In today's fast-paced world, keeping up with the news can be challenging. That's why we've prepared a quick summary of 5 key education stories from the previous week to help you stay informed about developments in the sector.

1.  NFER reveals how teacher pay competitiveness has declined in the last decade

Despite a significant pay rise of 6.5 per cent in September 2023, research reveals growth in teacher pay has not kept pace with average UK earnings, writes Jack Worth & Sarah Tang.

Teacher pay is a key government lever for improving teacher supply. However, analysis by the NFER concluded that teacher pay has lagged behind the wider labour market over the last 10 years. In fact, teachers’ pay is less competitive now than it was in 2010/11.

The government has suggested that teacher pay should return to "a more sustainable level" this year, while teaching unions call for "fully funded, inflation-plus and undifferentiated pay increases".

Through modelling various future scenarios, the foundation also discovered that simply matching teacher pay growth with the growth of earnings in the UK economy is unlikely to improve teacher supply alone. Instead, a higher-investment strategy is needed to have a real impact on retention and recruitment.

Source: Next government needs long-term pay strategy that will help teacher supply challenge (NFER)

If you'd like to read more about staff retention trends in academies, sign up for our upcoming national report and discover the impact of various factors on school staff resignation.

2. £134m unspent tutoring cash will fund teacher pay deal

Schools did not spend nearly 40% of £352 million NTP funding given to the sector last year, writes Samantha Booth.

Ministers have clawed back £134 million in unspent tutoring money from schools – and have agreed to keep the cash to fund the teacher pay grant.

Government data published yesterday revealed schools did not spend nearly 40% of the £352 million National Tutoring Programme funding given to the sector last year. This is likely due to the high cost of accessing school allocations.

The DfE has agreed to keep this money for its school teacher pay rise funding. Multiple schemes have already been cut to close the gap this year.

Nick Brook, chair of the DfE’s strategic tutoring advisory group, said, "The hole in the DfE budget is of the government’s making. By failing to provide Treasury funding for pay promises made, DfE has been forced into a cycle of cuts to programmes and abandonment of successful initiatives.”

Source: £134m unspent tutoring cash clawed back (and will fund teacher pay deal) (schoolsweek.co.uk)

3. 34 academy trusts win share of £530m green building fund

Government announcement includes 47 building projects set to receive grants for work to reduce school energy bills and carbon emissions, writes John Roberts.

Multi-academy trusts, diocesan boards and schools are due to receive over £37 million in government funding to reduce building energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Furthermore, 222 projects have been awarded a share of £530 million through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

The list of grant recipients includes 47 schemes to upgrade buildings.

Grants vary in size, from £65,000 to £4 million, and three MATs have been allocated funding for building improvement work across regions. These are River Learning Trust, Star Academies, and Elliott Foundation Academies Trust.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said the funding would pay for heat pumps, solar panels, insulation and low-energy lighting to reduce the use of fossil fuels across public sector buildings.

Source: 34 academy trusts win share of £530m green building fund (TES.com)

4. DfE releases new sex education guidance proposal

The updated guidance has already stirred up controversy with age limits on "sensitive topics" and a ban on gender identity discussions, writes Freddie Whittaker.

The government has published a draft guidance update on relationships, sex and health education, setting age limits on “sensitive” topics and ordering schools not to teach about gender identity.

The consultation has already proved hugely controversial, with ministers accused of stirring up “culture war” issues in the run-up to the election.

Schools have until 11th July to respond to the consultation. If approved, it will replace the current guidance issued in 2019.

Here are the key proposals from the draft guidance:

1. Certain sensitive topics will have age limits to ensure children are not introduced too early to concepts they may not have the maturity to understand.

2. Sex education in primary schools should be science-focused and restricted to no earlier than years 5 or 6.

3. Schools “should not teach about the broader concept of gender identity”, which the DfE said was “a highly contested and complex subject”.

4. The government has also added a section on suicide prevention; however, it added that given the sensitivity and complexity of content on suicide prevention, “direct references to suicide should not be made before year 8”.

Source: New sex education guidance proposals: What schools need to know (schoolsweek.co.uk)

5. 42% jump in MAT reserves falling below the DfE threshold

Figures show the "difficult choices" facing trusts and schools owing to "government underfunding," writes Jasmine Norden.

There has been a 42% jump in the number of multi-academy trusts with reserves at levels suggestive of “financial vulnerability”.

The increase in trusts with reserves at 5% of their income or less indicates trusts are being forced to “mitigate the impact of government underfunding”.

Figures analysed by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) show that in the 2022-23 financial year, the reserves of 152 MATs out of 1153 (13%) fell below this threshold - amounting to a 42% year-on-year increase.

Leora Cruddas, CEO of CST, said some trusts have had to use their reserves to deal with “the economic shock of inflation”. Furthermore, Pepe Di’lasio, general secretary of the ASCL, called these figures “a sign trusts are having to use their reserves to fund in-year deficits while they implement cuts to balance the books further down the line”.

Source: Revealed: 42% jump in MAT reserves falling below DfE threshold (TES.com)