Education sector: news in brief - March 2026

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidance to help schools, colleges and other education providers share personal information to protect children and young people under 18. The regulator stresses that UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 do not prevent organisations from sharing data for safeguarding purposes and that it can be more harmful to withhold information when a child may be at risk.

The guidance encourages staff to act promptly in emergencies, follow internal safeguarding procedures and seek advice from safeguarding leads or data protection officers if they are unsure how to deal with a request to disclose information about a child. It also advises organisations to provide staff with regular training to help them become confident about data sharing. 

Government pledges major expansion of rights for children with SEND

The government has announced an expansion of legal rights for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as part of a wide‑ranging overhaul of the current system. Ministers say more than a million children will benefit from the changes. 

The proposals will require schools to put Individual Support Plans (ISPs) in place for every child with SEND. These plans will set out tailored support drawn from a national framework of evidence‑based interventions and will be backed by other professionals (such as speech and language therapists).  

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will remain in place for children with more complex needs and will be strengthened, offering a higher level of legal protection where specialist support is required. The government has also promised “triple‑lock” transitional safeguards to ensure no child loses existing support once the new system is introduced.

Proposals and consultation to ban social media for children

The government has launched a consultation: growing up in the online world, looking at how to prepare children for the future in an age of rapid technological change. It is considering:

• banning children from social media sites
• imposing overnight curfews
• requiring tighter controls on addictive design features
• limiting how children interact with AI chatbots; and
• examineing the impact of online gaming on young people’s sleep, concentration and mental health, alongside ways to strengthen age‑verification rules.

A House of Commons Library has published a briefing which explains the context behind these proposals.  

Call for evidence on children and young people’s mental health

The Education and Health and Social Care committees have launched a call for evidence to inform an inquiry into children and young people’s mental health. The inquiry seeks views on how effectively education and community settings identify and respond to mental health needs, and how these services work with NHS provision, including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

The committees are asking practitioners, organisations and experts to comment on the role of early years settings, schools, colleges and universities in supporting mental wellbeing, including the training staff need. They also want evidence on whether inspection and accountability frameworks help or hinder mental health provision and what is needed to deliver the government’s commitments on mental health support in education.

SEND tribunal appeals on the rise 

In the academic year 2024/25 25,002 appeals were registered with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in 2024/25, an 18% increase on the previous year. 

Most appeals continued to focus on disputes over Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) content, which accounted for nearly two‑thirds of cases. Refusals to assess or issue an EHCP made up a significant share of the remaining appeals, highlighting ongoing disagreement between families and local authorities about access to support.

DfE targets diversity and flexible working in 6,500‑teacher recruitment plan

The Department for Education has set out plans to boost diversity and flexible working as part of its pledge to grow the teaching workforce by 6,500. Ministers say the strategy will focus recruitment in shortage subjects and disadvantaged areas, but will also improve retention across secondary schools, special schools and further education colleges. 

The delivery plan includes measures to tackle unequal outcomes in initial teacher training, after research highlighted significant disparities in the success rate of ethnic applicants.  The government will pilot anonymised trainee applications, publish more recruitment data and strengthen how schools collect information on ethnicity and disability to help address potential discrimination. 

Flexible working also features prominently, with ministers arguing that greater access to part‑time and varied working arrangements will help attract a more diverse workforce and keep experienced teachers in the profession. 

Youth unemployment pushes NEET numbers close to one million

The number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) has risen to 957,000, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures. Data covering October to December 2025 show an increase of 11,000 on the previous quarter, taking the NEET rate for 16‑ to 24‑year‑olds to 12.8%. 

The quarterly rise was driven by a sharp increase in unemployment, with the number of unemployed NEETs climbing by 45,000 to 411,000. Over the same period, the number of economically inactive NEETs fell by 34,000, suggesting more young people are actively seeking work but struggling to find jobs.

Parents favour primary schools offering free breakfast clubs

New government polling shows that nearly half of parents prioritise primary schools that offer free breakfast clubs. The Department for Education says more than 300,000 children will benefit from Best Start free breakfast clubs from April, with numbers set to rise further later in the year. 

Schools already taking part have served around seven million meals and helped families save up to £450 a year. Ministers are encouraging more primary schools to sign up, with applications opening for a further 1,500 schools to join the programme in September.

Government launches 10‑year plan to renew schools and colleges

The government has unveiled a 10‑year plan to revitalise schools and colleges in England, promising modern, inclusive classrooms that are fit for the future. 

The Education Estates Strategy aims to end reliance on short‑term repairs by investing in buildings that are resilient to climate risks such as flooding and overheating.

Schools will also become more “inclusive by design”. The government expects that all secondary schools will develop dedicated inclusion bases to support pupils with additional needs within mainstream settings. The strategy builds on wider reforms to improve SEND provision and follows investment in specialist teacher training and new school places. 

The programme is backed by more than £1 billion for the education estate and forms part of a broader push for long‑term renewal. 

Students extend Covid compensation claims to more universities

Students have launched legal claims against a further 36 universities in England and Wales over the impact of Covid‑19 on their studies. The action follows a settlement reached by University College London with students who argued they paid full tuition fees but received a reduced educational experience during the pandemic.

More than 170,000 current and former students are now involved in the wider action. They claim universities failed to deliver the in‑person teaching and campus access they expected after courses moved largely online. The case relies on consumer law, which allows customers to seek compensation if a paid‑for service does not match what was promised.

The universities involved have not accepted liability. 

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