Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 21 February 2025

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

Half term for many so a lighter load this week but still plenty to talk about..

Here’s a rundown of some of the top stories of the week.

In schools, OCR called for reform of GCSE maths to help build essential numeracy skills for school leavers.

According to OCR chief exec Jill Duffy “The current GCSE is too often a race to get through content, with no opportunity to properly embed understanding.” The exam board is proposing a reduction in assessments and the introduction of a basic numeracy short course for the first year of the GCSE.

It’s an issue that’s likely to feature in the current curriculum and assessment review.

As are skills and what makes for a balanced curriculum, the subject of a further release by NFER this week as part of its project looking at future skill needs.

The argument in this latest paper is that supporting early skills development pays dividends both for individuals and society later on. “The consequence of inaction could see increasing numbers of young people leaving education without the skills and qualifications they need to enter growing occupations.”

ASCL agreed. “This study highlights the fact that it is vital to do more to close skills gaps which emerge early in life to ensure that these children and the wider economy both thrive in the future.”

Two other familiar topics grabbed headlines for schools this week.

First kids missing school and what to do about it.

According to the Centre for Young Lives one way of encouraging kids back into school is to boost enrichment activities.

“Guaranteeing all young people access to high-quality enrichment activities in school will not only boost well-being and improve skills, but it will also create an educational environment where every child feels like they belong.”

In a commissioned report it called for an enrichment guarantee for schools of at least 80 hours spread across the year.

It divided the carrot and sticks brigades.

And second, SEND, where a worrying rise in numbers and costs remain a big concern and where this week the Local Government Association (LGA) pointed to the impact of rising costs on council budgets.

A big concern for councils is a planned change in accounting procedures which will see such costs back on council budget sheets as of next March. At the moment they’re not listed.

The LGA called for the Spending Review to be used to write off deficits ahead of this change.

The NAHT was quick to support the move.

“These sobering findings spell out the urgent need not only for the government to write-off high-needs deficits and give councils a clean slate, but also to offer the reform and investment needed to mend the broken SEND system.”

On to FE, where WorldSkills UK launched its digital Careers Advice Toolkit, aimed especially at helping young people with apprenticeship and technical career opportunities.

The House of Commons Library Service explained the impact of the recent Devolution white paper which will see skills and employment support including for instance local skill improvement plans, as one of ‘the areas of competence’ devolved to strategic authorities.

And the AoC offered a useful briefing on skills matters as the parliamentary Bill setting up the government’s new skills body, Skills England, comes up for its Second Reading next week.

In HE, the Russell Group added its response to the government’s Spending Review, committing to supporting much of the government’s growth agenda but calling in return for ‘targeted investment.’

“Universities across the country, including those in the Russell Group, are already working hard to implement efficiencies that will streamline operations and reduce costs, but this effort needs to be matched by additional public investment.”

In particular it pointed to the case for inflation-linked tuition fees and improved maintenance support along with enhanced funding packages for PhDs, support for R/D and skills development and ‘a welcoming offer to international students and staff.’

The problem for the sector when it comes to funding was aptly described by the departing Dr John Cater in a paper for HEPI this week. “While the mood music from an incoming Government may have sounded sweeter, no one is dancing.” Few at the moment expect a drum roll at the Spending Review

Talking of money, the cost of accommodation remains a big concern for many students according to Save the Student’s latest survey published this week.

Parents it seems, or at least those that can, now contribute on average £244 a month towards student rent, which in London has hit over £800 a month. Oh and the average deposit comes out at £387 and some 15% of those surveyed have struggled to get it back.

Still in the realm of challenging news, the British Academy this week launched its latest interactive map looking at first year, first degree provision for subjects in arts, humanities and social sciences, known collectively as SHAPE.

The resulting picture is not pretty. “What these maps show is a stark warning about the future of regional access to many SHAPE subjects.” It points to ‘harmful rhetoric from successive governments’ as a factor.

And finally, the Times Higher’s reported on the importance of institutional reputations from its recent World Reputation Rankings. This saw Oxford hit joint second spot with Cambridge not far behind, Imperial and UCL also in the top 25 and Manchester joining the top 50 rankings for the first time.

As it wrote “in an age where reputation can help determine survival for struggling universities, institutions are pulling out all the stops, whether through brand-building or even changing their names, to stay ahead.”

