At a glance headlines: Thursday, October 2

Former chief inspector Sir Michael Tomlinson has been appointed Birmingham Schools Commissioner in wake of Trojan Horse scandal. The post has been created after evidence emerged of an “aggressive Islamist agenda” in some of the city’s schools. Sir Mike is to work with the city council. Russell Hobby, general secretary of National Association of Head Teachers, welcomed the appointment. He said: “We trust that the appointment of such a highly regarded former chief inspector of schools to the post will give school leaders an effective reporting mechanism should they have concerns in the future.”

Pupils in more than half of all UK secondary schools have poor online access. Research by the British Educational Suppliers Association has found that 54 per cent of secondary schools consider themselves under-resourced when it comes to wi-fi provision. Also, 31 per cent of secondaries said they are under-resourced in broadband provision. The study is based on survey questionnaires completed by 498 secondary schools. Elsewhere, the survey found that ICT budgets are expected to grow during 2014/15 by nine per cent, to £64,400, in a typical secondary school.