Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 10 April 2026

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

A pared down roundup this week as the Easter break draws to a close.

A heavy week of global news has seen some spillover into education with the government looking to protect some student loans from inflation hikes resulting from the Iran war and exam boards having to cancel exams for schools in parts of the Middle East in favour of portfolio assessments.

Domestic education news this week has been confined to some washup from the Easter Union Conferences, government concerns about youth knife crime – ‘more to do but a moment of opportunity’ according to the Youth Endowment Fund - and another student loans issue.

Here’s some summary details.

In schools, many welcomed the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, formally introduced from the start of the week. The NAHT said it was ‘fundamental to improving children’s life chances.’

Ofsted reported on progress made against recommendations set out in the Gilbert Review and, for those that missed it last week, Ofqual reported on last year’s GCSE and A level exam appeals. The number of appeals upheld were up slightly on last year but the overall number of appeals down by just over 18%.

Elsewhere, the NFER examined the case for Inclusion bases in schools able to provide specialist support for SEND pupils, concluding that “the most important thing to remember is this: real inclusion isn’t about a specific unit or base – it’s about a whole-school mindset.”

In FE, discussion has continued about last week’s announcement of £300+m for college buildings and how far that might/might not help, but most of the headlines have been centred on the impact of the Employment Rights Act and the uplift to the National Minimum Wage.

Both landed this week and are likely to have a bearing on the labour and skills market in various ways.

Views differ depending on context.

The TUC, for instance, ‘warmly welcomed’ trade union rights under the Employment Rights Act while the Recruitment and Employment Confederation warned that “changes to statutory sick pay introduced this week will cause chaos if not coupled swiftly with better guidance.”

HR body, CIPD, among others had a good roundup of all the employment changes that came in this week.

Elsewhere, the minutes from Skills England’s Board meeting at the start of the year, published this week, offer a useful context for its activities this year.

In HE, what were claimed to be ‘mis-sold’ maintenance loans emerged as a new crisis to hit student loans this week.

The issue concerns maintenance loans granted to those on weekend courses for which they were not eligible. Recipients have been asked to pay back, in some cases thousands.

As the NUS explained, many of the recipients are poor and would struggle to pay this back and as the Education Secretary added ‘this is not students’ fault.’

Discussions are under way to resolve.

On the wider loan front, the government announced it was putting a maximum cap on interest rates for Plan 2 and 3 student loans from this September.

The aim, as the skills minister explained was to help shield students against an inflation surge arising out of the Iran conflict. ‘Defend students against the consequences of far-away conflicts in an uncertain world,’ as she put it.

The NUS described it as ‘a huge win.’

But as the IfS pointed out the all-important March inflation rate, on which the loans are based, has yet to be confirmed and the issue remains more about the repayment threshold rather than the immediate interest rate.

As they and other experts in the field explained, “this cap will not make any immediate difference to graduates’ monthly repayments.”

And finally, two important reports for HE this week.

In the first, former DfE adviser Tom Richmond, pointed to some of the so-called ‘high-risk’ behaviours generated by some institutions, such as a dash for numbers or an undue reliance on international students, which have led to concerns about the future financial stability of the sector.

“My analysis suggests,” he wrote in a new report for HEPI, “that some providers have taken too many risks, ignored students’ interests and damaged the reputation of the sector by pursuing extra tuition fee income above all else.”

He offered ‘a toolkit of eight separate measures,’ such as limiting the annual growth in student numbers to 5%, that could prevent such behaviour in future.

And in the second and in a different space, the SMF called on universities to become more digi savvy.

“Digital transformation could save the university sector hundreds of millions of pounds, as well as presenting other benefits to the staff and student experience,” they suggested in a new report.

Perhaps best not to get the reaction from one academic this week who said “I talk more about AI than I talk about my wife.”

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ’Hyper-targeted scheme to help at-risk schools in England tackle knife crime’ (Monday)
• ‘UK government caps student loan interest rates at 6% from September’ (Tuesday)
• ‘A level and IGCSE exams cancelled across the Middle East’ (Wednesday)
• ‘Excessive financial risks threaten survival of many English universities, report warns’ (Thursday)
• ‘Study visa applications down a quarter on last year’ (Friday)

General:

• Tackling knife crime. The government included training and support for some 250 schools most at risk of knife crime as it confirmed plans to halve such crime over the next decade using dedicated ‘mapping technology’ to identify areas most at risk along with training and support.
• Employment Rights. HR body, the CIPD, highlighted the main features of the Employment Rights Act which came into force this week, running through some of the implications of the changes to statutory sick pay and parental leave among others.
• New Agency. The government outlined its initial expectations for the new Fair Work Agency, set up under the Employment Rights Act with a remit to bring together and enhance labour market compliance and enforcement as part of a phased introduction over the coming year.

HE:

• Student loans. The government moved to head off fears about the possible impact of the current global crisis on inflation by announcing it was capping the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and 3 student loans at 6% from this September.
• Building a more resilient sector. Education expert Tom Richmond highlighted in a new report for HEPI some of the ‘excessive risk taking’ that has bedevilled the HE sector in recent years generating concerns about future financial resilience, setting out a ‘toolkit of measures’ that could help limit such behaviour in future.
• Digital moves. The Social Market Foundation argued in a new report that universities could save money, increase efficiencies and bring increased benefits to both students and institutions if they moved more swiftly in adopting digital technologies.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “I’ve been teaching Gen Z for 7 years and I can tell you right now, the issue isn’t intelligence, it’s skills. Writing, note taking, studying, close reading. We’ve replaced those skills with Chrome Books and AI and then wonder why they struggle. We failed them, not the opposite” -@DrHistoryBrad.
• “Researchers in Australia assigned > 1,000 young teenagers to: either a typical middle-school health class or one that taught a version of a mental-health treatment called dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT. The ones with the therapy got worse” -@rastokke.
• “I'm in favour of diversity. I am not in favour of 'changing every 5 years' or removing texts because of the gender of the author. All pupils are entitled to the best that has been thought and said. Debating what that is, on the merits of the work, is desirable” -@StuartLock.
• “When I split an infinitive, God ***** it, I split it so it will stay split.’ - Raymond Chandler” -@tombennett71.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “I am delighted to take on this role and look forward to working with employers across the country support their imperative female workforce and retain them” – Marilla Frostrup takes up the role of Women’s Employment Ambassador.
• “We’d scrap interest above RPI entirely. Fair and simple” – Kemi Badenoch reckons the Conservatives would go further on student loan changes.
• “This isn’t just a policy change - it’s a life chance change for children” – the NAHT welcomes the end of the two child benefit cap.
• “Its addictive design make anxiety and sleep problems worse for young people” -Greece moves to ban smartphones for under 15s.

Everything else you need to know ...

What to look out for in the next couple of weeks: