Pupils from Scottish schools can compete to be at a dinner attended by former US president Barack Obama. The Hunter Foundation is donating a table of 10 at the event in Edinburgh, on 26 May, to the secondary school group that writes the best essay on how they would change Scotland if they ran the country. Entries should be sent to schools@thehunterfoundation.co.uk by 15 May.

A new working group will explore how to improve the educational experience of LGBTI young people in Scotland. Chaired by education directors’ body ADES, it will include education leaders, equality experts, young people and the Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) campaign group. TIE co-founder Jordan Daly welcomed the move as “a significant step forward… for all LGBTI young people across the country”.

Plans for every new head in Scotland to have a mandatory qualification from 2019, the Standard for Headship, would make it harder to recruit into leadership posts, ministers have been told. Jim Thewliss, general secretary of School Leaders Scotland, had “significant concerns over the ability of the system to generate a pool of significant depth and breadth of talent” in the coming years. Other responses to a consultation on the plans raised similar concerns.

Secondary pupils in Fife and Kinross are receiving help for their exams from Fife College. Some 8,000 study packs with exam tips and advice on avoiding stress have gone out to 19 schools. With many pupils progressing to the college after summer, Dorothée Leslie, vice-principal for curriculum and academic planning, said staff were keen to lend “a helping hand”.