16 January, 2026

Top education news stories

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

6 min read

1. New £200m scheme ‘will offer SEND training to all teaching staff’

A ‘comprehensive’ new package of training is hoped to ‘upskill all staff in every school, college and nursery’, writes Schools Week.

All teaching staff in England will be eligible for SEND training as part of a £200 million new development package, the government has announced.

As the sector awaits government’s SEND white paper, DfE has announced new training courses on teaching pupils with special educational needs and disabilities will be made available “to all teaching staff”.

The government has committed to investing £200 million in the scheme this Parliament, which runs until summer 2029, to “upskill all staff in every school, college and nursery”.

The government’s SEND code of practice will also be updated with a new expectation that all staff “in every nursery, school and college” should receive training on SEND and inclusion.

The new training will help teachers “deepen knowledge of how to adapt their teaching to meet a wide range of needs”, says the DfE. It will also include “building awareness of additional needs amongst all pupils” and training teachers on how to improve access to education, such as using assistive technology.

Source: New £200m scheme ‘will offer SEND training to all teaching staff’ (schoolsweek.co.uk)

2. Ofsted publishes first school report cards

Leaders give their views on new inspections as reports for 22 volunteer schools are released, writes Schools Week.

Ofsted has published its first report cards from new school inspections, as the leaders of featured schools warn about the impact of repeated visits and question some of the outcomes.

Reports for 22 volunteer schools (13 primary schools and nine secondaries) inspected under the new framework have so far been published by Ofsted.

The inspectorate has previously said the “likely three most commonly awarded grades” will be the middle three – ‘needs attention’, ‘expected standard’ and ‘strong standard’.

Analysis shows that of the 150 individual grades awarded, just four ‘needs attention’ grades were given across four schools. Furthermore, no school received the lowest ‘urgent improvement’ rating.

The grades were instead largely clustered around the middle and second-highest point on the five-point scale, with 79 at ‘expected standard’ and 58 at ‘strong standard’. Meanwhile, nine ‘exceptional’ grades were awarded across two primary schools and one secondary.

A representative from one of the visited schools commented that some grade descriptors in the ‘achievement’ area appeared “very one-dimensional,” and context was not taken into account as much as “we had been led to believe”. Other leaders were divided, with some echoing this sentiment or expressing concerns, while others praised the process as “collaborative”.

Source: Ofsted publishes first school report cards (schoolsweek.co.uk)

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3. Children educated at home increase by 15% in a year

One in six children educated at home required SEN support, government figures show, although change in methodology may be a factor in overall rise, writes Tes.

The number of children being educated at home increased again last year to more than 175,000, according to government figures.

Data released by the Department for Education shows the number of children being electively home educated at some point in 2024/25 rose to 175,900 – up 15% from 2023/24.

In the autumn term of 2025, 126,000 children were being educated at home, with 16% citing mental health as the reason, and 12% due to “philosophical or preferential” reasons.

The data also shows that 16% of children being educated at home in autumn 2025 required SEN support, and 7% had an education, health and care plan.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “It is striking how mental health remains the reason most frequently identified, and the increase in the proportion of pupils being educated at home for this reason highlights the need for further investment in community mental health services.”

Additionally, the figures also estimate that 143,500 children were missing from education entirely at one point during 2024/25, slightly down from 149,900 in 2023/24.

Source: Children educated at home increase by 15% in a year (Tes.com)