The University of Cambridge is removing its state school target for undergraduate admissions. The university had been accused of discrimination after a decrease in offer rates for young people attending independent schools. Cambridge has said it will continue to take candidates’ schools into account when selecting students, but would no longer aim for a target percentage of independent and state school students being granted places. John Blake, the director for fair access and participation at the Office for Students, said that university targets on admissions “ought to be genuinely useful guides to the actual challenges being dealt with”, such as “targets around care-experienced students, or those from the poorest households”. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

Labour has restated its commitment to rolling out free breakfast clubs and changing the curriculum to enable all children to "develop their creativity", should the party form the next government. During a school visit alongside Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC that the party would increase the "range of opportunities around music, sport, art and drama alongside high and rising standards on the academic subjects like maths and English". She added that Labour "would make the political choice of ending the tax breaks that private schools enjoy". By Simon Dedman.

The number of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is rising, and state schools are “struggling” to provide the necessary support, a House of Commons debate has heard. More than 1.5 million students in England have SEND, a rise of 87,000 from 2022, according to government figures. Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge, told the Commons that the increase had led to a “systemic problem” within education: “I go to schools in my constituency in Cambridge virtually every week and what I’m seeing is more and more schools struggling with the numbers of SEND pupils they have, both in terms of finance and staffing." By Claudia Savage, The Evening Standard.

All parents will be able to access funded childcare places as part of the government’s plans to expand childcare provision, the education secretary Gillian Keegan has told MPs. The statement, made during education questions in the Commons, came after Keegan was challenged by Bridget Phillipson, shadow secretary for education, to commit to fulfilling the government’s childcare pledge. In response, Keegan pointed to government projections showing more than 150,000 newly funded childcare places would be secured by early April 2024 – though concerns have been raised about whether childcare providers will be able to meet the increased demand. By Richard Wheeler, The Evening Standard.

The Independent looks at mobile phone use by students during school hours and, in particular, how parents can help schools tackle this issue. Teachers and experts from the United States have urged parents to stop texting their children at school, saying that while parents are not to blame, they can do more to help. Sabine Polak, one of three mothers who co-founded the Phone-Free Schools Movement, advises parents set boundaries for phone use, and then stick to them. “When your children are texting you stuff that can wait — like, ‘Can I go to Brett’s house five days from now?’ — don’t respond. You have to stop engaging. That’s just feeding the problem.” By Jocelyn Gecker.

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