Education
England has fewer teachers relative to the number of school pupils than in 2010
The government’s announcement that there are a record number of teachers is missing important context. Read
Fact check
Education
We fact check and explain issues about schools, teacher shortages, childcare, universities, and qualifications.
Education
School statistics don’t show 140,000 children ‘never came back’ after pandemic disruption
A figure quoted in the Sun by Baroness Karren Brady is the number of pupils who missed at least 50% of sessions last summer, not the number who’ve disappeared completely. Read
Fact check
Education
The numbers behind the PM’s maths claims fact checked
We’ve dug into the figures behind Rishi Sunak’s claims about the negative impact of poor numeracy. Read
Fact check
Education
Think tank figure does not show 100,000 children ‘never went back to school’ due to lockdown
Journalist Isabel Oakeshott twice claimed that 100,000 children left education permanently as a result of the pandemic. Read
Fact check
Education
£95k average headteacher salary refers only to state secondary schools
The Daily Express repeated a claim made by education secretary Gillian Keegan last month about headteacher salaries, which failed to clarify the figure referred only to those in secondary schools Read
Fact check
Education
Claim ‘nine in 10’ teachers voted to strike is misleading
Teaching union NASUWT claimed that nine in 10 of its members voted to strike. Read
Fact check
Rishi Sunak’s New Year speech fact checked
We’ve looked at some of the claims made by the PM in his first speech of 2023. Read
Analysis
Public information film about the dangers of electricity has not been banned
A segment of a 1970s short film warning about the dangers of playing near electrical substations has not been banned. Read
Fact check
Education
Reports that ‘most teachers’ are suffering from depression are based on a self-selecting survey
The data comes from members of the NASUWT teaching union who chose to complete its survey, so it can’t reliably tell us about the wellbeing of teachers as a whole. Read
Fact check
Education
We don’t know how many children aren’t on school rolls
The Children’s Commissioner for England recently claimed that 80,000 to 100,000 children weren’t on any school roll. Read
Fact check
Evidence you can rely on
Fact checking claims made by politicians, public figures and viral online content can give you the full picture backed by the evidence.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.