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LOOKING BACK AT THE WEEK THAT WAS
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The main stories from the papers
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The latest announcements and policy news
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Follow this link to view the full version of Steve Besley's popular policy round-up – including an overview of all the important stories, his top headlines of the week, tweets and posts of note, the most memorable quotes, and all the not-to-be-missed statistics.
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GENERAL:
PM’s speech. The Prime Minister addressed the London Tech conference where he highlighted the role of the UK as a leading AI nation and spoke of some of the opportunities it offered, such as the creation of AI tutors and the new AI jobs tool but also the challenges that modern tech brought, calling in particular for tech companies here to develop controls to protect children from sexually explicit images.
Tech Nation 2026. Tech Nation published its 2026 state of the nation report on UK tech, painting a dynamic picture of growth and opportunity with a growing UK tech market, increased numbers of AI startups and a surge of AI talent, pointing to finance, biotech, transport and defence tech as being among the next wave for AI growth.
Economic Forecast. The CBI published its latest Economic Forecast revising down growth expectations to 1.1% and 0.9% for this year and next respectively with Middle Eastern tensions and resultant higher energy prices largely to blame.
Food Report. The Food Foundation published a new report showing how hard it’s becoming for many families to find and afford ‘good food’ and the challenges this is creating for family life and health let alone to the environment.
SCHOOLS:
Screen use. The government launched a call for further evidence on how children and families manage and use screen time as well as some of the benefits and risks involved and how these vary by age, as it gears up to make further announcements on protecting children from online harm.
Exam entries. Ofqual published provisional figures on entries for this summer’s GCSE, AS and A levels, showing an increase in overall entries at both GCSE and A level, with maths and statistics up and computing down at GCSE and at A level, political studies up and classical subjects down.
School attendance. The government listed ‘ten top tips for communicating with parents about attendance,’ complete with template resources and calendar tips as it reported on some of the main reasons behind absence, pointing to term time birthdays and broken weeks as major culprits.
Reading. The National Literacy Trust reported a slight but welcome rise in children’s reading engagement, albeit with an increase in the disadvantage gap as it published new data on children and young people’s reading habits.
Mental health. The government claimed that nearly 6m learners now had access to mental health support through their school or college as it published updated information on the work of Mental Health Support Teams.
Disadvantage Gap. The Education Policy Institute examined the disadvantage gap and how and why inequalities emerge across different stages of education, suggesting that prior attainment is a key factor along with school absence, special needs and ethnicity.
AI impact. The Education Endowment Foundation invited applications for a new £2.5m research project, looking into the impact of Generative AI on young people’s learning processes, whether for instance it supports or reduces cognitive engagement and how far it affects different types of learners.
Primary teacher effect. FFT Education Datalab examined how far an effective primary teacher in one subject can help add value in other subjects, suggesting that they can although this doesn’t stretch to outcomes elsewhere such as attendance.
Being school ready. The Centre for Young Lives published a report looking at how different areas were working to help ensure young children were school ready, finding slow but important progress being made and calling for better integration and long term commitment to the early years.
Children at Risk. The Youth Endowment Fund highlighted the challenges of providing support for children at risk of harm outside the home, pointing to ‘unequal oversight and visibility’ and setting out a number of recommendations including principally ‘one pathway, one plan, one owner’ for those at risk.
FE/SKILLS:
Youth training. M&S announced a new ‘graduate-style’ training scheme for young people aged 18-24 to undertake six months of training in their stores around the country, helping build retail management skills and personal confidence with a view to successful participants moving up the ladder to become Store Managers.
Blair on NEETs. The Tony Blair Institute called for a stronger Youth Guarantee, rapid access to mental health treatment and better support for conditions that are non-work limiting, as it reiterated its case for tackling NEETs and ‘preventing a lost generation.’
Training for new post-16 pathways. The AoC outlined its plans for providing professional support for providers transitioning to the new post-16 qualification pathways, with a mix of staff training and organisational support backed up by regional hubs and an advisory board of sector experts.
