Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 09 February 2024

Welcome to Education Eye, a regular update detailing the policies and stories happening in UK education, compiled by Steve Besley.

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

Crumbly concrete, university funding and National Apprenticeship Week.

Three of the top stories this week.

Crumbly concrete or RAAC in school buildings first, where the government published its latest update on the situation this week.

234 schools are still affected by RAAC with 119 of these having more complex work done through the School Rebuilding Programme, 110 getting grant funding to have RAAC removed and a further five facing alternative arrangements. With funding already confirmed, the announcement went on to say, this “should bring certainty for individual schools or colleges in England on how the Government will support the removal of RAAC from their buildings.”

Hopefully so, because the week had begun with a letter this week from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to the education secretary lamenting a lack of progress about the whole thing.

“The unacceptable length of time it has taken the government to act on a risk of this seriousness has led directly to the extremely difficult position in which many school leaders now find themselves.”

It’s not just the related spend that’s been worrying schools, there’s also concern about the disruption to exam groups and suggestions that pupil admissions are down in RAAC related schools. The letter called for action on three particular issues: special arrangements for exam groups which have suffered from disrupted learning; the pausing of Ofsted inspections for affected schools; and recovery funding for such schools.

ASCL welcomed the response from government but said there were still questions about funding and timescales that needed answering.

Next university funding, a long-term concern but gaining traction as a political issue ahead of a general election.

Part of the problem is that the issue isn’t well understood. As funding expert Gavin Conlon told the Times Higher, ‘among both politicians and the general public there was a lack of understanding of the issue, which was so complicated “it should be a Mastermind topic.”

Dr Conlon is a partner at London Economics and this week the consultancy did its bit to try and explain it all with some important analysis of how the system operates in each of the Four Nations in the UK, along with modelling of various options.

For England this included looking at the impact of perhaps lowering the tuition fee by a third and raising the teaching grant – likely to cost around £3bn – to getting graduates to pay back more through reintroducing real interest rates – likely to reduce costs to the government by £2bn – to extending maintenance loans – likely to cost £0.5bn. “The challenge,” as Dr Conlon explained, “is that the economics doesn’t always align with the politics.”

HEPI is working with London Economics and the Nuffield Foundation to host a series of ‘free in-person events’ in each of the four home nations looking at the options. But as Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff pointed out in her column this week “Perhaps the single biggest problem for British universities navigating this crisis is that nobody really wants to talk about the painful business of solving it.”

On to National Apprenticeship Week where the theme this year has been Skills for Life. The education secretary kicked things off by announcing a new teaching apprenticeship. She claimed it would be “a game-changing opportunity for schools to nurture and retain talent from the ground up.” ASCL wasn’t so sure. ‘It won’t solve the teacher recruitment crisis.’

Rob Halfon, the skills minister, a doughty advocate for apprentices of all types, designated the middle of the week as ‘Apprentice Wednesday.’ “That day, I want to encourage as many apprentices as possible to connect with local schools and offer to present to an assembly or a workshop on the advantages of apprenticeships.” It was one of a huge number of ‘attractions’ listed for the week. The Apprenticeship website had nearly 300 listed for the second half of the week alone.

And while we’re on special themes for the week, two others of interest to education stood out this week.

One was the regular Safer Internet Day where everyone was encouraged to ‘join together for a better internet.’ Recent news has made this more imperative and Ofcom took the occasion to highlight its current consultation on tech companies. The consultation closes in a couple of weeks and three further ones are planned in the wake of last year’s Online Safety Act.

And the other has been Children’s Mental Health Week for which the Royal College of Psychiatrists published data showing a 53% increase over the last four years in the number of children needing emergency support. The College called for urgent action. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Around half of mental health conditions arise before the age of 14 and three quarters before the age of 24. Many can be prevented if treated early.”

As MP Robert Buckland, who has first-hand experience argued, “I believe that our Government should take the promise of introducing Mental Health Support Teams into secondary schools further and place a qualified mental health professional in every primary and secondary school.”

In other general news this week, the Education Committee took evidence from both the University Employers Association and the University and College Union for its Inquiry into the impact of industrial action on students. Neither side seemed to have much faith in government plans to impose minimum service levels during strikes but that was pretty much all they agreed on.

And elsewhere, MPs discussed the case for a programme of mindfulness in schools as called for by the mother of Brianna Ghey. The MP in whose constituency the dreadful murder had occurred, led the debate explaining that mindfulness “is not just about discrete lessons but the way we respond to each other, the way we move around and the way we build relationships, eat food, exercise, and so on.” MPs on all sides were sympathetic with the minister pointing to the work the government was doing in this area.

As for schools this week, FFT Education Datalab looked at last week’s revised performance tables for schools showing performance starting to settle down after the pandemic. Data crunchers SchoolDash looked into the issue of falling rolls suggesting any impact will hit schools differently with “poorer, smaller and those with lower Ofsted ratings” likely to be most affected.

Elsewhere, the NASUWT pointed to the pressures of excessive workloads in its recent teacher survey and schools called for funding for the National Tutoring Programme to be extended.

