Now it is winning praise for its sporting achievements in 2025 from School Sport Magazine. READ MORE: Independent girls' school ranked highlyIn 2024, St Helen's was ranked fourth girls' school for sport in the country, and it has been placed sixth for 2025. Pupils at St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon enjoy white water rafting (Image: St Helen and St Katharine school)"The breadth and depth of activity is paramount to the success, from netball and lacrosse to football, cricket and tennis." In October, the school was named Independent Girls’ School of the Year at the national Independent Schools of the Year Awards 2025. At St Helen and St Katharine, 92.1 per cent of GCSE grades were 9–7 and 87.5 per cent of A-level grades were A*–B.

Average weekly views for the highlights across the iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app stand at an average of 1.52 million between August and December 2025. The number of digital accounts accessing Match of the Day content in an average week is up 21 per cent in 2025-26 compared to last season – 1.69m compared to 1.39m. That figure includes viewing of the Saturday and Sunday programmes on iPlayer, the 8pm highlights on iPlayer, and highlight clips on the BBC Sport website and app. “By evolving the format and embracing digital platforms, we’re engaging more people than ever and increasing the reach of this iconic show. “Match of the Day plays a huge role for millions of football fans, whether that be on TV, iPlayer or on people’s phones.”

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Celtic told Kasper Hogh transfer price tag by Bodo after one trick passes Parkhead board byThe Hoops are facing a frantic finale to the January window with several new players requiredContent cannot be displayed without consentCeltic have been told they’ll need to stump up close to £7m to land striker Kasper Hogh. ‌Record Sport understands Hogh is being looked at with Bodo ready to cash in – and the Norwegian shock troops have already bounced out a bid from Norwich City. The Canaries – led by ex-Rangers boss Philippe Clement – are considering upping their offer while Celts are in the frame. ‌He reckons that the "wee trick" passed the Celtic board by ahead of the blockbuster 2-2 draw - in which Braga netted the equaliser. Celtic need to bolster their attack and Hogh is a man in form after nailing a double in Bodo’s stunning Champions League win against Man City last week.

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Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy noticeSir Keir Starmerand his team will arrive in Beijing with “burner” phones and laptops in an effort to stop being spied on during their trip to China this week. According to The Times, the prime minister and his team will be seeking to mitigate such risks by leaving all government equipment in the UK. In what appeared to be a defence of his decision to take the trip, the prime minister said the UK was “missing out” by not engaging with China. The prime minister has also faced calls to raise the treatment of the Uighur minority and the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner and British national.

I think since Ali Wong’s Baby Cobra was huge, there has been a little bit of a trend of female comedians recording specials pregnant. AdvertisementI don’t think that they work as hard as we do. I don’t know if it’s the trad-wife movement online or what has precipitated this, but my generation was very much splitting the bill. Having done two Netflix specials and two U.K.-based Sky Comedy specials, what are some key differences between dealing with the two different streaming platforms? Have you noticed any sort of notable evolution in the U.K. comedy scene in the last few years?

Three more UK universities have confirmed they are not taking subscriptions to Elsevier journals, with one Russell Group institution hitting out at the “financially unsustainable” terms of the nationally agreed deal. “Unfortunately, the Elsevier deal continues to be financially unsustainable and we will not be in a position to subscribe to this deal,” it explained. Lancaster University and the University of Surrey have also confirmed it will not sign another deal with Elsevier, joining the universities of Essex, Kent and Sussex among those walking away from direct access to the imprint’s 2,800 journals. Sheffield and Surrey were among three UK universities to terminate their previous deal with Elsevier at the start of 2025. Most UK universities have yet to declare whether they are taking up the Jisc-negotiated Elsevier deal, with the 2023-25 agreement extended for a month until the end of January to allow for further talks.

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24-school academy trust “using EHCP and pupil premium cash to fund its central topslice,” union says chain has admittedThe DfE: scene of protests yesterday. An academy trust, which is facing a huge campaign of protest over its financial management, has been taking pupil premium (PP) and special needs funding meant for pupils to pay for its central operations, a union has stated. The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP) has been including PP and Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) money in its “topslice” calculations, according to the National Education Union. UPDATE: The trust responded, late afternoon on Wednesday, to say: "Regarding your query on EHCP and Pupil Premium funding, the Trust has several pupils eligible for additional funding. I asked whether ATLP could say, given the above, whether all of the money that it receives for EHCP and PP pupils is spent on support for these specific pupils.

TLDRThe US dollar has fallen to its lowest level in four years, dropping by 1.3% against a basket of currencies after President Trump dismissed concerns over the currency's decline. This marks the fourth day of declines and follows the largest one-day drop since April of last year. Trump's comments have led investors to seek safer assets like gold and the Swiss franc, causing the dollar to touch its lowest level since February 2022.

Jeff Bezos’s Amazon MGM Studios is to release its feature-length documentary about Melania Trump, directed by Brett Ratner, a formerly exiled film-maker accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. The film was screened at a promotional event at the White House attended by what the Hollywood reporter described as '70 assorted VIPs', including Apple’s Tim Cook and Mike Tyson. Bezos bought the rights to the film for $40m (£30m) and spent a further $35m on a global marketing push – but so far, ticket sales are reportedly ‘soft’. It is expected to be screened in more than 100 UK cinemas

Fake visa agents are creating non-existent jobs for illegal migrantsShadowy black-market middlemen are selling fake jobs with payroll documents showing migrants earn £55,000 a year, when no such roles exist. The breathtaking bogus jobs like this are being offered by dodgy visa agent firms in Britain, hoping to cash in on the illegal migration market. The fake visa agents offer migrants a chance to have their stay in the UK sponsored by helping them pretend they have a job, complete with an imposter CV, bank records and payroll documents. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENTAccording to an undercover investigation by The Times, fake visa agents profit from the invisible jobs by charging the illegal migrant a monthly fee, as well as shelling out anywhere up to £20,000 up front. That’s it.”An investigation by The Times found visa agents offering illegal migrants fake jobsAn investigation by the newspaper found multiple agents operating across the UK.