The Weekly Education Round-Up: STEM, Strategy and Stories from the Sector
Published: 1st April 2025
By Voxscript – for UK STEM educators keeping a finger on the pulse
Welcome to this week’s long-read update, designed especially for teachers and leaders in the UK’s STEM education community. As we step into April, the education landscape is bustling with stories—from digital innovation and SEND challenges, to policy shifts and AI-powered learning tools. We've combed through the week’s headlines so you don’t have to. Let’s dive in.
🧠 AI, Assessment and Innovation: New Tools Changing the Game
AI Writing Assessment Pilot Shows Promise
A trial reported by Schools Week has shown that artificial intelligence is highly effective at evaluating student writing, potentially revolutionising how English—and by extension, other subjects including STEM—can be assessed in the future. While the technology isn't ready to replace teachers, it could be a powerful time-saving tool.
🔗 Read more
AI in Electronics Education
Over in the FE sector, a former IfATE board member has developed an AI-based tool for teaching electronics, aiming to modernise technical education and better align it with digital industry needs.
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🧪 STEM and SEND: Spotlight on Provision Gaps
Special Schools Over Capacity
BBC and Schools Week both reported this week on the growing SEND crisis, with special schools in England exceeding capacity by 8,000 places. These gaps disproportionately affect students requiring STEM-focused support, particularly those on the autism spectrum with specific technical aptitudes.
🔗 BBC | Schools Week
New SEN Campus Opens in Northern Ireland
On a more hopeful note, a new special educational needs campus has opened and welcomed its first cohort. This development points to regional progress, though a broader, national strategy is clearly overdue.
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📉 Workforce Worries and Funding Fears
School Leaders Warn of Staff Cuts
School leaders have warned that funding pressures may soon force them to cut programmes and staff, including in critical areas like science and computing. Despite £400m in identified efficiencies, these cuts won’t fill the funding shortfall.
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Teaching Burnout: From Classroom to Cab
The BBC featured the story of a teacher who left the profession due to stress and became a lorry driver—a stark symbol of retention issues still plaguing the profession.
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🧬 Research, Reading and Representation
Eye-Tracking to Support Struggling Readers
New software trials using eye-tracking to detect reading difficulties have shown ‘amazing’ early results. While privacy concerns were raised, the potential for early intervention—especially helpful in science subjects requiring strong literacy—could be transformative.
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EEF Pushes for Strategic Use of Teaching Assistants
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) released updated guidance encouraging schools to use TAs more effectively. With evidence pointing to improved outcomes when TAs are used strategically, STEM departments should take note.
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🏫 Policy & Politics: Changes at the Chalkface
Peerage Controversy over Former Ofsted Chief
The nomination of Amanda Spielman to the House of Lords has sparked criticism. Many in the sector, including headteachers, voiced that the move sends the wrong message following controversies surrounding Ofsted inspections.
🔗 Tes | Schools Week
Dundee University Cuts Raise HE Sector Alarm
Massive cuts at the University of Dundee—over 600 jobs—have raised fears about the future of STEM research in Scottish HE. University leaders warn the situation is worse than previously expected.
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🍽 Equity, Access and the Everyday
Free Breakfast Clubs Expand
In welcome news, schools across England are beginning to roll out free breakfast clubs. For STEM subjects that benefit from early morning concentration, this could have tangible learning benefits.
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Robot Enables Virtual School Trip
In a delightful tale from Berkshire, a robot allowed a student unable to attend a field trip to experience it virtually. The implications for inclusion in science and geography trips are huge.
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🔎 Reflections for the Staffroom
As the dust settles on a week filled with developments, here are a few reflection prompts for STEM educators to take into your planning meetings or CPD sessions:
1. Could AI streamline your teaching?
How might AI tools be used to support assessment in your subject? Could they save time, or help identify areas for targeted support?
2. Are your SEND learners receiving equitable STEM opportunities?
With national SEND provision stretched, what creative strategies can departments implement to support inclusion in labs, projects and trips?
3. Are TAs fully integrated into your lesson planning?
EEF’s guidance invites us to consider: are we maximising the impact of support staff in our STEM classrooms?
4. Could pupil nutrition be impacting performance?
How might morning hunger be affecting your students’ focus during double maths or science? Would a breakfast club partnership help?
🔚 Final Thoughts
This week's stories underscore a consistent theme: innovation must go hand in hand with inclusion. Whether it's AI tools or robots on school trips, the future of STEM education relies on not just cutting-edge technology, but cutting-edge compassion too.
Let’s keep learning, collaborating and reflecting.
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Stay tuned for next week's edition, and if you have stories to share from your school or college, get in touch!