Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 09 May 2025

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

Two big stories this week: exams and university finances.

Let’s start with exams where this week the 2025 summer series got under way accompanied, according to The Times, by a growing band of parents now taking their own ‘exam leave’ to be there for their kids. ‘The calm in the storm’ as one put it.

More on that at the bottom.

For the moment, the big news has been the announcement this week of an app to enable some teenagers to get and store their GCSE results digitally.

Trialled in two regions this summer, the aim according to the government, is to ‘do away with a lot of paperwork, save money and ‘bring exam records into the 21^stc.’

The so-called Education Record app, a sort of digital wallet, should make things easier when young people apply for further education or jobs and certainly sounds better than humping around those National Record of Achievement (NRA) folders of old.

ASCL said it ‘represented a positive step forward’ while the NAHT said ’any moves to cut bureaucracy and cost are welcome.’

It’ll be interesting to see reactions on results day in August. Can you jump up waving an app?

In other school news this week, the Child Poverty Action Group factored out the minimum cost of education for parents in the UK in a new report, coming out with some alarming figures, all broken down in a costed annex.

The biggest items were lunches, uniforms and transport, all costing a lot more these days, totting up to over £2,000 per year for a secondary school pupil. 

They called for better support and the scrapping of the two-child limit.

Elsewhere, the government promised more money to help girls go on to study A level maths while Teach First highlighted the impact of teacher shortages in poorer parts of the country where students in such areas are being left with restricted progression opportunities.

As the boss of Teach First reported, “right now, too many young people are being locked out of studying A-levels like computer science because there simply aren’t enough trained teachers.”

He called for government action around pay and recruitment.

FE, like schools, has been busy with the start of the latest summer exam season this week.

Elsewhere in FE, debate has continued about the funding, or not, of L7 apprenticeships, the Learning and Work Institute has been looking at what should be in the government’s planned Immigration White Paper with English Language requirements expected to be raised, and the government published institutional allocations for the post-16 Budget Grant.

In HE, university financing, never far away, has been the big topic of the week.

Nick Hillman spoke about it, Philip Augar wrote about it, Universities UK reported on it and the Office for Students (OfS) analysed it, or at least the latest picture of it.

Warning signs about sector finances have been in evidence for some time so just how bad are things?

The reports from both Universities UK and the OfS painted a pretty grim picture.

Universities UK, for instance, in its member survey, pointed to institutions having to close or merge courses, reduce spending on research and scale back repairs and maintenance. All the while battling to protect students and keep the university experience alive and well.

As Wonkhe explained “it’s not encouraging reading.”

The OfS reported a similar battle in its annual financial sustainability report for the sector. “The sector is forecasting a third consecutive year of decline in financial performance, with more than four in ten institutions expecting a deficit this year.”

It hinted at some over-optimistic projections for student recruitment but as the Russell Group explained ‘it’s another reminder of the continued financial challenges universities are facing.’

A point emphasised by Sir Philip Augar in his op-ed for the FT this week, where he pointed to a poorly managed and controlled dash for growth following the increase in fees and lifting of the student numbers cap over the last decade or so.

Sir Philip, who knows about these things having chaired the 2019 review into the area, called for inflation-linked fee increases but also for reforms to the sector including a more diverse course offer, a more flexible operating model and stronger accountability.

“A market cuts two ways. Senior managers should be prepared to accept accountability for failure as well as the rewards of success.”

HEPI’s Nick Hillman equally reckoned there were a number of things government could do to help. These included increasing fees by inflation plus a bit more, raising student maintenance support and simplifying graduate repayments.

Both Universities UK and the government are set to publish important reports in due course.

Indeed, the Chair of the Education Committee called on the Education Secretary this week to clarify the department’s remit and work in this area.

“In the interests of transparency, please could you outline the scope of the Government’s proposed plans, the terms of reference underpinning this work, and which stakeholders have been engaged with.”

She called for a response by next Wednesday.

In the meantime, the government appears to have been undertaking a bit of sabre rattling, with the Times reporting that it was considering publishing a league table of universities that deliver poor student outcomes while their vice-chancellors continue to receive what it termed ‘bumper pay packages.’

”A hard rain is going to fall on universities that continue to be so blasé about executive pay increases while letting down students,” it reported.

Links to most of these stories below starting with the week’s headlines.

General:

• The economy. The Bank of England voted to reduce the Bank Rate by 0.25% as it published its latest Monetary Policy Report, acknowledging current global economic uncertainty and pointing to UK growth potentially slowing to 0.1% over the next quarter with CPI inflation likely to rise by Q.3, largely due to higher energy prices.
• Economic Outlook. The NIESR published its latest Economic Outlook painting a fairly downbeat picture with growth down and inflation up for the year, suggesting that the Chancellor may well have to announce tax rises in her Autumn Budget.
• Online safety. The Science and Tech Secretary set out the government’s proposed strategic priorities for online safety in line with the Online Safety Act, listing five key themes including agile regulation, transparency and accountability, and safety by design.
• Government advisers. The Dept for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) called for leading scientists and technologists to join the government on a p/t secondment as DSIT Fellows, helping the government to develop its use of AI and boost tech and research policy generally.  
• Cyber security. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) published a new report highlighting the impacts on cyber threat from AI developments over the next couple of years, suggesting a growing divide between systems that mange to keep pace with such threats and those that don’t and underlining the importance of across the board strengthening of cyber resilience.

