In an interview with Fi Glover on Times Radio yesterday, headteacher at Hulme Grammar School Tony Oulton warned that "pupils' voices have been overlooked" in Labour's independent school fee tax plans. Amid news that thousands of parents have signed a petition against the party's tax proposal, Mr Oulton said he welcomed the intervention and said many parents are making "real daily sacrifices to exercise their freedom of where to send their children". He warned that the "manifestly unfair" tax policy will "hit hardworking families hardest" at a time when they are already being assailed by a range of other cost pressures. Mr Oulton concluded by saying: "What is needed in the overstretched, under-resourced education system in the UK is not this tinkering at the edges, but sustained, long-term investment and that's not going to be achieved by imposing 20 per cent VAT on independent school fees." Listen from 01:15:25.

iNews features an article entitled 'How much money do I need to earn to send my children to private school?', in which reference is made to figures from the Independent Schools Council (ISC). By Joshua Stein.

Writing in iNews, policy researcher and author Kimberly McIntosh argues that the parent-led campaign group is "revealing how divided Britain is". 

Completing primary, secondary and tertiary education is the equivalent of a lifetime of eating a healthy diet, lowering the risk of death by 34 per cent compared with individuals who have no formal education, according to research  published in The Lancet. Using evidence from industrialised countries that include the UK, as well as developing countries such as China and Brazil, the review found that an adult’s risk of mortality went down by two per cent for every year in full-time education. By Richard Adams, The Guardian.

The NHS has urged young people to get their human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, after new figures revealed that uptake fell by up to 10 per cent last year among schoolchildren, with vaccine rates continuing to decline after the pandemic. All those aged 12 and 13 years old are offered the HPV vaccine at schools and community clinics during Year 8 or 9, but parents are required to give their consent. By Michael Searles and Ollie Corfe, The Telegraph.

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