Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 17 October 2025

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

Emerging Budget lines this week with college and university members each submitting their proposals to the Treasury a month or so ahead of the big day, the IfS setting out the context in its regular pre-Budget Green Paper and the IMF providing the wider global economic picture.

“Risks to the outlook remain tilted to the downside” was the IMF’s economist-speak conclusion. It rather sets the scene for all of this.

The IfS suggested that the ‘Budget will feel like Groundhog Day’ for the Chancellor.

Both suggest knuckle clenching all round.

In more education specific news this week, one teaching union considered taking legal action over Ofsted’s new inspection regime, a think tank called for a national skills wallet, and a new survey revealed the graduate recruitment market in a state of transition.

Here’s some details.

In schools, in a week in which MPs debated the pros and cons of the current assessment system, the Education Secretary added another key assessment in the shape of a mandatory reading test for Yr 8s in schools in England.

“We’ll test progress at this key point when too many children either spin their wheels or fall further behind,” she said.

Individual school results will not be published but the prospect of another formal assessment, albeit one that does not require specific preparation, remains contentious.

The NAHT called it ‘unnecessary, distracting and not a good use of money.’

The government also announced a 90% ‘expected standard’ for the Yr1 phonics screening check by the end of this parliament.

Next year is the DfE’s designated Year of Reading. ‘Go All In’ is the logo.

Elsewhere, Ofsted’s new inspection regime continues to rankle.

This week ASCL’s latest members’ survey revealed deep concerns about the impact of the new system on staff, leaving the union ready to consider legal action if need be.

“We don’t take the step of exploring legal action lightly, but our members are gravely concerned about the stress and pressure likely to be generated by the new inspection system.”

The Chief Inspector batted away many of the concerns when he gave evidence to the Education Committee this week arguing for instance that the new approach removes ‘the gotcha moment’ from inspections in future.

The NEU has also been busy this week reporting on commercial teacher supply agencies and pointing to a system of high fees, large markups and cases of exploitation of some teachers.

"It is well within the power of government to bring this corporate circus under control and to stop the agency rip-off," the union’s general secretary gently suggested.

They called for ‘de-marketisation’ of the current system with non-commercial agencies and local authority pools in charge using a system of ‘publicly managed supply registers’ rather than the current domination by a handful of commercial operators.

In other news, the OUP reported on its recent survey among young people about the use of AI in school.

While many (80%, although this varies by region) use AI tools to help them with their schoolwork and value its use particularly in planning and feedback, 60% reckoned it ‘negatively impacted’ on their skills in relation to schoolwork.

Cutting out some of the dog work but not necessarily enhancing the skills of learning seems to have been a common refrain. “Gaining fluency and speed in processing ideas, yet sometimes losing the depth that comes from pausing, questioning, and thinking independently,” as one of the authors explained.

The survey came in the same week as Cambridge University Press (CUP) raised concerns in another survey about the deleterious impact of AI generated content on academic publishing.

 “Important work risks being lost or drowned out by a surge of low-quality or AI-generated content.”

The Sutton Trust called in a new briefing for better support and access for families from a lower socio-economic background with a SEND child.

In a word, many of them miss out on vital care plans and other support.

As the Trust put it, ‘right now, disadvantaged kids with SEND are being failed by a system beset with inconsistency and mind-boggling bureaucracy.”

The government launched a new campaign aimed at providing trusted guidance and information for parents who often feel bombarded with conflicting information from influencers and others on different approaches to parenting.

And finally this week, the NFER teed up its major report due out next month on the future workforce and young people’s skills, the Confederation of Schools Trusts has been looking ahead to the Schools White Paper among other things at its Annual Conference and former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has been at the Covid 19 Inquiry trying to defend the then government’s questionable record and lack of planning over schools and lockdowns. 

‘I wish we had done it differently,’ he said with obvious hindsight.

Told you so, said the NAHT. “Today’s testimony confirms what we said at the time, the chaos and confusion at the heart of government during the pandemic led to bad decision making.”

BBC’s Newsnight described it all ‘as like an episode of The Thick Of It.’

In FE, the AoC submitted its proposals to the Treasury ahead of next month’s Budget calling for action in ten areas.

These included creating more places and maintenance support for 16-18 yr olds, developing ‘a long-term FE workforce plan,’ and confirming next year’s funding asap “because colleges need more certainty in order to build the capacity to meet needs particularly in key sectors such as construction, health and technology.”

Ultimately, it’s looking for a Budget that matches the ambitions for the sector set out in the PM’s Conference speech last month.

