Education policy from around the world, summarised for busy teachers. Each story links to its original source. Last updated 24 October 2026.
Australia · 21 October 2026
The Commonwealth and Victoria signed a bilateral agreement lifting the federal share of the Schooling Resource Standard from 20% to 25% by 2034, with $3.5 billion extra federal funding over a decade. The money is tied to reforms including Year 1 phonics and numeracy checks and teacher workload measures.
Source: Ministers' Media Centre
England · 21 October 2026
After a review led by Sir David Bell, the government accepted all 27 recommendations, including stronger Holocaust education, teacher training and consistent recording of incidents.
Source: BBC News
United States · 19 October 2026
K-12 Dive's weekly round-up reports New York's move to join the scholarship tax credit scheme, alongside concerns over a proposed sunset of the E-Rate school broadband program.
Source: K-12 Dive
England · 16 October 2026
Draft programmes of study and GCSE subject content, previously promised for September, are now expected 'later this year', a delay unions called frustrating.
Source: Tes
England · 15 October 2026
Education Secretary Lucy Powell announced that spoken language will become a new strand of the revised English curriculum, carrying equal weight with reading and writing.
Source: Tes
Australia · 13 October 2026
New legislation introduces managed growth funding and needs-based funding for universities, which the government says will add $3.6 billion and 230,000 commencing students over ten years.
Source: Ministers' Media Centre
New Zealand · 13 October 2026
The Ministry of Education says the first NZCE cohort will be in 2029 and NZACE in 2030, developed alongside the refreshed curriculum.
Source: NZ Ministry of Education
United States · 1 October 2026
Treasury and the IRS released proposed regulations for the Education Freedom Tax Credit, a federal credit of up to $1,700 for donations to K-12 scholarship organisations, starting 1 January 2027 in states that opt in.
Source: IRS
Australia · October 2026
The next stage of the NSW pay deal has reached public school teachers, with starting salaries rising to $92,882 and top-of-scale pay to $133,422, according to the state government.
Source: NSW Government
OECD · October 2026
Education at a Glance 2026 found teachers in New Zealand report 45.6 working hours a week, against an OECD average of 40.8.
Source: SchoolNews NZ
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