Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 01 May 2026

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

A week which has seen the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill finally make it, “hardwiring the government’s education priorities into law.” The Education Secretary hailed it saying, “now we need to make sure it delivers where it matters.”

Also this week, the government launched consultation on improving performance measures for 16-19 yr olds while the Resolution Foundation examined why NEET numbers are higher here than elsewhere.

And the High Court ruled in favour of Sussex University in its freedom of speech case against OfS.

Here’s a run through of some of the details behind the headlines.

In schools, the wash up for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill saw debate continue around social media restrictions for young people.

The minister told MPs that the government was particularly concerned about "addictive features, harmful algorithmically-driven content and feature" and was looking at introducing “some form of age or functionality restriction.”

Either way, its promised to take action quickly once the national consultation closes on 26 May.

“Our statutory progress report must now be made three months after the Bill receives Royal Assent, reflecting our intention to quickly produce a response following the consultation,” the minister confirmed.

In other news this week, the NAHT has been busy issuing two headline catching surveys ahead of its annual conference at the end of the week.

One was about school buildings where it used a member’s survey to highlight the parlous state of some of them.

“More than three-quarters (76%) said their schools had basic building infrastructure like windows, roofs and doors which was unfit for purpose, while 3% said some of these facilities were out of use.”

The other concerned Ofsted new inspections and whether they ‘penalised’ schools with large numbers of deprived or SEND pupils.

“Under Ofsted’s system, schools may do an incredible job in helping pupils who face all manner of challenges in their lives to progress from a poor starting point but still be marked down if overall test scores are below national averages. It’s hard to imagine anything more demoralising for leaders and teachers.”

Elsewhere, the Education Policy Institute looked at the ‘lottery’ of penalty notice (PN) fines issued for children absent from school.

Some regions issued three times more than others leading to what was described as “a geographical overlap between disadvantaged areas and high rates of PNs, large numbers of PNs paid late, and high proportions of prosecution due to non-payment.”

Education Datalab looked at the progress being made in all schools becoming trusts, concluding that “based on the latest trends, it looks like we could be decades away.”

Many unions remain concerned about the policy as they explained in an open letter to government this week.

“At a time when schools are already facing severe funding pressures, it is difficult to justify diverting scarce public resources towards further structural reorganisation rather than supporting pupils and staff directly.”

Exam board AQA called for digital literacy to be embedded in the school curriculum arguing that young people may be very online but ‘that doesn’t mean they are digitally skilled.’

The call came interestingly as the CBI called for a UK AI Literacy Standard “giving employers, educators and young people a common baseline for using AI safely and well.”

The British Council reckoned many primary school pupils were keen to learn a language as it published the results of a commissioned survey.

And the Education Endowment Foundation reported on setting in maths classes for Yr 7 and 8 pupils concluding that “overall, pupils in schools with mixed-attainment maths classes made one month’s less progress in maths (compared to students in schools where maths classes were set by attainment.)”

They called for more flexibility in setting and more ‘stretch opportunities’ for high attaining pupils.

In FE, young people and NEETs have been a big topic again this week with the Resolution Foundation, NIESR  and The Guardian all reporting on it this week and the government announcing further details about the Delivery Partners helping to roll out the Jobs Guarantee programme for young people.

The Resolution Foundation in their report pointed to the high levels of NEETs in the UK particularly when compared to other countries.

Their view was that it was driven by “a quarter of causes -  rising ill-health, weak vocational education, a hands-off benefits system, and a weak labour market” and that action was needed on all fronts “ to get young people’s futures back on track.”

They recommended that this should start with “further investment in youth mental health, ring-fencing at least two-thirds of the apprenticeship levy for young people, and a new system of personalised engagement and support for every under-25 on Universal Credit.”

The Milburn Review is due to come up with its initial thoughts on the matter shortly but others have also been pitching in this week.

The Guardian for instance reported this week that a number of leading organisations including the AoC and SFCA were pushing the case for a 16+ student premium.

“Disadvantaged students don’t stop needing support the moment they finish their GCSEs, yet that’s exactly when funding falls away,” as ASCL put it.

Elsewhere, the NIESR reported on how one area, “with high youth unemployment, deprivation, low job density and weak transport links,” was taking what it called ‘a hyper-active approach’ to tackling youth employment.

The area, Downham in South East London, worked closely with local providers, agencies and offers an interesting case study for others.

In other news, the government continued its wave of consultations following the recent Skills White Paper and Curriculum and Assessment Review, with proposals this week for ‘updating and improving’ 16-19 performance measures.

The consultation focuses on ways of refining progress measures for English and maths, such as changing the penalty for not entering students for approved qualifications until they’ve been with the provider for at least two consecutive years.

Other proposals cover improving measures for student retention and how best to ensure consistency in headline performance measures across A levels, T levels and V levels.

Consultation closes on 21 July 2026.

In HE, apart perhaps from Reform’s proposals for HE, banning foreign students from accessing student loans and so on, the big news of the week has been the victory by Sussex University in its ‘freedom of speech’ case against the OfS.

As the Times Higher explained, the High Court judgement raised a number of questions for the regulator which had imposed a record fine on the university for alleged breaches of conditions of registration relating to academic freedom, but which according to the Court had ‘misdirected itself.’

The OfS, which is under new leadership, said it was ‘disappointed by the ruling’ and was looking at the implications. The Guardian saw the ruling ‘as a symptom of wider failings.’

The government has recently announced new arrangements around freedom of speech starting with the introduction of a complaints procedure this autumn.