In other news, its been National T Levels Week with the government putting together a resource pack and promising to “use our business and stakeholder networks to amplify and share T Level stories and messages.”

And still on T Levels, the government published its response this week to the Public Accounts Committee’s Inquiry into the introduction of T levels which was published in June.

Its six recommendations broadly covered the need for greater publicity around T Levels along with what skills gaps they’re intended to address and how they fit in with other qualifications.

The government accepted all six recommendations.

The RSA reported on its work with UfI Voc Tech Trust into digital badging as a way of recognising wider skill sets.

In their view, “the UK’s current systems for recognising skills and experience are not fit for purpose” and a system of digital badging “would make skills more visible, portable and economically valuable.”

They called for a national skills wallet to support such wider learning. NRAs anyone?

And JISC updated its digital elevation tool for colleges with a focus on AI capability.

In HE, Universities UK added its submission to the Treasury ahead of next month’s Budget.

The need to strengthen core funding streams was the overall message with government proposals to bring in an international student fee levy a key bone of contention.

“A levy would not only have a profoundly detrimental impact on university finances, but crucially, negatively impact the opportunity for UK students to have an outstanding experience at university and undermine the UK’s crucial research base, which is key to driving economic growth and productivity.”

Elsewhere, with debate continuing about the state of the graduate recruitment market, the Institute of Student Employers offered what it called, “a nuanced picture of a market in transition.”

The market is certainly competitive, with 140 or more applications per graduate vacancy in some cases, compared to 86 per vacancy a couple of years ago.

In addition there has been a shift to hiring apprenticeships in some sectors and as the Head of Insights at the Institute told Wonkhe, ‘AI is gradually reshaping such recruitment.’

But as the survey concludes, “graduates remain a core element of recruitment.”

Elsewhere, the OfS published evidence of what it called ‘weaker outcomes’ for some subcontracted provision, Universities UK and Guild HE updated their code of practice for fair admissions, HEPI published a collection of essays on AI and HE including one written by a chatbot and The Times Higher invited six experts to offer their thoughts on university mergers in light of the recent ‘Kentwich’ model.

It’s not easy but mergers may be necessary in some cases was the general verdict.

And to round off, the UCU’s member’s ballot for national strike action opens on Monday.

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ‘National skills wallet would help more students into work’ (Monday)
• ‘ASCL consider legal action over report card plans’ (Tuesday)
• ‘Government sets 90% phonics check target’ (Wednesday)
• ‘Low-quality and AI-generated papers could overwhelm publishing’ (Thursday)
• ‘DfE to encourage AI tutors in schools’ (Friday)

General:

• Chancellor’s options. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) examined the various options facing the Chancellor ahead of next month’s Budget, arguing that most, be they a wealth tax or an increase in fuel duty, are likely to have downsides, proposing instead reform of the tax system to help build more vital headroom.
• World Economic Outlook. The IMF published its latest World Economic Outllok pointing to continued uncertainty with global growth remaining ‘subdued including for the UK,’ inflation predicted to decline while still remaining high notably in the UK, and policy makers urged to restore confidence through “credible, predictable, and sustainable policy actions.”
• Labour Market Outlook. The ONS published its latest estimates on the UK labour market for the June-August period showing little change to recent months with average earnings at 4.7% continuing above inflation but also with unemployment up, NEETs numbers unchanged, and little improvement in the economic inactivity rate.
• Helping left behind regions. The Social Mobility Commission’s Economic Growth and Investment Group looked at ways of encouraging growth and innovation in some of the UK’s most disadvantaged areas, calling among other things for more entrepreneurial education in schools, free bus passes for young people, more flexible apprenticeships, and the creation of Opportunity Zones across the UK.
• Cyber security. The National Cyber Security Centre published its latest Annual Report showing a ‘sharp’ rise in the number of cyber threats faced by the UK over the past year, leading the government to write to leading companies reminding them of the need to make cyber security a Board-level issue.
• Regulating AI. The Social Market Foundation examined approaches to regulating AI in a new publication looking at both quantitative and qualitative approaches and suggesting that a cautious approach was needed to allow for continuing flexibilities in development.
• Lift the cap. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) called for the benefit cap to be scrapped as part of the forthcoming child poverty strategy, arguing that ‘it would reduce the depth of poverty for 300,000 children at a cost of £300m.’
• Gentle parenting. The government launched a new ‘Best Start in Life’ campaign aimed at helping parents cut through the mass of information and guidance posted about bringing up children, by providing trusted sources of guidance and support.

