Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 05 June 2026

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

The top headlines this week.

Ofqual’s Chief Regulator highlighted the growing challenge of smart devices that can be used to cheat in exams. “We shouldn’t underestimate the challenge here.” The government’s national agency for skills published its first annual report setting out its top five challenges for the future. And the number of people who reckon a university degree is worth it has dropped, according to the latest British Social  Attitudes Survey.

Here’s some of the stories behind the headlines this week.

In schools, with the exams season in full swing, the Chief Regulator’s new podcast on some of the challenges posed by AI and smart device as tools to enable cheating,  is an important listen.

The sense is of a regulator having to keep on its toes all the time and seeing a potential ban on mobile phones in schools as a welcome move.

That said the ‘mobile phones in schools’ debate has continued in schools this week.

“See it. Hear it. Lose it,” one Scottish school explained its policy on the matter as the Scottish government announced plans this week to make their schools phone-free.

The London Mayor added his support for a social media ban for under 16s in a speech to a conference in London this week.

“From food to pharmaceuticals, almost every company has to prove that its products are safe before they’re sold. I see no reason why social media firms shouldn’t do the same,” he told the conference.

But others are calling for a more nuanced approach.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Digital Creators argued that any ban should distinguish between social networking sites such as Facebook and video-sharing platforms such as Tik Tok.

The other story that has been developing this week is whether the government’s VAT demand on independent schools is beginning to bite.

The Times which has been running the story this week claimed that ‘private schools have lost 30,000 pupils since the introduction of VAT.’ While education commentator Tom Richmond reported that ‘even large institutions were being pushed over the edge.’

The Independent Schools Council said VAT on fees ‘ has proven a bridge too far.’

Finally, Paddington was revealed as the newest National Year of Reading Ambassador.

In FE, Skills England approached its first birthday this week with its first Annual Report.

It came of course at a significant time following last week’s depressing report on youth employment, concerns about the impact of AI on jobs and anxiety about the future labour market generally.

The agency has spent much of its first year building up an evidence base on skills in England, working with employers and others on qualification standards and developing a responsive system.

The annual report runs through some of this activity before setting out ‘five key challenges the skill system faces in 2026.’

Along with supporting young people, principally it seems by improving training pathways, developing a shared language around employability skills and working collaboratively, these include addressing skills shortages, maximising employer investment in skills, responding to AI and building a stronger local skills system.

Some of the challenges may be, well, more challenging than others.

On AI for instance, the agency plans to support the development of broad, essential skills, monitor AI skills demand and help individuals upskill but as it acknowledges “the impact of AI across different occupations and sectors is uncertain and highly uneven.”

The report comes with a set of useful Skills Needs Assessments for each of the ten key sectors critical to the government’s Industrial Strategy, let alone people’s lives and the wider economy.

The agency has started to shape its strategic outcomes for 2029 but has an important year ahead.

Elsewhere, the Work Foundation and local partners highlighted the often unacknowledged local challenges facing young people when it comes to trying to find jobs.

“Our findings show that supporting young people into employment cannot be separated from their health, educational experiences, and where they live.”

And unease around the City and Guilds situation continued this week with the Unite Union said to be considering legal action over the new owners’ redundancy plans.

In HE, is it all worth it?

The latest survey of public attitudes towards UKHE, published by the National Centre for Social Attitudes this week, reported growing public disenchantment with the costs and value of a degree let alone the long term benefits of the whole thing.

As the report put it, “in response to our latest survey, 34% agree that, ‘a university education just isn’t worth the amount of time and money it usually takes’, whereas prior to this, the figure had never been more than 20%.”

It was actually 18% when the last survey reported in 2018.

In addition, the report went on to say, “at 36%, the proportion who agree that, ‘in the long run, people who go to university end up being a lot better off financially than those who don’t’, has dropped by 10 percentage points since 2018, and is at the lowest level on record.”

So ‘some worrying signs,’ as the editor of the Times Higher explained but it needs to be put into perspective.

As the report concluded, “these sentiments have not yet translated into a concrete reaction against the size of the university sector.”

And there’s still considerable support for young people having the opportunity to be able to go to university. 69% of respondents reckoned families or students should contribute to the costs, albeit not as much as currently, and views over whether we have too many graduates have hardly changed in over ten years.

As Wonkhe summarised it, “there is work to be done in a high fees and high debt era to make a solid case for the value and utility of higher education.”

The report highlighted three priorities from government that might help.

‘Balancing ‘universities’ reliance on income from international students with public support for a cap on numbers.’ Second, revamping the fee system to meet the expectations of both sides. And third, and ‘most difficult,’ “creating the economic conditions whereby graduates feel there has been a financial benefit to having gone to university.”

That is the battle increasingly being fought now.

Elsewhere, the HEPI found young undergraduates more nuanced on some issues such as climate change but more in line with public attitudes on others such as AI having a likely damning impact on jobs, when asked their views on a number of contentious topics recently.

As the Chief Exec of HEPI wrote, “In general, our results ***** the idea that students are “woke snowflakes.”

