A large trial involving 238 schools and 6,291 pupils found that explicitly teaching mathematical reasoning to Year 2 students boosted maths attainment by one month, with the benefit doubling for pupils eligible for free school meals. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) trial, published this week, gave the findings a high security rating. The programme moved beyond practising calculations, asking children to explore relationships between quantities using discussion and manipulatives such as Numicon and Cuisenaire rods.
The result lands alongside fresh questions from young people about whether schools are preparing them for a world shaped by artificial intelligence. New research reported by Tes suggests fewer than one in ten pupils believes the education system is doing so effectively. Pupils who already use AI outside school may increasingly question the value of some classroom tasks.
Technical education and qualification reform face timing pressures
Teachers value vocational learning at ages 14 to 16, but practical barriers persist. Interim research led by former education secretary Charles Clarke for OCR found that perceptions of technical qualifications as a second-choice route, combined with timetabling and staffing constraints, continue to limit adoption. STEM teachers can shift the narrative by presenting applied routes as ambitious pathways alongside university progression.
Meanwhile, FE Week reports calls to delay the first V Levels by a year. A survey by the Edge Foundation found only three respondents felt prepared to deliver the new qualifications, which are due to launch in September 2027 for digital, education and early years, and finance and accounting. Colleges need time to understand specifications, recruit staff, and explain the qualifications to pupils and parents. The digital V Level makes this particularly relevant to STEM departments.
Teacher pay funding dispute and SEND inclusion
Education secretary Lucy Powell confirmed schools can retain savings from lower Local Government Pension Scheme contributions. The National Education Union said this meant the 3.5 per cent teacher pay award could now be fully funded. School finance leaders challenged that interpretation, arguing that lower contribution rates had already been incorporated into budgets and that the impact varies between local pension schemes. Budget pressure affects technician staffing, equipment replacement, and specialist teacher recruitment in STEM departments.
The EEF returned to inclusive teaching principles this week, encouraging teachers to look beyond SEND labels and identify the specific barriers a pupil experiences in a particular lesson. Two pupils with the same diagnosis may encounter a practical science lesson very differently. Starting with the barrier rather than the label makes adaptation more precise and helps avoid reducing challenge because a pupil has an identified need.
Former government behaviour adviser Tom Bennett addressed the connection between behaviour, SEND and exclusions in a Tes interview. The challenge is creating consistency without assuming fairness always requires an identical response. For STEM teachers, some rules around chemicals, machinery and electricity are safety-critical and cannot become optional. Reasonable adjustment can happen around the route to meeting an expectation through visual prompts, additional preparation, or a different workspace.
Phone-free schools expand
Tes reported a sharp rise in secondary schools using lockable pouches to prevent pupils accessing devices during the school day. A smartphone contains sensors, cameras and scientific tools that can support data collection and coding. But departments can separate personal phone access from purposeful technology use by providing appropriate devices when digital tools genuinely improve learning. The useful question is whether a particular technology helps pupils pay attention to what they actually need to learn.
Why this matters for educators
The common thread running through this week's stories is implementation. The EEF maths trial is encouraging because it was tested at scale, not because the idea sounds plausible. The V Levels debate centres on whether colleges have enough time to turn policy into a workable curriculum. Questions about AI increasingly concern what teachers and pupils should do rather than whether the technology exists.
For STEM teams, the practical takeaway is clear: pick one improvement and ensure everyone can explain what will look different in a classroom or practical lesson when it is working. Fewer initiatives implemented well will achieve more than a long list of good intentions. Schools examining how AI fits into their teaching may want to explore structured professional development, such as AI for Teachers Courses, to build the subject knowledge pupils need to use these tools critically and ethically.
Your membership also unlocks:
