Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 29 May 2026

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

This week’s headlines.

In schools, the government consultation on children’s online safety concluded this week with fierce debate continuing over the merits or otherwise of a ban. A Lords Committee announced a short inquiry into the impact of falling rolls in primary schools.

In FE, the Milburn Review highlighted an alarming set of system failures for young people considered NEET while the latest NEET figures topped 1m, leaving as the Resolution Foundation pointed out, only one EU country (Romania) with a higher NEET rate than the UK.

And in HE a new survey found two in five UK universities ‘considering mergers or multi-trust style academy mergers’ to help cope with financial pressures. While a new report argues that “a combination of demographic decline and predatory recruitment practices puts the entire English higher education sector at risk.”

Here's some details to go with these stories.

In schools, as indicated, consultation closed this week on the government’s big consultation on online safety for children.

Both ASCL and the NAHT published their submissions to the consultation this week.

ASCL supported schools being phone free during the school day, adding circumspectly that in the absence of government regulation of the tech companies, “the banning of social media by age may well be necessary.”

The NAHT in similar vein said “focusing on a social media ban at the expense of broader action to ensure companies get their houses in order, would risk letting them off the hook.” 

Both were concerned about ‘a dangerous cliff edge’ being created at age 16 if there were to be a ban and about the importance of young people being able to develop digital skills in safe environments.

The government has committed to acting quickly in the wake of the consultation but as yet it’s not quite clear how.

In other news, with the government preparing to add financial education to school curricula from 2028, a new report from former PM Rishi Sunak’s Project on improving financial literacy, set out a ‘best-practice’ programme for schools.

It covers seven core domains and builds on what it calls “‘The Big 3’ fundamentals that are proven to predict strong financial decisions.” These are listed as compound interest, inflation and risk diversification.

The Project is working with the DfE on developing the new curriculum.

Elsewhere, Cambridge OCR turned once again to former Education Secretary Charles Clarke to chair an important review of vocational qualifications.

Mr Clarke chaired an earlier review for the exam board on post-16 qualifications and the board want him this time to look into vocational qualifications for 14-16 yr olds.

According to Cambridge OCR MD, Myles McGinley, such qualifications have “huge, untapped potential.”

Enabling young people to take some vocational qualifications earlier remains an important issue and comes as questions remain about the time-consuming demands of GCSEs and a planned government review of Tech Awards next year.

The Clarke review is expected to report later this year.

In FE, the big news of the week has of course been the launch of the interim report from the Milburn Review into NEETs and youth employment generally.

It came on the day that the latest ONS figures for the start of this year showed NEETs numbers topping 1m for the first time in over a decade.

The lengthy report comes with its own set of depressing data pointing to a lost generation of young people ‘stuck in their bedrooms, doomscrolling at night’ unless something is done to help.

At the moment the report is not getting into solutions, this is the ‘Discovery Phase,’ the ‘Solutions Phase’ will follow in early autumn, possibly September given the urgency of the situation.

But it won’t be easy. As Alan Milburn explained, “ we’ve got to change schools, we’ve got to change skills, we’ve got to change the health system, we’ve got to change the benefits system.”

This is ‘a deeply entrenched problem that is getting worse and a system that has been trying but failing to deal with it.’  ‘A wake-up call,’ as the British Chambers of Commerce put it.

A number of responses have started to put forward solutions.

The New Economics Foundation listed a five-point plan around creating jobs, strengthening pathways to work, boosting the youth guarantee, building support networks, and investing in early years.

The AoC called for opening up more opportunities through the college network, the Work Foundation argued for ‘the tackling of deep-rooted inequalities’ and barriers, the Sutton Trust talked of targeting opportunities such as internships, work experience and apprenticeships at young people and the TUC urged the government to ‘turbocharge’ support for young people.

The report certainly adds up to a powerful call for change. “Fundamental and far-reaching reform is needed. The country has reached a point where inaction or iterative tinkering is itself a decision, and a costly one.”

It’s a big moment for the government and one that could improve the life chances of so many young people.

On to HE where financial concerns and the future of HE generally continue to dominate.

On financial concerns, Universities UK published a new survey showing how universities were grappling with “the severe financial pressures they are facing.”

Their survey of 140+ universities found staffing taking a big hit in many cases with ‘79% having pursued voluntary redundancies over the past three years.’  Cuts to research, student support and campus provision were all also cited.

Many are looking at mergers and other forms of collaboration to save costs.

They called for a ‘government-backed Transformation Fund’ to help fund the costs of setting up collaborative ventures.

Still on the money, the Treasury Committee reported a high rate of response, mainly from those with Plan 2 student loans, for evidence for its inquiry into student loans and the taxation of graduates. 

Most said they wouldn’t have been able to attend HE without a loan but 40,000+ of the 49,000+ respondents reckoned that the financial impact of paying back the loans was ‘worse than I expected’ and 34.5k said the repayments ‘could have a material impact on their financial futures.’

The Committee will now sit down with the evidence and consider future options.

And the government launched consultation on the fee system applied by the OfS, following a review in 2024.

Proposals include options for a flat fee with ‘a variable component’ based on student numbers which could see some institutions with high student numbers paying more. In addition, other charges such as changing the name of an institution or for additional costs in gaining degree awarding powers, could be brought in.

As for the future of HE generally, an important report this week from the President of HEPI, Bahram Bekhradnia, painted a worrying picture of a sector at risk from the ‘twin threats of demographic decline and predatory recruitment.’

“The numbers are not negotiable,” he argued. “The forthcoming decline in the young population will almost certainly mean a decline in student numbers and therefore in income, and on certain scenarios the decline in income of the non-high-tariff universities could be in the order of 29%. That is not sustainable and would lead to the failure of multiple universities.”

Letting the market determine or setting number controls seem to be the options for the future. Either way, institutions will need to undertake careful long-term planning.

Franchised provision may remain in the mix for many and this week the QAA highlighted in a new report some of the latest evidence around the practice.

Not all of it should be dismissed they argue pointing to many small, specialist providers offering high-quality franchised provision.

The recent growth of large-scale partnerships, in some cases, “disproportionately failing to meet the baseline thresholds set out by the Office for Students (OfS)” is where the concerns have risen and should result in stronger risk identification and intervention.

They called for a more ‘nuanced’ debate about it all.

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ’Universities warn of cuts to impoverished students if dire funding issues continue’ (Monday)
• ‘Social media as dangerous as smoking for children, doctors warn’ (Tuesday)
• ‘Some A level papers voided for students after exams leaked online’ (Wednesday)
• ‘UK risks £125bn hit a year from youth unemployment, landmark report says’ (Thursday)
• ‘Self-censoring students fear social ostracism and lower marks’ (Friday)

General:

• NEET figures. The ONS published the latest unconfirmed NEET figures showing an increase in the number of 16-24 yr olds NEETs for the first quarter of this year to just over 1m for the first time in 13 years.
• Childcare costs. The Education Secretary called on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to look into how the childcare market was operating and in particular the creep of additional costs for things like nappies and suncream as well as the role of different providers and cost transparency generally, and to report back next spring.
• Employment Rights. The Institute of Directors (IoD) called on the government ‘to rethink its approach to the Employment Rights Act,’ arguing it will restrict recruitment and hamper economic growth, proposing instead exemptions for smaller employers and a lengthier implementation schedule generally.