In FE, the AoC/IoE published interim findings from their research project looking into 14-16 provision in colleges and the British Chambers of Commerce published an interesting report looking into “a worker’s journey from school, to college, the workplace, and beyond” and how the system, be it skills providers, employers, government or other agencies interacts at each stage.

It offered a 10-point plan or framework to support such a journey from funded careers guidance in schools, to local skills planning for providers, to a healthier employee in the workplace at the end, to help smooth the journey.

And in HE this week, Wonkhe reported on plans to review the quality framework around international recruiting agents following recent alarms, the HE Policy Institute (HEPI) looked into degree apprenticeships and the Office for Students (OfS) confirmed reporting arrangements for future higher technical qualifications.

Links to most of these stories below starting with the headlines.

The top headlines of the week:

‘NASUWT to run ballot on industrial action over pay.’ (Monday).
‘UK university funding ‘at a crossroads’ ahead of general election.’ (Tuesday).
‘Almost half of multi-academy trusts in England in deficit, accountants find.’ (Wednesday).
‘Four UK universities hand out half of unconditional offers.’ (Thursday).
‘Fears that RAAC will take ‘toll’ on recruitment.’ (Friday).

General:

Budget lines. The CBI called on the government to use the forthcoming Budget ‘to put the country on a sustainable path to growth’ by among other things delivering the National Infrastructure Commission recommendations, establishing a Net Zero Investment Plan, and implementing the planned expansion of eligible funded childcare so that more people can go back to work.
Economic Outlook. The OECD followed up last week’s IMF report on the global economy by setting out its own interim forecasts pointing likewise to slow growth amid global tensions and domestic policy tensions, with UK specific growth forecasts unchanged at 0.6% this year and 1.2% next year.
UK Economic Outlook. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) issued its latest Economic Outlook suggesting that the UK hit recession in the second half of last year and that growth will remain ‘sluggish’ but that on the upside, inflation is set to fall by April and households should feel better off as the year progresses.
Work report. The British Chambers of Commerce called for a clear industrial strategy, a skills investment kitemark for employers who invest in workplace training, and investment in school careers guidance, as it published the latest report in its ‘Future of Economy’ project, focusing here on boosting workforce skills.
County councils. The County Councils Network called for a national branding campaign to recruit staff as it published a research report undertaken by PwC showing many councils facing a sharp drop in employee numbers and many current employees not planning to stay.
AI regulation. The government published its response to the recent AI Regulation White Paper promising over £100m to support sector regulators such as Ofcom and the CMA in developing ‘agile’ regulatory plans over the next three months, along with the funding of for new research hubs on responsible AI.
AI report. The recently founded AI Safety Institute (AISI) published a further progress report pointing among other things to an expansion of its partnership activity, an increase in research staff and a growth in pre-deployment activity testing out AI models from leading companies.

More specifically ...

Schools:

Teacher recruitment. The government announced funding for a pilot for a secondary maths teacher degree apprenticeship scheme, with providers invited to apply by 11 March to join the scheme, candidate recruitment to begin this autumn and programmes to begin from the autumn after.
RAAC concerns. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) raised concerns about the ongoing issues around RAAC in an open letter to the education secretary calling in particular for special arrangements to be applied for exam students, for Ofsted inspections for affected schools to be paused and for revenue budgets to be protected.
RAAC update. The government updated the position on RAAC affected schools and colleges indicating that the identification programme had now been completed and the number of schools and colleges affected had been clarified with funding now being sorted out.
Science and maths. Teach First highlighted what it called ‘a major confidence gap between girls and boys when studying maths and science’ with commissioned research showing that girls struggle much more than boys when it comes to studying these subject leading to employment gaps in the STEM workforce later in life.
Thematic visits. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published guidance for its series of visits this spring and summer looking in depth at how young people with special educational needs and disabilities are being prepared for adulthood.
School leadership. Big Education and the Centre for Education and Youth (CfEY) examined school leadership and what was needed to move the system to a world-class level in a new report, calling among other things for ‘an independent review of development provision’ including the role of Ofsted and the creation and sharing of a stronger evidence base for reform.
Pay and conditions. The NASUWT published the results from its latest survey among teachers in England finding excessive workload a continuing issue for many and arguing that unless the government listened to their concerns the chances of further industrial action would increase.
Falling rolls. The data company SchoolDash examined the issue of falling rolls in schools which had started to hit primary schools from 2018 and would affect secondary schools in time but as the analysis indicated, would not hit all schools equally
EEF projects. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) listed three new trials that primary schools could sign up for covering the impact of high potential programmes on children’s outcomes in maths, reading and science.

FE/Skills:

Apprenticeship data. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) published a range of data to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, indicating the programme for early years teachers as the most popular by starts last year with those for other public sector workers including care workers, police and nurses also in the top 20 and with the S.E. and N.W. the two regions in the country with the most starts generally.
Skills barometer. The government published its latest Skills Horizon Barometer for SMEs, looking at the picture on skills and recruitment for the sector for the year ahead and finding some concerns about recruitment and running costs and staffing costs but with small businesses looking to continue to grow in 2024 especially in sectors such as finance and health care.
EPAs. Ofqual published a guide for apprentices on end-point assessments (EPA,) what to expect, how to prepare for them and what to do if you have any concerns.
T levels. The 5% Club, the charity that works with employers to support technical skills, announced that it would encourage employers to offer work experience by including T levels placements in its accreditation scheme.
14 – 16. The AoC and UCL’s Institute for Education published initial findings from their joint Nuffield funded project looking into the range of provision for 14 – 16-year-olds offered in FE colleges in England, where although overall numbers were small and there were issues over matters like safeguarding and funding, the importance of such provision was recognised by both providers and participants.

HE:

Funding. The Consultancy London Economics published its analysis of funding for higher ed in each of the four nations of the UK, arguing that it remains a divisive issue, has left the sector widely under-funded and needs to be better understood, modelling instead a number of possible alternatives including for England lowering tuition fees and raising the teaching grant, and getting graduates to pay back more, each of which would bring winners and losers.
HTQ outcomes. The Office for Students (OfS) reported on its recent consultation on how best to report student outcomes for those taking the new Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs,) confirming an intention to report the data separately through an ‘additional split indicator’ which will take effect from 2026/7.
Missing out. The National Education Opportunities Network (NEON) called for better support, targeting and collaborative action for young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds as it published a new report showing that many were ‘missing out’ on opportunities to progress to HE and that things hadn’t changed much in the last ten years.

Tweets and posts of note:

“Dunno about anyone else but I had to clean up vomit twice this week at school. Hope this bug disappears soon” – @HeyMissSmith.
“Just ban smart phones in schools. Yes, there are some uses. But these are outweighed by their disadvantages 100-fold. For safety, for learning, for social skills, ban them. Confiscate on sight. Return in the most inconvenient way” - @tombennett71.
“Social apps take up nearly half of mobile screen time, which in turn consumes more than a quarter of waking hours. But people are now less likely to share their lives, and more likely to debate in private group chats” - @The Economist.
“sighs, mutes Valentine's” – @JohnElledge.
“I always put two alarms, one for the person I want to be and one for the person I am” - @hashjenni.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

“But a new age divide is emerging in Britain. Young non-graduates and non-homeowners, who tend to be poorer than the average millennial, are bucking the national swing towards Labour and are instead less likely to vote at all” – the Resolution Foundation reports on its latest research into voting intentions.
“I think it is in my own interest and that of the University for me to step down at the end of this academic year” – Chris Patten steps down as Chancellor of Oxford University.
“The challenge is that the economics doesn’t always align with the politics” – the consultancy London Economics with some hard truths about HE financing.
“If you want to be a space engineer [...] you can do it via an apprenticeship, [so] I can’t believe the only occupation that doesn’t need one is teaching" -the education secretary announces a teaching apprenticeship.
“I think of the Apprenticeship Levy as the Ronseal Levy – it does what it says on the tin” – skills minister Rob Halfon spreads the importance of the apprenticeship levy.
“The Department’s RAAC Identification programme is now complete” – the DfE issues its latest update on RAC affected schools and colleges.
“This spring term, a school that has confirmed RAAC in some of their buildings will be eligible for Ofsted inspection, however this will be sufficient grounds to defer the inspection, should the school wish to” - Ofsted statement on inspections of schools with RAAC concerns.
“There have been a “a couple of teething things in the system but we’ve corrected all of those” – the education secretary seeks to allay concerns about the rollout of the childcare pledge.

Important numbers

Not-to-be-missed numbers of the week:

2.8m. The number of Britons not working due to ill-health, according to updated figures from the ONS.
£31,300. The amount of income that a single person would need for a moderate living standard in retirement, £43,100 for a couple, according to the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association.
£500m. The drop in council spending on libraries, culture, heritage and tourism over the last decade, according to analysis from the County Councils Network.
140. The number of new or refurbished Youth Centres, promised by the government as part of its latest investment in youth services.
£550. The average monthly rent among students surveyed, higher in London at £778, according to the Save the Student accommodation survey 2024.
£250. The increase in tuition fees for undergraduates in Wales from this September, taking the fee to £9,250, according to the Welsh government.
£5.3m. The funding for new research projects covering topics such as teacher recruitment and digital exclusion, as announced by the Nuffield Foundation.
100,000. The number of school-age children in poverty in the North West of the country unable to get free school meals because the qualifying income threshold has not changed since 2018, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.
Less than one in five. The number of people who walk, wheel or cycle every day compared to more than one in four in Europe, according research from the think tank IPPR.
£4.35 - £4.70. The cost of a pint of lager in the Palace of Westminster, according to figures from the Daily Mirror.

Everything else you need to know ...

What to look out for next week:

MPs in recess until Monday 19 February.

Steve Besley

Disclaimer: Education Eye is intended to help colleagues keep up to date with national developments in the education sector. Information is correct at the time of writing and is offered in good faith. No liability is accepted by Steve Besley or EdCentral for decisions made on the basis of any information provided.