Kevin Peachey Cost of living correspondent Getty Images A series of essential household bills are rising at the start of April, with warnings that single parents are among the hardest hit. Water bills, energy prices and council tax are all going up in what has been dubbed “awful April”, although …

Sue Mitchell & Ben Milne BBC News BBC John Wilcox with his granddaughter Amy David remembers the moment he found his elderly stepfather, John, unkempt and suffering from dementia, living alone in an unclean hotel room. “I didn’t think you’d leave an animal in the state that room was in,” …

Parents trying to retrieve money from a pre-payment system for school meals are “disappointed and frustrated” at being charged a £10 administration fee to reclaim funds, a school leader has said. The sQuid app allowed parents to put money on a card so pupils could pay for meals and other …

Getty Images / JohnnyGreig Clearer advice is needed on how to make campuses inclusive without falling foul of free speech regulations, the National Union of Students (NUS) has said. The body representing university students has expressed concern after the University of Sussex was fined £585,000 by the Office for Students …

There were 8,000 more secondary school pupils in special schools in England than places available for them last year, according to Department for Education (Dfe) figures – a rise of 25% in 12 months. About two-thirds of these schools were at or over capacity in 2023-2024, despite the number of …

BBC UCU members have been protesting against the proposed cost-cutting measures since they were announced in January Staff at a university which plans to cut 400 full-time jobs amid financial pressures have backed industrial action. More than 64% of members of Cardiff’s University and College Union (UCU) branch voted in …

Emilia Martinez-Barnfather BBC North East and Cumbria BBC Pupils at Hazlewood Primary School have been eating their dinner in this marquee tent for more than twelve months Pupils are still eating their dinners in a marquee more than a year after their school was deemed unsafe because of weak concrete, …

Sharon Edwards Political Reporter, Lincolnshire BBC Ava, aged 14, now travels an hour each way to a state school A mother in Lincolnshire has said the government’s decision to impose VAT on private school fees is costing taxpayers more money. Sarah said the county council was having to pay up …

Janine Machin BBC News, East of England BBC Chantry Primary says that since Covid, they have been using special educational needs teaching techniques for entire classes, even when they contain non-Sen pupils Five years ago, schools and nurseries across the UK closed to most children as the first Covid-19 lockdown …

BBC Sibghatullah Karimi says the cost is one of the factors behind the fall in overseas students coming to the country The University of Lincoln is joining other universities across the country calling for the government to reconsider its decision to impose visa restrictions on international students. The restrictions, introduced …

University of Bradford staff have voted for strike action over the potential loss of 300 jobs. The UCU union said that employees were told last month that 200 roles would go as part of £13m worth of cuts. However the all-staff meeting was also told that the university wanted to …

Getty Images David Zell worked at the Hampshire school from September 2020 until July 2022 A former assistant headteacher who drove a car into a home while over the drink-drive limit before fleeing has been banned from the profession. David Zell, 37, worked at the Hurst School in Baughurst, Hampshire, …

The former head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, has criticised the education secretary and accused her of giving “a great deal of time and attention” to the teaching unions. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Ms Spielman claims “effective reforms are being reversed” – referring to potential changes to academy schools’ powers. …

Seb Cheer BBC News, Yorkshire BBC/Seb Cheer Sibel Ansell, Nicholas Humphrey and Vicky Lancaster said their fight to stop Queensway Primary closing would continue Parents and carers have said they are “devastated” by plans to close a Leeds school, as they raised concerns over the impact on children with additional …

Richard Price BBC News, West Midlands Good Future Foundation Stoke-on-Trent South MP Allison Gardner met with teachers during the event on Friday A group of teachers has discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) might play a part in classrooms during an event held in Stoke-on-Trent. Organised by the Good Future Foundation, …

Branwen Jeffreys Education editor Getty Images The poorest children are missing more school and falling further behind classmates, research shared with the BBC suggests. According to new analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) – which looked at pupil performance after the Covid-19 pandemic – children from the lowest income …

Nigel Slater Local Democracy Reporting Service Supplied A DfE spokesperson said absence had “soared” since the pandemic and was “one of the biggest barriers to success” for children More than 100,000 people have backed a petition set up by a parent calling for children to take time off during the …

Kristian Johnson & Judith Burns BBC News BBC Chris Stringer moved from London to Swansea shortly before his son was born – but was then made redundant New and expectant fathers should have the same protections from redundancy as mothers, a Labour MP has said. Currently, mothers who are pregnant …

Getty Images Smartphones should not be banned “outright” from schools in Wales, a Senedd inquiry has concluded. Instead the Petitions Committee report says schools should get more Welsh government support to set their own restrictions. The committee says there is “plenty of evidence” that smartphones cause harm but it also …

Young people who were in school and college in 2020 on how the pandemic impacted their use of social media and their relationship with news. BBC News