Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 14 November 2025

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

Ofsted began its new inspection regime and the Education Secretary set schools minimum attendance improvement targets. The government announced a new review into NEETS and explained how Regional Improvement Teams would operate in FE. And the Office for Students (OfS) published a new ‘exemplary’ regulation strategy for HE.

It’s been another busy week in education.

Here’s some details.

In schools, the Education Secretary reached out for AI to help tackle concerns around school attendance.

She proposed that schools are now issued with ‘AI powered minimum attendance improvement targets’ based on schools’ circumstances – including location, pupil needs and deprivation.

Unions were not impressed. “We would urge the government to understand the realities in schools,” said ASCL, “rather than issuing yet more diktats dreamt up in Whitehall.”

Last month, the Centre for Social Justice, which has been tracking pupil absence, reported that “severe absence reached a Spring term record in 2025 at 160,497 pupils – a 167 per cent increase on the pre-pandemic norm.”

Persistent absence was down but it was a sharp reminder of the extent of the problem.

The overall absence rate so far this year is 5.90% according to latest government figures. FFT Education Datalab suggested in its latest number crunch that there had been little change in absence levels so far this year, while severe absences remain an issue.

Further measures are likely in the Schools White Paper whenever that emerges.

Next, SEND which has remained a talking point this week.

The Chair of the Education Committee responded to the Education Secretary’s decision to delay the Schools White Paper by emphasising “that, once the SEND reforms are announced, it will be essential for your Department to act swiftly to implement them and to provide clear and transparent timelines to ensure that progress is made without further delay.”

Expectations set then.

In other news, reflections and analysis of the recent Curriculum and Assessment Review and the government’s response to it have continued to come in during the week. The latest podcast from former DfE adviser Tom Richmond being a popular example. It can be found here.

Elsewhere, in a new report, the NFER highlighted the uneven spread of SEND pupils across schools in England with some primary schools having on average six times as many as those with a lower rate.

“The evidence,” they said, “underscores the need to take decisive action to create a fairer, more sustainable SEND system.”

All part of a postcode funding lottery reckoned the NAHT.

It came in a week in which the County Councils Network reported that “the system is heading towards total collapse in little over four years.”

In other news, the Policy Exchange think tank argued in a new report, endorsed by two previous Education Secretaries, for an expansion of UTCS to help tackle issues around skills and youth employment.

“This evidence shows UTCs have established a track record of supporting and transforming the lives of young people through technical education.”

They called for the adoption of a Sleeve model.

A new image perhaps but making the case that “the presence of a Sleeve can help schools to offer alternative educational pathways to students, boosting engagement and serving as important leverage to expand employer involvement and interactions that benefit all students.”

Finally, Ofqual announced further developments around its ‘groundbreaking’ new GCSE in BSL. And Ofsted began its new inspection regime confirming that it would commission a full independent review into how it was working as recommended by the Gilbert Review.

The Review, which will be led by IFF Research, will gather survey evidence this year and next with a view to publishing a final evaluation report in 2027.

For the moment, the BBC’s Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys has a useful explainer on the new system and whether it “marks meaningful change or, as one expert argues, "high level tinkering"? It’s on the BBC site here.

In FE, DWP Secretary Pat McFadden launched a review of NEETs where numbers have risen steadily to over a million. 1.26m to be precise according to the estimated figures released by the ONS this week.

“If we get this right,” he argued, “the prize is huge: transforming lives and life chances, with the pent-up potential of the next generation firing our economy and building a better future for all.” 

The move follows Rachel Reeves Conference speech a couple of months ago which included a rather extravagant promise. “I commit this Labour government to nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment.”

The review will look in particular at how far mental conditions and disability are factors and it will be chaired by Blair’s former health secretary Alan Milburn.

‘Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long,’ wrote skills expert Tom Bewick. Many would agree. A lot of the issues are well known.

Elsewhere for FE, schools have RISE (Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence) teams and colleges now have RITs (Regional Improvement Teams.) And this week the government published further guidance on how such teams will operate when they start next year.

Broadly, they will be made up of officials including ‘sector and industry experts’ and will help providers focus on local priorities and colleges best deliver against them.

“This is about raising aspirations, improving outcomes and building the skilled workforce Britain needs for the future,” the Education Secretary claimed, although a lot of the joins have still to be made.

In other news, the AoC with UfI VocTech Trust reported on digital development in FE.

Slow and steady seems to be the general conclusion.

The report put forward a number of recommendations in core areas like leadership, teaching and learning, and infrastructure which will form part of a promised new roadmap for digital transformation.

And finally, three useful explainers that could prove helpful in the coming weeks.

They include some thoughts from the AoC’s Julian Gravatt on what colleges might want to look out for from the Budget. A summary from City and Guilds of skills funding streams and who pays for what following the recent Skills White Paper. And some reflections on the Skills White Paper generally from the AELP.

All helpful scene setting stuff ahead of some busy weeks.

In HE, the OfS published a new 5-year regulation strategy.

“We will be relentlessly focused on securing positive higher education experiences for all students,” it promised as it outlined three core goals around quality, the student experience and sector resilience.

A key focus, as the Times Higher noted, will be on “a financially resilient sector delivering high quality higher education and student choice in the context of constrained finances.”

Wonkhe has a useful summary of what has and hasn’t changed in this latest Strategy on its website.

In other news, media headlines suggest that the government is split over what form the international student levy should take. Should it be a flat fee or a percentage charge seems to be the argument?

Two reports this week focused on access and participation.

In one, the Sutton Trust looked into increased participation in higher ed across a number of OECD countries, finding much to praise but concluding that ultimately, “the optimistic assumptions that massification of higher education would drive significantly more social mobility have not been realised.”