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ’Larger private schools begin to close after VAT raids’ (Monday)
• ‘Two-thirds of English public doubt value of university degrees’ (Tuesday)
• ‘Social media ban must exclude educational content, MPs warn’ (Wednesday)
• ‘Smart glasses and earpieces may worsen exam cheating in schools, says Ofqual’ (Thursday)
• ‘Teacher numbers fall by nearly 2,000’ (Friday)

General:

• Employment Rights. The government launched another consultation on the implementation of measures around flexi work and zero hours contracts set out in the recent Employment Rights Act, calling for responses by 25 August 2026.
• Economic Outlook. The OECD published its latest Outlook on the global economy suggesting that things will continue to look difficult for the UK this year with flat growth and increases in inflation and unemployment, but that things will pick up next year with unemployment, for example, ‘edging down’ from 5.5% this year to 5.3% and growth ‘picking up’ from 0.9% to 1.1%.
• Economic Forecast. The British Chambers of Commerce published its latest economic forecast suggesting ‘growth will remain subdued’ this year and next with unemployment particularly for young people remaining high as global uncertainties remain.
• Business activity. The CBI reported a continued fall in private sector activity in the three months to May with this set to continue over the next quarter as the services sector shows continued weaknesses.
• Flexi working. The TUC published the results of a commissioned poll showing that a lack of flexible working was driving large numbers of parents with young children out of jobs, calling for employers to be required to advertise flexi-options before jobs go live.
• Growing up hungry. The Social Market Foundation (SMF) looked at how things had changed around food insecurity since its last report in 2020, finding things worsening for many families with just over half of poorer parents saying they’re struggling, calling as a result for stronger government safety nets.

HE:

• Because you’re worth it. The National Centre for Social Research reported on its latest survey of social attitudes towards UKHE with support remaining high for the opportunity to go on to university but with mixed views about how it should be paid for and a growing number now questioning how far it was worth it.
• What do you think? HEPI Chief Exec Nick Hillman reported on the organisation’s recent survey of attitudes among young undergraduates to current ‘hot’ issues and on their voting intentions, finding mixed views on the big issues and most favouring the Greens followed by Labour when it comes to voting intentions.
• Student visas. The Russell Group set out a new three-point plan for tackling student visa fraud, including better data sharing between the Home Office and universities, making it easier for universities to share experiences, and strengthening deterrents.
• Learning report. The OU highlighted the importance of modular and skills-based learning in a new ‘Future of Learning’ report, arguing that emerging technologies make flexible, lifelong learning not only possible but also desirable at a time when skills and employment are rapidly changing.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “Just received an email from my youngest son’s school beginning: “As we reach the end of another successful academic year.” Somebody’s had enough. We’ve still got another six weeks” -@SarahCholwill.
• “Does every school have one member of staff that announces the exact number of working days and hours till the summer breaks every time they enter the staff room?” -@Headteacherchat.
• “Group project work in schools often resembles an attempt to create miniature self-organising communes. Which, famously, intelligent adults struggle to do before dissolving into discord” -@tombennett71.
• “I taught remotely in covid and this is what I know. We were *desperate* to get back into a classroom. All of us. Kids, teachers. We would wear any ridiculous mask to do it. We would stand on one leg if that was the rule. This makes me sceptical that screens will replace teachers anytime soon” -@greg_ashman.
• “May be controversial to say, but I don't think we need 6500 additional teachers in the state sector given falling roles and overstaffing. We don't have the budgets to pay for them anyway. But it is ludicrous to lie about being on track to meet that pledge. Just abandon it” -@StuartLock.
• “TOP TIP: If you're fed up with a heatwave, simply order a new air-conditioning unit for your office. By the time it arrives it'll be contemplating putting the heating back on” -@nickgoff79.
• “I went for a job in a dental laboratory. I was hoping to make an impression. I worked in an electrical switch factory for ten years on and off” -@gosporttomarlow.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “The challenges in our economy won’t fix themselves while politicians look inwards. Big decisions need taking” – the Chief Exec of the CBI on the impact of domestic uncertainty on business confidence.
• “Until the significant issues facing the higher education system and students are addressed, it is unlikely public opinion towards higher education will become more favourable any time soon” – NatCen publishes its latest survey of public attitudes towards UKHE.
• “Plan 2 people signed up to terms and conditions that were not properly explained” - Sir Philip Augar compares Plan 2 student loans to the PPI scandal.
• “A central priority for the coming year is supporting young people” – Skills England sets out its priorities for the year ahead.
• “Unite will use everything in its power to defend the City & Guilds workforce” – the Union considers action over the new owners’ redundancy plans.
• “Definitely on the table,” – the Technology Secretary on the possibility of a ban on social media for young people.
• “Average median pay has risen, with teachers now earning an average £51,048, showing a 4% increase from last year” – the government claims it’s supporting teachers as the latest workforce figures are published.
• “It's clear that the government's sums just aren't really adding up" – the Independent Schools Council responds to media headlines about a drop in private school numbers.
• “I understand that in the pipeline there are things like smart glasses that will play text across the inside of the lens that only students can see … so we are going to have to keep on top of this” – the Chief Regulator highlights concerns over smart devises being available to help cheating in exams.

Everything else you need to know ...

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