ashley Cowburn.

According to The Times, older pupils could be offered a COVID vaccine over the summer, subject to approval from doctors. By Emma Yeomans.

NHS leaders have warned that young children have become increasingly anxious during the pandemic, with many suffering panic attacks over socialising with their friends. By Laura Donnelly and Rosie Taylor, The Telegraph.

Lisa Kerr, the principal of Gordonstoun School, writes in The Times about the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of children and young people, saying: "We need to understand and face up to the damage done to them, and resolve to address it, and never to repeat it".

Schools Week summarises key takeaways from the Department for Education's updated COVID-19 contingency framework for schools. By Freddie Whittaker.

The Telegraph reports teenagers will be able to ask specialist investigators to block the uploading or redistribution of sexualised images of themselves online, as part of a new service run by the NSPCC. By Charles Hymas.

Amanda Spielman, Ofsted's chief inspector, has said that she hopes the 'power and strength of girls and being a woman doesn't get lost in our society', following reports of some schools replacing gendered titles with non-binary terms. By Hazel Shearing, BBC News.

Speaking in a House of Lords debate yesterday, Lord Lexden, president of the Independent Schools Association, asked the Government about the progress made by "the excellent schemes to provide places in both state and independent boarding schools for children in care". In response, Baroness Berridge said that, through the Royal National Children's SpringBoard Foundation, the Government is currently running regional pilots in some areas "to try to ensure that, where it is in the best interests of the child and the most appropriate placement is in one of those boarding schools, that is the placement". She added that this is being done with a view to making it national.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is to be broken up and replaced as part of a "substantial" overhaul of education, following an independent review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). BBC News.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has said the Government wants to bring forward a post-qualifications admissions system "as rapidly as possible" and "without legislation". By Zoe Tidman, The Independent.

Cambridge University has pledged to provide more than £100 million in bursaries over the next decade to 'remove barriers and help students fully participate in university life'. BBC News.

Carol Klein, the Gardeners' World presenter, has suggested that gardening should be added to the school curriculum to teach children about how food is produced and about the important role of plants in sustaining life on Earth. By Ben Webster, The Times.

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