AI training. Skills England looked into what makes for effective training in AI skills in a new joint report, using insights from over 150 employers to show how workforce skills in this area can best be developed.
Free functional skills. City and Guilds announced it was offering free functional skills for eligible apprentices in English and maths, ‘for providers who switch to City and Guilds or who register for new apprentices between 1 June 2026 and 31 December 2026.’
SEND support. The Education and Training Foundation reported on its recent work on helping practitioners support learners with special needs, setting out a range of actions both now and for the future and calling for training, professional standards and investment to help support early intervention where needed.
JobsPlus Pilot. The IES and Learning and Work Institute published a detailed evaluation of the voluntary, community-led JobsPlus scheme designed to help people in social housing find jobs, suggesting that its model of local, joined up support was showing promise and helping reach those off the radar.
HE:
A Broken System? The Policy Exchange think tank suggested a university system in crisis as it published ‘a detailed examination’ of the current scenario, pointing to marketisation and over expansion as the root causes and coming up with a long list of recommendations around a smaller system with fairer funding and better balanced regulation.
A more positive experience. HEPI and Advance HE published the latest major annual survey into Student Academic Experience, painting a more positive picture than the one often represented with more students positive about their choice of university and agreeing that a degree represented value for money and with contact hours remaining steady, albeit with students now routinely combining work with study.
Student numbers. The Provost of UCL argued in a comment piece for Westminster’s House magazine that before concluding that too many people are going to university, we should look at the skills needed for the future, which point to more quality graduates with the higher level skills needed for the workplaces of the future.
MenB vaccinations. The government announced a new vaccination programme for Yr 13s and under 25s staring university or residential FE this autumn with eligible students receiving their first vaccination in July and a second in August.
TEF revisions. The OfS reported on decisions made following consultation on the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) with a focus on bringing quality assessment together and showing with a more nuanced rating system how institutions have exceeded minimum expectations and delivered on student experience and outcomes.
Defence places. The government announced the 24 universities and colleges that will receive funding for places and training in areas such as cyber security, aerospace engineering and robotics, helping to develop the skills pipeline for the country’s defence and security industries.
SHAPE sorter. The British Academy announced the launch of a new interactive data tool designed to help users understand trends, subject moves and regional patterns of SHAPE (social sciences, humanities, arts) participation in UKHE.
Student accommodation. The OfS published a commissioned report looking into the accommodation experiences of first-year students in England, finding most (87%) happy with their overall experience, although typically more so for those on campus rather than rented options, and with most acknowledging that it represented good value for money despite the odd hiccup.
Investment ambition. Universities UK outlined an ‘ambition’ to help double by 2035 the level of external investment going into university innovation, notably spinouts, startups and social enterprises.
A system under strain. The Chief Exec of Universities UK and the president of the NUS discussed the financial pressures facing universities currently, calling for ‘a rebalancing of the investment.
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Research, reports and studies published this week
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COMING UP IN THE NEXT WEEK
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Important reports, deadlines and government events
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Young Enterprise ‘My Money Week’ (Monday 15 - Sunday 21 June)
Education Committee Evidence Session on Children’s Mental Health (Tuesday 16 June)
Education Committee Evidence Session with the Education Secretary (Wednesday 17 June)
National ‘Thank a Teacher Day’ (Wednesday 17 June)
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Conferences and CPD opportunities
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Running an education-related event that you'd like to see included in our calendar? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with details and a link to the booking info. If we believe it's relevant to our readers we will consider publishing it.
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MONDAY 15 JUNE
On this day in 1215 King John signed the Magna Carta at Runnymede near Windsor.
TUESDAY 16 JUNE
On this day in 2010 the world's first country-wide total tobacco ban went into effect in Bhutan, South Asia.
WEDNESDAY 17 JUNE
On this day in 1885 the dismantled Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of America, arrived in New York Harbor.
THURSDAY 18 JUNE
On this day in 1928 American aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Burry Port, Wales.
FRIDAY 19 JUNE
On this day in 2006 the ceremonial first stone of the Global Seed Vault was laid on the remote island of Spitsbergen.
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