Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 28 November 2025

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

‘Deeply disappointing,’ ‘a very bare bones Budget for education,’ ‘always going to be a tough budget,’ ‘we now face the prospect of either reducing cross-subsidies that support teaching and research or raising international fees still further.’

Just some of the reactions from across education to this week’s ‘big’ Budget.

A gentle run through the main Budget announcements for each part of the education system can be found below.

In other education news this week, the Education Committee launched an Inquiry  into reading, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) said the government’s recent Skills White Paper lacked ‘a coherent overall strategy.’ And a new Report reckoned that the graduate employment market was ‘settling’ but was still tough for many.

Again, details below.

But back to the big talking point of this week and of plenty of others, namely the Chancellor’s Budget.

In a punchy 70-minute speech, Rachel Reeves ran through what was a fairly well-publicised menu of proposals, all aimed at creating “a fairer, stronger and more secure Britain.”

Despite the difficulties of the leaked pre-release, she talked up some of the all-important economic projections from the OBR.

Growth up from 1% to 1.5% for 2025, inflation due to fall to 2% over the next two years, employment to rise from 34.2m to 35.4m by 2030 but productivity down to 1% and still ‘a challenge.’

‘Looks as though things weren’t as bad as expected,’ tweeted the IfS.

The Opposition was dutifully critical of the Budget, with Kemi Badenoch labelling it all “an exercise in self-delusion” and pointing to the various tax rises.

Commentators had mixed views about it all.

Most reckoned it had at least bought breathing space.

The authoritative IfS concluded that “before this Budget, the UK was faced with lacklustre economic growth, stagnating living standards, and a dizzying array of fiscal pressures. The same is still true after this Budget.” The Resolution Foundation said “it was more upbeat than many were expecting but was not pain free.” The Independent saw it as “not as exciting as her supporters had hoped, but not as shaky as her detractors had predicted either.” The CBI reckoned “the government’s growth mission is currently stalled,” while the Centre for Policy Studies, said it was ‘bad in every way.’

Take your pick.

The Budget details were set out in an 150-page accompanying report, published along with a host of other documents, but what was in it all for education?

Let’s take each sector in turn.

For schools, there was £5m for school libraries and £18m over two years for playgrounds, “a drop in the fiscal ocean,” according to ASCL.

Also the DfE is to lead a review of childcare provision ‘to simplify the system and make it easier for access.’

But the standout for many schools came in the accompanying OBR Report which costed the impact to schools of the SEND budget once the statutory override ends in 2027/8.

In a word, this shifts the burden from local authorities to the overall schools budget and as indicated by the OBR “would imply a 1.7 per cent real fall in mainstream school spending per pupil rather than the 2.4 per cent increase planned by Government.” The 1.7% has since been upgraded to 4.9%.

‘Catastrophic,’ according to one union.

The Budget Report said the government will set out further details in due course but it’s left grim faces all round.

On to FE which saw the Chancellor pledge £13bn Spending Review funding to help Mayors “with their local growth plans” along with a ‘Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund.’ Local skills planning will be a key feature here.

The Budget Report also endorsed the importance of the Industrial Strategy and promised to review youth provision.

But the standout for FE was the confirmed £1.5bn over the next three years for features such as the Youth Guarantee and Growth and Skills Levy, “including a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people under 25.”

More details along with reforms to the apprenticeship system were promised shortly.

Adult education funding and the results of the Milburn Review into NEETs, remain the two big outstanding issues for this sector.

And last but by no means least, HE where the Chancellor announced the freezing of the Plan 2 repayment threshold for student loans for three years from April 2027.

The Budget Report also highlighted the importance of R/D, pledging to increase annual investment to £22.6bn by 2029/30.

But the standout for HE was confirmation of the proposed international student levy “of £925 per student per year of study, starting in August 2028 academic year 2028-29.” Arrangements are set out in an accompanying consultation which has not been over well received although there’s some relief that a flat rate model is being used.  

The Budget Report claimed the rate will be kept under review and income raised will be fully invested in the HE system “including to fund maintenance grants for disadvantaged students studying priority courses.”

Such grants, worth up to £1000 a year for eligible students, will be available from 2028/29. But how much of the money raised will actually go back to universities and how much to other things such as the skills agenda, remains, as HEPI’s Nick Hillman explained, to be seen.

The Russell Group reckoned “it will have a significant impact on universities’ ability to invest in teaching, research and communities.”

And to round off the Budget, the nearest we came to a rabbit out of the hat was the confirmation of the lifting of the two-child cap from April 2026.

“Fully funded and fully costed” according to the Chancellor. And welcomed by the Chairs of the Education and Work and Pensions Committees respectively.