It called for “a much stronger mix of routes across the whole of tertiary education, and more action to address barriers to opportunity in the labour market and employment.”

In a similar vein, the Education Policy Institute examined degree apprenticeships finding “a maturing system that is delivering strong outcomes for those who access it but remaining uneven in who benefits.”

Its recommendations included incentivising employers to recruit from disadvantaged groups, using targeted outreach and publishing average earnings for degree apprentices.

And it had to happen.

The Times Higher reported that more and more universities around the world are offering courses on Trump and Trumpism and what it all means.

Perhaps they’ll let us know.

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ‘SEND reform deadlock 'a threat to children' with talks 'going around in circles' (Monday)
• ‘School readiness target is ‘risky,’ expert tells MPs’ (Tuesday)
• ‘All schools in England to be given AI-generated pupil attendance targets’ (Wednesday)
• ‘Some primaries have ‘six times’ more pupils with SEND’ (Thursday)
• ‘Councils warn of ‘total collapse’ in special needs system’ (Friday)

General:

• Cyber security. The government presented the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill for its First Reading incorporating proposals aimed at firming up defences in core public services like healthcare, transport and energy against cyber-attacks, regulating the security of national infrastructure and business networks, and strengthening regulatory powers where necessary.
• Creative Futures. The government announced new funds to support the work of the Creative Futures programme which works with the (Idris) Elba Hope Foundation to provide training and opportunities for young people in a range of creative industries.
• Labour market picture. The ONS published the latest estimated quarterly figures for the UK labour market for July – Sept 2025, showing unemployment hitting 5% and earnings slowing but with little change to the economic inactivity rate and with vacancies stabilising.
• Labour market outlook. The CIPD published its survey report on the UK labour market suggesting that it was ‘cooling,’ with more public sector employers expecting staff numbers to decrease rather than increase in the coming months and calling for more attention to be paid to workforce planning, including the impact of AI.
• The view from here. The think tank Demos reported on its survey work into the thoughts and views of young people, suggesting these are much more nuanced than often thought, with many disappointed by politicians, worried about aspects like knife crime but remaining hopeful about the future.
• Two-child limit. Over a hundred leading organisations signed up to an open letter calling on the government to commit to scrapping the two-child limit, as media speculation continued ahead of the Budget that the government might be looking at amending rather than scrapping a policy considered as important in tackling family poverty.
• Building digital. The British Chambers of Commerce called for more to be done to strengthen the UK’s digital foundation especially around connectivity as it issued a report ahead of the Budget urging the Chancellor to commit to long term funding for both broadband and mobile connectivity programmes.

HE:

• Regulation Strategy. The OfS published a new ‘exemplary’ regulation strategy focused on the three areas of quality, student experience and support, and sector resilience, all designed to ensure students receive ‘the high-quality experience’ promised. 
• Degrees of social mobility. The Sutton Trust published a comprehensive report on the value and importance of increased participation in HE across a range of OECD countries, concluding that this had yet to improve earnings and social mobility in many cases, with family background continuing to play a decisive role.
• Degree apprenticeships. The Education Policy Institute published a commissioned report into degree apprenticeships, reporting on their growth, outcomes and employer perspectives, finding much to welcome but underlining the need to widen access and tackle low completion rates in some sectors.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “We've got to ditch the 'Andrew Tate assembly' and start having proper discussions in schools. Schools can’t just tell boys to avoid controversial content – instead, they need to give them the tools, time and space to discuss the world they inhabit” -@PeterHyman21.
• “This morning, I had a conversation with my Y6 class about mobile phones which lasted far longer than intended. Many admitted they were on them almost constantly when not in school and talked about feeling addicted. We all know this anyway but it was a frightening confirmation” -@jonnybid.
• “Only a week back at work and I’m already exhausted. Anyone else feeling the same?” -@miss_teachess.
• “The day has come! I’m in a bar and someone just said, ‘you were my Y6 teacher!’ -@redgierob.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “I sort of keep my head down.... I was listening to a bit of RAYE this morning as I was on my run" – the Chancellor explains how she keeps her cool as the pressure builds up ahead of the Budget.
• “Weak activity and waning confidence ahead of the Budget are clear warning signs that the government’s growth mission is faltering” – the CBI responds to the latest GDP growth figures.
• “We cannot afford to lose a generation of young people to a life on benefits, with no work prospects and not enough hope” – the government launches a review of NEETs.
• “The UK labour market is weakening on all fronts” – the Resolution Foundation sums up the latest UK labour market figures.
• “Throughout this project, we have come to realise just how out of sync mainstream media is, particularly in political and policy circles, with the daily realities of Gen Z” – the think tank Demos surveys what goes on in the minds of young people.
• “Government policy often leads to winners and losers. In this case, there are unlikely to be any winners at all” – University lecturer Philip Booth on the dangers of the government’s proposed levy on international student fees.
• ‘I am delighted to be returning to work with the OfS during this crucial period” – former OfS Director for Fair Access and Participation Chris Milward returns to hold the fort while a new Director is sought.
• “Every young person deserves a brilliant education, and these new teams will help to drive improvements and share best practice in colleges across the country” – the Education Secretary explains about the new Regional Improvement Teams for colleges.
• “We can only deliver opportunity for children in our country if they’re in school, achieving and thriving” – the Education Secretary issues schools with new minimum attendance improvement targets.
• “The statistic that stays with me is the 70% of children and young people who feel bad about themselves because of their dyslexia” – the School Standards Minister reflects on a debate by MPs on support for dyslexic pupils.
• “Whilst the total number of pupils with any type of SEND has increased across all types of schools over the last decade, the rise in the proportion of pupils with an EHCP has been particularly marked in mainstream primary schools” – the NFER reports on the spread of SEND pupils.

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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.