22 August, 2025

3 top education stories

Explore this week’s news roundup to uncover the key challenges and priorities for schools across the country.

6 min read

1. GCSE results 2025

This year’s GCSE results show a continued rise in the overall grade 5+ “strong pass” rate (55%), alongside a 6% increase in top grades compared with 2019, writes Schools Week.

However, English and maths passes at both grade 4 and 5 slipped slightly, meaning more pupils will need to re-sit the exams. Entries fell by 1.3% overall, with performing arts growing in popularity while sciences and computing declined.

Statistics (5%), business studies (3%), classical subjects (2%), physical education (2%) and Spanish (2%) also saw increases in the number of pupils.

Regional gaps narrowed slightly, though London saw a dip in top grades. Furthermore, the gap between girls and boys has narrowed by 12%. This year, the proportion of 7s and above issued to 16-year-old girls remained the same at 25.5%. However, for boys, it rose by 0.7% (from 19.8% to 20.5%).

Grammar schools recorded the highest proportion of top grades, while private schools saw a small fall back towards pre-pandemic levels.

The overall pattern reflects a system still balancing post-pandemic adjustments with shifting subject choices.

Source: GCSE results 2025: 8 key trends in England’s data (schoolsweek.co.uk)

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2. New inclusion taskforce members revealed

Baroness Nicky Morgan and CST chief executive Leora Cruddas are among the line-up of the inclusion taskforce, chaired by Geoff Barton, writes Tes.

Last week, the line-up of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Inclusion Taskforce, chaired by former ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton, was announced.

It includes Baroness Morgan, CST’s CEO, Leora Cruddas and former children’s commissioner Baroness Longfield.

This autumn, the group is planning to publish recommendations for reforms around special educational needs and disability (SEND). The IPPR said the taskforce would address urgent challenges in the SEND system, including long delays in assessment and patchy provision, as well as consistently poor outcomes for children with additional needs.

The full members list of the IPPR taskforce can be found here.

The taskforce is set to gather evidence from children, families, educators, local authorities and support professionals to help establish a “set of principles for education reform”. And its final recommendations will be published in autumn, in an attempt to shape government reforms.

Source: New inclusion taskforce members revealed (Tes.com)

3. Schools urged to change uniform requirements as costs force parents into debt

Research finds more than a quarter (29%) of parents have forgone food or heating to pay for uniforms, writes The Guardian.

Research by parenting charity Parentkind reveals parents in England are taking extreme measures and turning to buy-now-pay-later services in order to afford school uniforms before the autumn term.

Almost half (47%) of the 2,000 parents who took part in the poll said they were worried about uniform costs, which can run into hundreds of pounds due to expensive branded items, while 29% said they had forgone food or heating to pay for uniforms.

Last week, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, urged schools to help struggling parents by reducing the number of branded items of uniform that pupils are required to wear as a matter of urgency, before a forthcoming change in the law.

A limit of 3 branded items, plus a branded tie for secondary and middle schools, will be enforced from September 2026 after the government’s children’s wellbeing and schools bill comes into effect.

Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Many families face wider financial pressures and cannot afford basic amenities. The rate of child poverty in the UK is simply appalling. We hope to see the government publish a meaningful strategy to tackle this issue in the near future.”

Sources: Parents in England skipping meals to afford school uniforms, survey finds (theguardian.com)

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