HE:

• Government plans for HE. The Chair of the Education Committee outlined a list of concerns raised by HE providers in a recent Committee session, calling on the Education Secretary to clarify the nature, scope and likely timetable for the government’s ‘proposed plans for HE reform.’
• Financial sustainability. The OfS published its latest annual report into sector finances and resilience, pointing to a ‘deteriorating’ picture with over 40% of institutions responding forecasting a deficit for this year, largely due recruitment challenges and rising costs.
• Finances survey. Universities UK reported on its recent survey among members showing many institutions resorting to cost cutting measures including merging or closing courses, cutting back on repairs and reducing funding for R/D, as they cope with shrinking budgets.
• Op-ed on finances. Former funding review Chair, Philip Augar, examined the parlous state of university financing in an op-ed for the FT pointing the finger at poorly controlled and managed expansion in the context of increased fees, calling accordingly for inflation-linked grant increases but with stronger accountability and more skills based provision for English HE.
• Naming and shaming. The Times reported that the Education Secretary was looking at publishing league tables that would name and shame universities which deliver ‘poor outcomes’ for their students while their vice-chancellors continue to receive high wage packets.
• International students. The consultancy Public First identified many of the benefits that accrue from hosting international students in a report commissioned by York University, pointing to a gross export value of over £20bn pa with value spread across the country.
• Global research. Leading research universities from across the world including the UK’s Russell Group, signed up to the recent Ottawa Declaration, committing to work together for the public good on international research while retaining academic freedom and institutional autonomy.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “There’s a lot of talk about how boys don’t like school these days. Some think it’s bc they can’t sit still that long. The more I delve into what’s actually being taught, the more I’m inclined to think it’s bc of the emphasis on discussing their feelings. In every single subject!” -@Beanie0597.
• “All GCSEs could be limited to two exam papers lasting no longer than 90 minutes each, @ocrexams chief Jill Duffy has told MPs” -@tes.
• “It’s great that government is trialling a digital ‘Education Record’ app for some school exam results this year, before a national rollout. But results day is a huge one emotionally for every student - so let’s make sure we think pastorally as well as digitally to get this right!” -@@SteveChalke.
• “Do gcse students still run to Twitter and tweet after exams I miss that” -@hannahshouse_.
• “Political briefing suggests further restrictions on international students likely in immigration white paper. This academic year has seen a 16% fall in international students as a result of visa changes last year - deepening financial problems for some universities” -@branwenjeffreys.
• “A third instalment of Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo will be released next year” -@UofGArtsHums.
• “BREAKING: The CEO of IKEA was just elected Prime Minister of Sweden. The first thing he'll do is to assemble his cabinet” -@EdgeCGroup.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “A weaker economic outlook and lower projected tax receipts are set to erode the limited headroom over the course of the parliament, increasing the likelihood that tax rises will be needed in the upcoming Autumn Budget” – the NIESR forecasts more pain in its latest Economic Outlook.
• “What engagement are you undertaking with universities and with the Competition and Markets Authority on the current inability of universities to collaborate to ensure provision of courses on a regional basis” – the Education Committee poses exam questions for the Education Secretary on the direction of HE policy.
• “The days of the unaccountable ivory tower are over”– the Times suggests the government is considering ‘naming and shaming’ universities that fail to deliver.
• “Encouraged to expand and given the means to do so, universities went on a spending spree” – Philip Augar tackles HE financing in an op-ed in the FT.
• “What our data shows is that in a lot of towns this is your car plant, this is your steel factory” – Public First highlights the value of international students to university towns.
• “Even though we want them to thrive academically, we want them to thrive as human beings, so we balance our expectations with kindness and recognition for their well-being," – schools and colleges gear up for exam season 2025.
• “One of the most effective ways to build confidence about taking exams, overcome any nervousness about starting revision, and manage any worry about taking exams, is to structure revision” – Ofsted updates its guide for students on coping with exam pressure.
• “The threat picture is diverse and dramatic – at the NCSC we’ve managed more than 200 incidents since September last year” – the boss of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) spells out the extent of the cyber challenges.

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Steve Besley

Disclaimer: Education Eye is intended to help colleagues keep up to date with national developments in the education sector. Information is correct at the time of writing and is offered in good faith. No liability is accepted by Steve Besley or EdCentral for decisions made on the basis of any information provided.