“I am delighted,” said the children’s commissioner for England. “One of the most cost-effective levers the government has for a quick reduction in child poverty,” according to the IfS.

Time to move on to other education stories from this week.

In schools, ahead of next year’s Year of Reading, the Education Committee launched an Inquiry into children’s reading for pleasure.

Concerns about a decline in the numbers taking up reading particularly among primary school children, have been building for sometime and were highlighted recently in a survey from the National Literacy Trust.

As the Committee Chair explained, “the Education Committee wants to understand the forces at play and what the consequences could be for children’s lives.”

Its called for evidence by 9 January 2026.

Elsewhere, the NAHT lost its case in the High Court for a judicial review into Ofsted’s new inspection regime although the inspectorate is pausing its NPQ inspections while the government reviews the early career teacher entitlement.

The Careers and Enterprise Company reported on work experience and their trial of shorter, multiple placements, suggesting from survey evidence that this what many employers would prefer. 

And the latest survey of the working lives of teachers found them slightly happier than last year.

“The average life satisfaction score for teachers and leaders increased in comparison with all previous waves, as did the average happiness score.”

Details in the survey for anyone unconvinced.

In FE, the government clarified the transfer of functions following the scrapping of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and subsequent legislation.

As previously delineated, occupational standards, skills mapping, aligning to local needs are among the functions now with Skills England, a lot of the T level work is with the Dept.

And as the briefing pointed out, “no adverse impact has been identified on the exercise of the relevant functions following their transfer from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.”

In other news, the IfS cast its analytical eye over the government’s recent Skills White Paper concluding that while it was good that it looked at the post-16 system as a whole, “the reforms do not yet amount to a coherent plan.”

“It offers little sense of which elements are most central, how they will interact or how the government intends to manage the trade-offs between them.”

City and Guilds also has a helpful summary on its site of the White Paper and in particular the post-16 qualification system.

And still on skills, the NFER published the final report in the extensive Nuffield funded research project looking at future skills.

Two headlines stand out from this report.

First, that up to 3m routine jobs may well be at risk over the next ten years due to AI and automation; a problem not fully recognised yet by the workforce and training budgets.

And second, the report lists six ‘Essential Employment Skills’ (EES) likely to be needed for future employability. These include: information literacy, problem solving/decision making, communication, collaboration, organising/planning/prioritising, and creative thinking.

Not necessarily all new but an important complement to workplace technology, the report argues.

In HE, Universities UK published a last-minute reminder to the Chancellor of just how much the funding unit for teaching has fallen over the last ten years as inflation has taken its toll.

“Taken together, the total difference in where teaching funding would have been if it had kept its real terms value since 2015/16, compared to where it actually is today, is £31.4bn.”

And it won’t help, they went on to say, if the government brings in its international student levy. Which of course it did in the Budget.

“That is the opposite of helpful, taking us further away from the goal of financial stability.”

Next the graduate employment market which has been difficult for some time but which appears to be settling for some people, according to the latest annual survey from Prospects and partners.

Based on survey data 15 months on from graduation, 56.4% of graduate respondents were in f/t work, with health, retail/hospitality and HR and finance topping the list of occupations but showing a drop in IT roles.

12% were working p/t, 10.9% working and studying, and 6.2% unemployed.

As the Report concluded, “most graduates continued to secure jobs fairly quickly, but the process was tougher and more competitive.” London remains a key destination.

And what about the impact of AI? 

‘Little evidence’ of it replacing jobs at this stage, according to the Report, though “many, if not all, candidates are now effectively using AI in their applications.”

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ‘University students in England get two-thirds of funding of a decade ago, analysis finds’ (Monday)
• ‘Heads’ union loses appeal against Ofsted ruling’ (Tuesday)
• ‘New grants worth £1,000 as fees set to pass £10k in two years’ (Wednesday)
• ‘At least one in six students given extra time in exams last year’ (Thursday)
• ‘Schools and councils warn rising costs of special needs support is unaffordable’ (Friday)

General:

