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Education News

• Ban on goods from occupied West Bank would help protect two-state solution, says Emily Thornberry – UK politics live August 21, 2026
  Head of foreign affairs select committee urges government to adopt ban amid rising settler violence, after foreign secretary rebukes Israel over construction tenderPrime minister Andy Burnham is deploying Whitehall officials to mayors’ offices as part of his bid to shift powers out of Westminster.The move will see between five and 10 civil servants seconded per […]
  Taz Ali (now) and Tom Ambrose (earlier)
• Leaders attack ‘demotivating’ plan to make pupils who fail GCSEs retake maths and English August 20, 2026
  Government confirms plan for ‘stepping stone’ qualification in England as students face retaking maths or English after failure to achieve grade 4The government’s plans to make young people continue studying maths and English if they fail GCSEs could be demotivating and ineffective, according to education experts and school leaders after retake pass rates slumped this […]
  Richard Adams and Sally Weale
• Academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism suspended by his university August 20, 2026
  Researcher Nathan Cofnas previously claimed Black people would hold few high-profile positions in a meritocracyNathan Cofnas, the academic who made plagiarism allegations against Prof Jason Arday before his death, has been suspended by a university.Arday, 41, resigned from his role at the University of Cambridge this month after coverage of Cofnas’s accusations of plagiarism. The […]
  Chris Osuh and agencies
• The Guardian view on GCSE results: much to celebrate, much to reform | Editorial August 20, 2026
  Another post-pandemic cohort has shown its resilience and talent. But growing inequalities of outcome must be addressedMost pupils who received their GCSE results this week were in the penultimate year of primary school when Covid struck, disrupting their preparation for secondary education. As with other post-pandemic cohorts, their achievements are therefore a testament to their […]
  Editorial
• UK minister criticises misogynistic social media culture | Politics Weekly August 20, 2026
  Racism and misogyny are becoming normalised as a result of rightwing politics and the ‘cesspit’ of social media, according to Labour’s Bridget Phillipson. In an extended interview, the minister for women and equalities and new party chair talks to Kiran Stacey about her fears for British society, the climate crisis, what Andy Burnham is really […]
  Presented by Kiran Stacey , with Bridget Phillipson. This episode was produced by Ned Carter Miles, Nada Smiljanic and James Tindale . The executive producer was Frankie Tobi
• GCSE results: girls still ahead but gender gap narrows as hundreds of thousands of pupils receive grades – as it happened August 20, 2026
  Nearly a quarter of girls’ entries received one of the higher grades against around a fifth of those from boysAlmost one in four boys in England get top grades in mathsMyles McGinley, managing director of the Cambridge OCR exam board, said more pupils are taking GCSE business studies than in previous years, describing this generation […]
  Taz Ali (now) and Mabel Banfield-Nwachi (earlier)
• GCSE results: almost one in four boys in England get top grades in maths August 20, 2026
  Overall results slightly better than last year, with share receiving grades 7, 8 and 9 rising by 0.1 of a percentage point to 23.1%Almost one in four boys in England received top grades in maths while results in English improved across the board, helping to propel improved GCSE results for this year’s cohort of 16-year-olds.The […]
  Richard Adams and Sally Weale
• UC Berkeley professor admits to using AI to edit op-ed on students’ math skills August 20, 2026
  Zvezdelina Stankova says she used AI to ‘help edit’ an article about some of her students being ‘five to eight years’ behindA math professor at the University of California, Berkeley, criticizing a “severe” math deficiency among students in an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard, admitted to using artificial intelligence to help edit the piece.The […]
  Sophie Sullivan