School leaders have a current workplace change to check, future funding and wage commitments to plan for, and new research to interpret. Travel and violence guidance also need careful reading before they become local action lists.
This briefing covers eight developments from 25 to 31 October 2026, with sources reviewed on 1 November. It focuses on England's schools and trusts, with the UK-wide minimum-wage announcement labelled separately.
The next step is to give each relevant follow-up an owner and keep its status and timing visible.
Quick scan: what changed and what to do next
| Date | Development and status | School response |
|---|---|---|
| 30 October | Workplace harassment: protections in force | Review prevention, reporting and third-party risks |
| 30 October | Travel assistance: non-statutory LA guidance | Coordinate hours, term dates, INSET and journeys |
| 29 October | Pupil Premium reviews: funded offer | Check eligibility and the 27 November deadline |
| 29 October | School food: feasibility pilot research | Review uptake, cost and sensory access |
| 29 October | ITT reforms: wave 1 interim evaluation | Discuss placement capacity with providers |
| 28 and 29 October | Sport: future Budget funding and current grant conditions | Separate future partnerships from this year's premium |
| 28 October | Minimum wages: April 2027 rates announced | Model staffing and contract costs |
| 27 October | Extreme violence: interim guidance published | Check risk ownership and escalation routes |
Workplace safety and school journeys
30 October: stronger workplace harassment protections took effect
Employers must now take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work. Protections against third-party harassment also took effect on 30 October. Schools and trusts should review their arrangements as employers.
Ask the HR lead to check prevention, staff reporting and responses to harassment involving visitors, parents, contractors or others. Review foreseeable risks and staff training, with a clear route for concerns and follow-up.
Ofsted's related conduct-code update concerns behaviour during inspections. It doesn't introduce a new inspection framework. Keep inspection conduct and the employer's wider responsibilities distinct when briefing staff.
Sources: government announcement on workplace harassment protections and conduct during Ofsted inspections.
30 October: local authorities received travel-assistance guidance
The new guidance on delivering effective school and college travel assistance applies to England. It is non-statutory and supplements local authorities' existing statutory duties.
School hours, term dates and INSET arrangements affect journeys. Check that the local authority and transport providers have the right information before changing times or assuming a vehicle can accommodate a new arrangement.
Include journeys for pupils with SEND and those in alternative provision. Ask the relevant school lead to resolve mismatches with families and the local authority, recording the agreed arrangement and who will check it works.
Sources: travel-assistance publication and guidance for local authorities.
Disadvantage, meals and teacher training
29 October: a funded Pupil Premium strategy review offer opened
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) announced around 800 DfE-funded Pupil Premium strategy reviews over two years. The offer targets schools in the lowest 25% for disadvantaged pupil attainment, with reviews starting in spring 2027.
Expressions of interest close on 27 November. A review takes around two terms. Check the published eligibility and application details before assuming a place is available or treating the offer as an inspection requirement.
Ask the Pupil Premium lead to consider whether the review could help test the school's strategy. Bring evidence of pupil needs, chosen approaches and delivery, alongside outcomes and gaps in what is known.
Source: EEF announcement of the Research Schools Network review offer.
29 October: school-food pilot findings highlighted delivery trade-offs
The feasibility pilot ran in autumn 2025. Twelve schools were recruited and 11 completed it. The report describes nutritional gains alongside challenges involving costs, meal uptake and sensory preferences.
This publication is research, with no new school duty. The government's response on the school-food standards was published on 14 September; the pilot report isn't a fresh policy decision.
Planned standards from September 2027 remain subject to Parliament. Ask the catering lead to review cost, uptake and pupils' experience, including sensory needs, while checking what the current standards require.
Sources: school-food feasibility pilot main report and the standards consultation and government response.
29 October: the first interim evaluation of ITT reforms was published
The wave 1 report is the first part of a three-year independent evaluation of initial teacher training (ITT) reforms introduced in 2024/25. It examines early implementation and providers' experience.
Evidence of greater consistency sits alongside pressures on workload and delivery. TES's reporting highlights financial risk and strain for some providers. The interim research doesn't establish the reforms' longer-term effects.
It creates no immediate staffing rule. Schools hosting trainees can discuss mentor time, placement capacity and continuity with their provider. Record pressures locally rather than assuming the national findings describe every partnership.
Sources: DfE's wave 1 interim evaluation and TES's reporting on provider experience.
Finance: separate current allocations from future costs
28 and 29 October: sport announcements covered two funding periods
The Budget announced a future £60 million annual increase towards PE and Sport partnerships rolling out in 2027. That commitment doesn't give an individual school its allocation.
Separately, the 2026/27 PE and sport premium allocations and conditions of grant were published on 29 October. Use those current documents when checking this year's entitlement, permitted spending and reporting arrangements.
Ask the finance and PE leads to record the current grant position, then track details of the future partnerships separately. Don't enter an assumed share of the new funding as confirmed school income.
Sources: Budget 2026 and 2026/27 PE and sport premium conditions of grant.
28 October: April 2027 minimum-wage rates were announced
The UK-wide rates from April 2027 will be £13.21 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £11.27 for those aged 18 to 20, and £8.31 for the 16 to 17 and apprentice rates, subject to the apprentice-rate eligibility rules.
These are statutory minimum rates. They don't set the teacher or school support-staff pay award. Keep the minimum-wage change separate from pay-scale assumptions and any contractual commitments.
Ask the finance or HR lead to model affected employees and service contracts, including catering and cleaning. Check age bands, apprentice eligibility and the timing of changes before agreeing next year's cost assumptions.
Source: Low Pay Commission announcement of the April 2027 rates.
Safeguarding: keep ownership when referral routes differ
27 October: interim non-ideological extreme violence guidance was published
The Home Office published the interim guidance on 27 October; it was issued on 8 October. It supports management of non-ideological extreme violence concerns and introduces no new statutory duty.
A Prevent decision not to take a referral forward doesn't close wider safety concerns. The safeguarding lead should identify who owns the risk, which partners are involved and how unresolved concerns will be escalated.
Neurodiversity or mental health needs alone don't predict or cause violence. Assess the specific concern and context without turning a diagnosis or support need into a risk label.
The specific information-sharing duty discussed in the guidance isn't yet universal for schools. Use applicable safeguarding and lawful sharing arrangements, and record decisions. Urgent danger needs the existing emergency response.
Source: Home Office interim guidance on non-ideological extreme violence concerns.
Week ahead: assign the next check
- HR lead: check harassment prevention and third-party reporting arrangements, then date any required follow-up.
- School operations lead and SENCo: confirm hours, INSET dates and transport arrangements with the local authority.
- Pupil Premium lead: check review eligibility and decide whether to express interest before 27 November.
- Catering and ITT leads: identify one delivery question to discuss with the relevant provider.
- Finance and PE leads: confirm the current premium, label future funding assumptions and model April wage costs.
- DSL: check risk ownership and escalation where a violence concern falls outside a Prevent referral.