• Budget 2025 speech. The Chancellor sets out her Budget details, running through a series of spending and tax raising measures while sticking to her fiscal rules in her formal speech to MPs.
• Budget 2025 Report. The Treasury published the full Budget Report to accompany the Chancellor’s Statement to MPs, providing details on the public finances and government economic plans along with specific measures on the government’s three priorities of cutting the cost of living, cutting the debt and borrowing and cutting NHS waiting lists. 
• IfS response to the Budget. The IfS offered its traditional respected day-after assessment of the Budget, suggesting that while there were some ‘bright spots’ such as the increase in headroom, the whole thing left them rather ‘underwhelmed’ and did little to tackle growth.
• Corporate Plan. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published its latest Corporate Plan highlighting its importance to government’s economic plans and listing five core objectives for the future, including supporting government priorities, promoting curiosity-driven research and ‘sustaining an R/D ecosystem.’
• Early years challenges. The Local Government Association (LGA) reported on its research into the early years system conducted earlier this year, pointing to both a rise in need and in the complexity of need now evident in early years, calling for targeted investment, better collaborative support and clarity around expectations.
• Call for evidence. The Centre for Young Lives announced a new research project looking into the effects on boys and young men of ‘looksmaxxing,’ the internet subculture focused on physical attractiveness, calling for evidence by 9 Jan 2026.

HE:

• Budget 2025. The Chancellor announced a 3-yr freeze of the threshold for Plan 2 student loans but equally confirmed it was going ahead with introducing an international student levy on HE providers from 2028/29, among the details for HE in her Budget.
• International student levy. The government released a technical consultation on the implementation of an international student levy covering how the levy will be calculated, which providers and students would likely be included and how the levy would be paid.
• Maintenance grants. The government set out the initial arrangements for maintenance grants which will be made available for eligible students from 2028/29, up to a value of £1000 pa, with details on which subjects qualify promised for nearer the time.
• Funding and underfunding. Universities UK highlighted the extent of the drop in real terms funding that HE providers have faced over the last ten years and the corrosive effect this has had on the sector as it sought to remind the Chancellor ahead of the Budget of the challenges the sector faces.
• Graduate destinations. Prospects Luminate published its latest annual report on graduate employment destinations 15 months on from graduation, finding just over 50% in f/t work, mainly professional, 6%+ self-employed and 6%+ unemployed.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “Spent most of Saturday in school prepping for OFSTED. But I understand Sir Martyn is telling us we should be feeling ‘energised’ so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining by the level of prep that this new handbook demands” -@Southgloshead.
• “Ofsted done. Inspectors couldn't been nicer. The framework sadly I don't believe is fit for purpose. Too many criteria over two days is just too much. Behaviour and attendance should be split. Better conversations with inspectors certainly. Secure fit doesn't work” -@Steveellis06.
• “Taught a lesson using PowerPoint. Hated it. Kids asked at the end "please can we never have a PowerPoint lesson again?" –@MBDscience.
• “My questions about school breakfast clubs… What’s on the menu? Will it be a bowl of porridge and banana? Bagels with scrambled eggs? Beans on toast? Will it be yoghurt with fruit and homemade granola? Will it be poached eggs on wholegrain toast? Or will it be (as I suspect) a bowl of ultra-processed cereal and toast?” -@rowinggeek.
• “My 3 year old started walking around the house sighing and saying "I'm so tired," and I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm being a mommy” -@AshleyGWinter.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “Today’s Budget builds on the choices that we have made since last July. To cut NHS waiting lists. To cut the cost of living. And to cut debt and borrowing. No doubt, we will face opposition again” – the Chancellor sets out her latest Budget.
• “Overall, under the current policy path, the UK appears to be tending towards a high-tax, middle-of-the-road growth, economy” – the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) with its view on the Budget.
• “One hurdle that remains to be cleared is boosting growth – which has been downgraded by the OBR, along with the outlook for living standards. Until that challenge is taken on, we can expect plenty more bracing Budgets” – the Resolution Foundation offers its verdict on the Budget.
• “I didn’t know anyone who was at their best on their first day” – the Leader of the Opposition defends the steep learning curve needed for her new role.
• “It took 16 years for the internet to grow to its first 1 billion users; it has taken three years for AI to achieve the same number of users” – the Chair of the CBI on the speed of modern change in a valedictory address to the organisation’s Annual Conference this week.
• “In historical terms we seem to have a graduate labour market that looks more like the latter half of the last decade” – Prospects and partners report on the graduate employment market 2025/26.
• “Whether it delivers meaningful change will depend less on the number of initiatives and much more on decisions made about design, sequencing and resourcing” – the IfS examines the impact of the Skills White Paper.
• “In 2021, our projections suggested more than a million jobs could be lost from declining occupations by 2035 (Scott et al., 2024), but changes since then suggest this figure could be as large as three million if current trends continue” – the NFER report on future skills projections.
• “This report highlights the significant challenges faced by councils and providers in supporting early years children with additional needs” – the LGA remind the government of the rising needs in early years facing many councils.
• “The Education Committee wants to understand the forces at play and what the consequences could be for children’s lives” – the Education Committee launches an Inquiry in children’s reading for pleasure.

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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.