HE:

• Treasury submission. Universities UK published its submission to the Treasury ahead of next month’s Budget, highlighting the important role that the sector plays in ‘powering growth and opportunity’ and calling particular for the scrapping of the proposed international fee levy and strengthened funding streams generally.
• Student recruitment. The Institute of Student Employers published its 2025 survey of the graduate recruitment market, suggesting a market in transition with graduate recruitment remaining significant but with a steady rise in apprenticeship recruitment and with competition for roles fiercer than ever.
• Subcontracted outcomes. The Office for Students (OfS) published new data indicating that at a sector level students on subcontracted provision tend to have ‘weaker’ outcomes than students as a whole, reinforcing its call for institutions to do more to ensure high-quality provision.
• AI and HE. The HE Policy Institute published a collection of essays, including one written by AI itself (ChatGPT) looking into the impact of AI on the future of universities notably in areas like assessment and the workforce, bringing together differing views on the pace and content of change but ultimately recognising ‘a call to redefine and and enhance human intelligence in the age of AI.’
• University mergers. The Times Higher invited six experts to offer their thoughts on university mergers in light of the recent Kent/Greenwich super university with most acknowledging that they’re not a panacea and that they can be challenging but recognising that they could be a way forward for some.
• Strike ballot. The UCU announced that its ballot of members for strike action on issues such as a national agreement to counter redundancies and a fair pay offer, will open on Monday 20 October and run to Friday 28 November.
• Fair Admissions. Universities UK and Guild HE updated their fair admissions code of practice, reinforcing the principles of transparency, the prioritisation of applicants’ interests, and the validity of assessment, among others.
• Call for Evidence. The HE Commission and APPG for Parliamentary Health launched a call for evidence from providers, trusts and other involved in healthcare training for views on how ‘education and training systems can best support the recruitment, retention and development of NHS staff.’

Tweets and posts of note:

• “Must be at a DfE headteacher event as the concentration of blue suits and brown shoes is at epidemic level!” -@vicgoddard.
• “Everyone has their own favourite metaphor for the damaging cycle of policy volatility that we're in. I like groundhog day because ... the way out (in the film) is to change your behaviour. Chancellor has choices” -@HelenMiller_IfS.
• “Ofsted has dealt 'openly and transparently' with feedback on its reforms, its chief inspector has claimed, after the watchdog was blasted for refusing to give a breakdown of consultation responses” -@SchoolsWeek.
• “Soaring classroom temperatures harm exam results, climate board warns | The Times” -@FEontap.
• “I've lost count of the number of hour-long, activity-heavy primary lessons I've seen (and taught) that could have been beneficially replaced by 25-minutes of sharing a high-quality book on the subject followed by 5 minutes of focused writing or discussion based on what we'd read” -@Suchmo83.
• “Sami Timimi: 'invented' SEND labels are 'disabling' pupils” -@jon_severs.
• “Many students who could write with flair fail to do so because they cannot memorise or recall textual references…' A major exam provider is making all its English exams open-book – could others follow suit?” -@tes.
• “French cats live in a chateau” -@MichaelRosenYes.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “Global Economy in Flux, Prospects Remain Dim,” – the IMF conjures a picture in its latest World Economic Outlook.
• “After adjusting for inflation, weekly wages have increased by just £1.50 over the past 11 months – from £680.50 last September to £682 in August – barely enough to cover the cost of a Greggs sausage roll” – the Resolution Foundation reflects on the latest UK labour market figures.
• “In this increasingly hostile landscape, organisations recover better from incidents when they have planned for the worst and rehearsed their business continuity and recovery” – the government calls on businesses to take cyber security seriously.
• “Given the potential for significant and near-existential harm from AI, it seems reasonable and appropriate that policymakers should err on the side of caution in designing AI regulation in line with the precautionary principle” – the SMF think tank considers approaches to regulating AI.
• “It's very similar to the banking crisis in 2008... The people who should be either governing from government or governing institutions are asleep at the wheel," -UCU general secretary Jo Grady on the crisis facing UK universities.
• “Mergers are not for the faint-hearted” – Professor Sir Chris Husbands reflects in the Times Higher about university mergers.
• “It’s proving existential for some schools” – the Independent Schools Council reflects on the government’s VAT Levy on independent schools.
• “It will be important for the government to be able to explain what its planned Year 8 mandatory test will achieve in addition to all the work that is already taking place” – ASCL responds to government plans for a Yr 8 mandatory reading test.
• “The phone ban is now simply the norm and the gains are real, modest and worth it” – The Guardian reports on the impact of Australia’s banning of phones in schools two years on.
• "I readily accept that there were many mistakes that were made," - former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson at the Covid 19 Inquiry into Children and Young People.

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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.