Richard Adams

United Kingdom

Education Editor at The Guardian

The Guardian's education editor

Articles

Sonderbooks Book Review of

1 week ago | sonderbooks.com | Richard Adams

by Richard Adams read by Peter Capaldi New review posted May 8, 2025. Blackstone Publishing, 2019. Novel first published in 1972. 17 hours, 31 minutes. This review written May 3, 2025, from a library eaudiobook. Earlier review written in 2001.
Headteachers’ union takes legal action against Ofsted over inspection changes

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Richard Adams

Headteachers are taking legal action against Ofsted, England’s schools watchdog, over fears that its new inspection regime is “even worse than before” and likely to harm the mental health of school leaders. The National Association of Head Teachers said it had lodged a claim for a judicial review against Ofsted “over the potential impact of their inspection proposals” and for inadequate consultation over its new system of grading schools.
Matt Wrack plans to stay in post as teaching union’s general secretary

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Rajeev Syal |Richard Adams

The head of a teaching union has said he plans to stay in post despite a “ludicrous” and “coordinated” attempt by political enemies to undermine his position. Matt Wrack, whose appointment as general secretary of the NASUWT led to a week of legal challenges and the reopening of nominations for the post, said he would stand in a new election as the nominee of the union’s executive.
Schools in England and Wales urged to teach relationship violence prevention

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Adams

A thinktank is calling for schools to appoint relationship violence prevention leaders, modelled on the success of mental health coordinators, as teachers say they are ill-equipped to advise on the complex issues involved. A study by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), supported by the Home Office, wants young teenagers in England and Wales to be taught “relationship violence prevention lessons”, aimed at tackling emotional, physical and sexual violence, psychological abuse, stalking and harassment.
Teaching union reverses Matt Wrack appointment ahead of legal challenge

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Adams

The NASUWT teaching union has been forced to backpedal on its controversial appointment of Matt Wrack as general secretary and will instead reopen nominations for the post, ahead of a high court showdown. Branches were informed this weekend that the NASUWT’s national executive had received “further legal advice” over flaws that had excluded other candidates and allowed Wrack – a former head of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) – to be appointed unopposed as the executive’s “preferred candidate”.
Reform will axe councils’ special needs funding if they win in local elections, Lib Dems claim - live

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Andrew Sparrow |Amy Sedghi |Richard Adams |Helena Horton

National Autistic Society accuses Farage of stigmatising disabled people with his 'wildly inaccurate' comments about SendThe National Autistic Society has described Nigel Farage’s comments about Send children (see ) as “wildly inaccurate” and accused him of perpetuating “stigma” and making life harder for disabled people.
English schools will have to subsidise infants’ free meals after 3p funding increase, say leaders

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Adams

Primary schools in England will be forced to subsidise free school meals for infants from their own budgets after the government’s “pitiful” 3p increase in funding, according to school leaders. The Department for Education (DfE) announced that its funding for universal infant free school meals will rise from £2.58 to £2.61 per child in September, with the 3p rise well below expected inflation and wage increases facing schools.
Teaching union faces legal challenge over new general secretary

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Adams

The leadership of the NASUWT teaching union has been thrown into doubt after a legal challenge was issued over its appointment of a new general secretary. The application for an injunction, filed with the courts on Wednesday, came after a potential candidate was barred from running for the post, denying members the chance to vote in an open election.
Second teachers’ union vows to strike if pay award fails to fund schools in England

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Adams

A second teaching union in England has vowed to strike if the government fails to compensate schools in full for next year’s teachers’ pay award. The NASUWT union’s annual conference voted to reject any pay offer from the government that did not top up school budgets in June’s spending review, and to “move immediately to ballot members for industrial action”.
Teachers warn of rise in misogyny and racism in UK schools

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Adams

A rise in misogyny and racism is flooding UK schools as pupils ape the behaviour of figures such as Donald Trump and Andrew Tate after exposure through social media and online gaming, teachers have warned. A survey by the NASUWT union found most teachers identified social media as “the number one cause” of pupil misbehaviour, with female staff bearing the brunt. Teachers also raised concerns about parents who refuse to accept school rules or take responsibility for their children’s behaviour.