HE:

• Mergers. Universities UK highlighted the impact of current financial pressures on members as it published the results of a recent survey, showing many considering some form of merger/collaboration along with cutting back on staffing, student support and research to help manage such pressures.
• Twin threats. The President of HEPI pointed in a new briefing to a sector at risk from two main threats, a decline in the ‘recruitment pool’ of young people notably from 2030, and the emerging impact of ‘predatory recruitment practices’ that could leave non-higher-tariff universities particularly vulnerable.
• Student loans. The Treasury Committee summarised the responses to its recent call for evidence for its inquiry into student loans and graduate taxation, showing most of the responses coming from those with a Plan 2 loan and most not happy with the rates of interest and repayment terms involved.
• Franchising. The QAA examined its latest data and research on franchising suggesting that rapid growth, particularly by a handful of large-scale providers, rather than franchising itself had created issues of poorer outcomes, arguing that many small providers deliver positive outcomes and that risk identification and intervention should focus on the handful of large-scale providers.
• Registration fees. The government launched consultation on the structure of the fee system used by the OfS, including the annual registration fee, calling for views on options such as a flat fee but ‘variable’ on the size of the provider, and charges for other services such as for initial application or for name changes.
• AI survey. The OfS and Advance HE announced a new joint survey to understand better the potential and impact of AI on staff and students as well as share good practice and see what else is needed in terms of support with a report due later this year.
• Freedom of speech. The OfS reported on its You Gov research into how students viewed freedom of speech, finding most aware that they had some rights in this area although not all were sure what they were, and some were concerned about the consequences of raising contentious topics.
• New name. The OfS confirmed that it had approved the use of the word ‘university’ for the University of Greenwich to use in its merger with the University of Kent. It will become ‘London and South East University Group’ once the merger is complete from this August.
• Graduate recruitment. The IfS published a new working paper looking at the extent which graduates from top universities were shunning jobs in the public sector in favour of more attractive opportunities in finance, tech and consulting, using evidence from over the past decade to suggest public sector destinations remain ‘important’ for most.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “20 years ago I worked on my first research study with “NEET” in its title & objectives. There were resources, professionals & organisations doing all sorts to support, & this showed in achieving outcomes. Now there is hardly anything & the figures of NEET speak for themselves” -@MaryECostello.
• “Arguing that social media bans for u16s ‘won’t work’ because children will still use them is a weird argument. Children sometimes still smoke or drive. Doesn’t mean the laws ‘don’t work’ -@miss_mcinerney.
• “Yesterday, we put out a job advert for a teacher and explicitly wrote on it that there are no internal candidates. More schools should do this imo - I can’t stand when I hear about teachers wasting hours and hours applying when the decision was made before the advert was posted” -@MrBoothY6.
• “It’s not until you go on holiday and give everything to your family that you realise how much teaching takes out of you. It’s so lovely to give them time without being absolutely shattered. I know it’s the same for all jobs and I’m not comparing but it’s just nice” -@DeputyGrocott. 
• “Friend. " You'll annoy less people if you keep your mouth closed." Me, "Fewer" -@robertwlk.
• “My final practical exam in insect control is tomorrow. I've been swatting all week” -@MissAlly_01.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “Britain is no longer facing a marginal youth employment problem. It is confronting a systemic failure at the point where a generation is supposed to transition into adulthood” – Alan Milburn issues his report into NEETs and youth employment.
• “It’s extremely addictive, bad for our health and big tech is borrowing the big tobacco playbook to avoid regulation” – Wes Streeting on the dangers of social media.
• “The problem is the addictive nature of much of the content online” – the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges responds to the government’s consultation on online harms.
• “The report also found several striking gaps between groups, including women consistently underperforming men on financial literacy across every age group. We’ve got to fix that” – former PM Rishi Sunak on his Project’s new report on financial literacy.
• “Let me say very clearly to those who filled out our survey: the message has landed with the Committee” - the Chair of the Treasury Committee acknowledges responses to its call for evidence on student loans.
• “That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment," – the boss of Next on the collapse of entry-level job opportunities for young people.
• “We want to make sure that families across the country feel the benefit of our investment, and that providers are strong and sustainable, enabled to deliver the highest quality care” – the government calls for a CMA review of the childcare market.
• “Ten-year-olds should be riding bikes, playing in the garden, complaining about boredom in August, not doing non-verbal reasoning papers” – education columnist Stefano Hatfield welcomes the news that some grammar schools are switching the date for their 11+ exam from September to July.

Everything else you need to know ...

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