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

General:

• Arts funding. The Culture Secretary announced a boost to Britain’s arts and heritage sector with a £270m Arts Everywhere Fund intended to protect jobs, develop skills and help arts organisations struggling to make ends meet.
• Labour market latest. The ONS reported on the latest picture for the UK labour market. showing a slight increase over the last quarter in employment and unemployment rates and in average wage growth but with economic inactivity rates also slightly down and youth unemployment up.
• Labour market outlook. The CIPD published its latest quarterly labour market outlook showing employer confidence having fallen ‘sharply’ over the winter months with redundancy intentions up, hiring activity slowing and businesses generally ‘rethinking’ their workforce strategies in light of rising employment costs.
• AI for science. The Tony Blair Institute called for AI to be more effectively deployed in R/D and in developing opportunities in science, pointing in a new report to five enablers (data, software tools, talent, infrastructure and institutions) that should be ‘harnessed’ drive such developments.
• Youth justice. The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) raised the issue of ‘racial disproportionality’ in violence affecting young people, calling in a new report for stop and search to be intelligence-led and for better support for children excluded from school.

HE:

• Spending Review. The Russell Group published its submission to the government’s 2025 Spending Review setting out its commitment to work with government on research, skills and opportunity but calling in return for continued investment in R/D, increasing the HE Innovation Fund, strengthening partnerships in Europe and improving maintenance support while raising the fee cap in line with inflation.
• Taking SHAPE. The British Academy launched its latest interactive map looking at first year, first degree SHAPE (subjects in arts, humanities and social sciences) provision across UK universities and suggesting a pretty mixed picture.
• World Reputation Rankings. The Times Higher highlighted the importance of institutional reputations as it ran through its recent World Reputation Rankings which saw Oxford now in joint second position, Cambridge 4^th and Imperial and UCL also in the top 25.
• Student accommodation. The Save the Student site published the results of its latest National Student Accommodation Survey showing a slight improvement on 2024 figures but with the average monthly rental outside London now totalling £563 and 69% of respondents having at least one issue with their student home with damp being the most common.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “Increasingly it feels like never been a Head is a growing prerequisite for telling Heads how to do their job” -@Strickomaster.
• “School leaders working to turn around failing schools do one of the hardest jobs in education. It's astonishing really, as they "build the plane while flying it." That doesn't mean their decisions are unquestionable, but if you've never worked in that context you should show humility” -@adamboxer1.
• “When SLT told me there was no money in the budget for more pencils my class didn’t write in their books for a week. When I showed the books to SLT they bought about 3000 pencils” -@redgierob.
• “What makes your toes curl in staff meetings? Teachers talking over others” -@Headteacherchat.
• “Is soft play basically detention for teachers?” -@DeputyGrocott.
• “Two-hour nap on the sofa followed by gin and tonic at 5pm. I love half terms” -@LeeBraganza.
• “I delayed having breakfast this morning. I was going to have an omelette. Didn't make it. But then, eventually, I got cracking” –@MichaelRosenYes.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “The UK labour market is blowing hot and cold, with the strongest year for pay packets in two decades contrasting with an 18-month fall in the employment rate” – the Resolution Foundation comments on the latest labour market figures from the ONS.
• “To enable us to unlock our full potential, we need stable policy and ambitious, targeted investment so we can help to make every part of the UK better off” – the Russell Group sets out its asks from the government’s Spending Review.
• “It is the right time to move on, professionally and personally, and I wish my colleagues every success as they continue to deliver and take forward work to establish Qualifications Scotland following the passage of the Education (Scotland) Bill” – Fiona Robertson moves on from her post as Scotland’s Chief Examiner.
• “The phrasing is clumsy and rather basic; we do not have a sophisticated or nuanced document” – the Headteachers’ Roundtable group considers Ofsted’s recent consultation on inspection reform.
• “The current system is falling significantly short” – the FT reports on OCR’s plans to reform GCSE maths.
• “This report makes a powerful case for a renewed focus on enrichment offers, including through an enrichment premium, not only as a policy tool for boosting attendance, but for developing a more inclusive education system that benefits every child” – the Centre for Young Lives calls for more enrichment activities to encourage missing kids back into school.
• “Intervening at an early age to support young people who have low cognitive and behavioural skills and are at risk of falling behind is critical to improving their future outcomes” – the NFER publishes the latest in its series of reports on skills for the future.
• “The rocket fuel of machismo America’s working habits” – the FT on the rise and rise of Diet Coke from the President, who drinks 12 a day, downwards.

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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.