But wider issues around monitoring, regulation and communication remain.

Talking of complaints, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) published its latest annual report this week revealing that it dealt with over 4,000 complaints last year, “the first time the number has exceeded 4,000 in a single year.”

Over 90% were closed within six months and 3,950 of the total 4,234 complaints were resolved but the report points to the wider context becoming more complex and a system under strain.

“Financial pressure across the higher education sector, changing expectations of regulation and consumer protection, and the evolving policy landscape in England and Wales all reinforce the need for a complaints scheme that is both trusted and fit for the future.”

Business and Management courses saw the highest number of student complaints while international students were ‘overrepresented in complaints’ largely due to visa issues, tuition fees and refunds.

The organisation intends to look at its casework processes and review the Scheme over the coming year.

As Jim Dickinson put it in in a comment piece in Wonkhe, ‘the scheme is being asked to carry a load it was never built for.’

Finally in HE, the Chair of the Education Committee asked the NUS for their thoughts on some of the problems arising out of weekend maintenance loans issue.

“As you will be aware, students have reported significant hardship and disruption arising from the withdrawal of current and future student support payments.”

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ’Supply agency fee capped at £55 per day under DfE mandate’ (Monday)
• ‘Calls for ‘student premium’ to support disadvantaged young people after GCSEs’ (Tuesday)
• ‘University wins record freedom of speech fine challenge’ (Wednesday)
• ‘Ofsted framework ‘penalises’ inclusive schools, heads warn’ (Thursday)
• ‘The complex story behind rising suspensions in primary schools’ (Friday)

General:

• Call for evidence. Sir David Bell, who is leading the independent review into antisemitism in schools and colleges in England, launched a call for evidence that will remain open until the end of June this year, with findings due to be published in the autumn.
• Employment Rights. Leading employer organisations and business groups expressed concern about the lack of dialogue with government over the implementation of some aspects of the recent Employment Rights Act, calling for ‘tripartite conversations’ with government and unions to ensure future jobs, growth and skills development.
• Economic security. The British Chambers of Commerce called for national security to become ‘a defining priority’ for the economy and for the UK to adopt ‘a trade bazooka’ to counter hostile trade actions, as it highlighted trade pressures on companies in a new report.
• Cost of living support for families. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) outlined some of the challenges facing families, particularly those already in poverty, arising out of the current cost of living crisis, calling for government to consider removing the benefit cap and increasing child benefit for those most in need.

HE:

• Sussex case. The Times Higher reported on the ruling by the High Court this week which saw Sussex University win its appeal in a free speech case brought against it by the OfS, with the Court arguing that the regulator had ’misdirected itself’ and acted beyond its powers in imposing a hefty fine
• Weekend maintenance loans. The Chair of the Education Committee wrote to the NUS calling for their views on the likely implications of the recent withdrawal of funds for students studying on weekend only courses.
• Annual Report. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) reported on its work over the last year where dealing with academic appeals and delays has been its biggest area of its work, but also where an increase in service issues as well as bullying and AI issues have helped put the system ‘under strain.’ 
• Diploma review. The OfS announced a review into the Diploma in Education and Training programme following two concerning regulatory reports, with a report to follow looking into the last three years of a course used previously as a teaching qualification for FE.
• Oxbridge admissions. HEPI called in a new report for ‘a phased programme of reform’ for Oxbridge admissions, pointing to a system that is inconsistent, complex and poorly coordinated, proposing initially a more standardised system and ultimately one that is fully centralised.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “Data shows that banning cell phones in schools has led to increased use of the library. Who would have guessed that when students don’t have constant access to their tiny screens they would choose to read books? Roald Dahl had a hunch and even wrote a poem about it” -@0Beanie05923291.
• “Schools tend to be places where rules multiply, creating environments of inconsistent, and ultimately, arbitrary incoherence. But almost the entire rules apparatus could be replaced to positive result with just these two: 1. Work hard 2. Don’t make excuses” -@JamesAFurey.
• “The irony of the DfE workload survey over the phone taking about 40 mins when I didn't have 40 mins spare. The survey company has called nearly 20 times in 2 weeks. Each time, I was busy when they called. They then lied and said it would take 10 mins” -@MrHtheteacher.
• “Linked in is a funny place. I feel like I’m permanently at an awards ceremony” -@llewelyn20.
• “I’m all for tighter IT security but my nearly 80 yo dad is currently locked out of his outlook email and trying to get back in and to prove he’s ’not a robot’ he is having to identify 10 - yes 10 - genuine cat miaows from human miaows. Utterly bizarre” –@JournalistJill.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “This landmark legislation fixes the foundations in our schools, puts money back into parents’ pockets, and provides critical new protections for our most vulnerable children” – the Education Secretary welcomes the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act.
• “A good day for everyone who cares about the proper and effective governance and regulation of universities,” – the vice-chancellor of Sussex University on winning its appeal in the High Court against the regulator.
• “Evidence from a wide range of voices will be essential in helping me form balanced, rigorous, and practical recommendations” – Sir David Bell, who is leading the independent review into antisemitism in schools and colleges in England, launches a call for evidence.
• “The English system starts going seriously wrong at age 16 with 30 per cent of young people failing to get good English and Maths GCSEs after which many are trapped in a cycle of resits and failure” – President of the Resolution Foundation, David Willetts, welcomes the Foundation’s report into NEETs.
• “We have rooms that are closed to children, walls covered in mould, a leaking roof, sinking floorboards, unfit windows and a condemned playground” – NAHT school leaders report problems with their school buildings.

Everything else you need to know ...

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