Sarah Hannafin, head of policy for the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), has expressed concern after hundreds of complaints were made online about a SATs reading paper. Parents and teachers of Year 6 pupils said the test, held this week, was so difficult it left some children in tears. By Hazel Shearing, BBC News.

New data from Ofqual has found an increasing number of teachers believe online exams would be fairer than traditional pen-and-paper assessments. Last year, figures indicated that the proportion of teachers who thought traditional exams were fairer was almost double that of those favouring online exams, but according to the latest statistics, this gap has almost closed. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

BBC News offers a guide to the 2023 GCSEs, BTECs and National 5s. By Vanessa Clarke.

Analysis by SchoolDash suggests tens of thousands of pupils live at least 10 kilometres from their nearest state secondary school and more are likely to be left in "cold spots" amid school closures driven by falling rolls. The research, which excluded grammar and independent schools, found 20,198 pupils in 143 neighbourhoods of England had no non-selective mainstream secondary school within 10 kilometres of their home. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Ofsted has told the Commons Education Select Committee’s inquiry into persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils that it would like to see GPs and pharmacies helping schools tackle an “overly risk-averse approach” from parents “keeping children out of school”, amid the problem of persistently-high absence rates. By Amy Walker, Schools Week.

According to figures from recruitment website Indeed, for Schools Week, education vacancies offering sign-up bonuses increased from 0.1 per cent in April 2021 to one per cent this month. Schools are also reportedly offering “golden hello” payments of up to £10,000 to entice teachers in shortage subjects – but only if they complete up to three years in the position. By Amy Walker.

A marking boycott by academics at the University of Cambridge could delay graduations for students who started their degrees during the pandemic. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Students in their final year at Edinburgh University have also learned that some dissertations might not be marked before graduations because of industrial action by lecturers. By Louisa Clarence-Smith and Benedict Smith, The Telegraph.

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) monitors the national and educational press in order to keep independent schools up-to-date with relevant education news. The DNS is a service primarily for schools in membership of ISC associations, although other interested parties can choose to sign-up. We endeavour to include relevant news and commentary and, wherever possible, notable public letters. Where capacity allows, we may include links to ISC blogs, press statements and information about school or association events. News stories are selected based on their relevance to the independent sector as a whole. Editorial control of the DNS remains solely with the ISC.

Sign-up to the email service is available on our website.

Members can contact the ISC if they know in advance of news, letters or opinions that are likely to feature in the media, or are aware of existing coverage which they would like to see featured in the DNS.

Headlines and first-line summaries are written by the ISC with the link directing to the source material. You should read and comply with the terms and conditions of the websites to which we link.