Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 13 June 2025

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:

Two important themes this week: spending review outcomes and tech stuff.

The spending review first.

This has attracted most of the headlines largely because it defines the priorities and sets the tone for the government for the foreseeable future. The PM heralded it as ‘a new phase that delivers on the promise of change for working people and invests in Britain’s renewal.’ The Chancellor said it was about ‘renewing Britian.’

Renewal/new phase was very much the theme with a focus on the needs of working people.

Details have been widely covered in the media but as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) said, “it was broadly what we expected; quite a lot for health which means very little for everything else.”

Much of the capital spending, £113bn, has been drip fed in recent weeks with announcements about school and hospital buildings and transport networks, along with the latest nuclear plant and housing plans.

In her 46 minute speech, the Chancellor studiously read out how the rest of the money will be distributed over the next 3-4 four years.

A lot of dept specific detail is yet to come but as things stand, the world of education has acknowledged some of the headlines but remains largely underwhelmed.

The NAHT for instance said “this is not a time for celebration, and it is clear that school budgets will remain under considerable pressure for some time to come.” The AoC said “the (promised 16-18) budget may not be sufficient if the improving participation we have seen in recent years continues.” And Russell Group universities said “universities will only be able to continue delivering this growth-driving activity if they have a sustainable financial footing.”

All very guarded therefore.

Here’s a few details sector by sector concluding with a list of future key developments.

For schools, the big disappointment appears to be that the promised 4.7% bn cash increase to the core schools budget per year amounts to about 0.4% once inflation is taken into account. In addition, it’s expected to support the expansion of Free School Meals let alone the roll out of breakfast clubs and some post-16 provision.

The commitment to 6,500 more teachers over this Parliament remains, along with mental health teams in all schools in England by 2029/30 and the roll out of school-based nurseries, while capital funding for school estate and rebuilding and more mainstream places where needed remain as announced last week. £2.4bn+ per year for the former for instance.

Funding for Ofsted rises to £159.4m for 2026/7 while reform of SEND awaits a white paper this autumn.

For FE and skills, concerns included whether the £1.2bn for extra 16-18 places was sufficient, some of it is already targeted at skilled construction workers. Also the failure to recognise low pay in the sector and as the Learning and Work Institute noted, “there doesn’t appear to be much, if any, extra funding for adults to improve their skills.”

The Review hints at more money for skills training to come from the Immigration Skills Charge, £3.5bn to be made available for employment support by 2028/9, and money from dormant assets, £132.5m over the next few years, to be used to help disadvantaged young people access sport, music and drama, while funding remains for eight youth guarantee trail blazers.

The Industrial Strategy, described as “a whole-of-government endeavour” meanwhile awaits its moment.

As for HE, there was the traditional lavish praise of ‘our leading universities,” along with reinforcement of the £22.6bn a year by 2029/30 increase for R/D and Horizon Europe and its successor, some mumbles about scaling up the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA,) lots of talk about AI developments and some hints about future international visa surcharges.

The rest perhaps awaits the promised HE paper.

Talking of that and to round off the Sending Review, here now is an updated list of major reports to come, hopefully in order.

A revised Industrial Strategy and 10-year Infrastructure Strategy (end of June)
HE review (mid-July)
NHS 10-year Plan (‘upcoming’)
Schools White Paper and SEND reform (the autumn)
DCMS National Youth Strategy (the autumn)
Child Poverty Strategy (the autumn)
Post-16 education and skills Strategy (late autumn)

On now to the second theme of the week, tech stuff, where there’s been a buzz of tech-related activity this week prompted no doubt by the latest London Tech Week event.

“Innovators. Investors. Tech giants. They all come to London Tech Week to see where tech will take them next,” the event’s the publicity blurb stated.

And there’s been plenty to see and hear.

Its included the latest ‘state of the nation report on UK tech,’ claiming among other things that the UK tech sector has cemented its place “as the number one tech ecosystem in Europe.” Also a new Centre for AI-Driven Innovation and a range of investments from leading global tec companies. “Putting the white-hot potential of science and technology to work. Building a better UK,” as the publicity blurb rather excitedly put it.

And more directly for education, the launch of a major new £187m tech skills programme, “designed to bring digital skills and AI learning into classrooms and communities,” a positional statement by the DfE on the use of generative AI in education, a new AI scholarship scheme ‘at Britain’s top universities,’ a further session of the Lords Digital Committee Inquiry into media literacy and lots of talk of ‘apps caps’ being set for young people.

Not forgetting of course the £86bn promised earlier in the week for R/D.

As a no doubt breathless tech secretary Peter Kyle, rushing from event to event during the week, explained,

“We have sent a powerful statement of intent: we will not hold back in our pursuit of change.”

There are some important pointers for education.

The most prominent perhaps is the digital skills programme, TechFirst, launched by the PM and aimed “at putting power in the hands of the next generation.”

It includes a £24m TechYouth programme which will provide 1m young people in secondary schools in England over the next three years with requisite tech and digital skills

As Daisy Christodoulou wrote recently, “there comes a time when new (tech) trends are impossible to ignore. We are beyond that point now.” As the independent curriculum review continues to sketch out a future curriculum, the government it seems has grabbed the tech skills ball and booted it ahead.

Also a TechGrad programme aimed at providing funding and support for ‘a thousand exceptional domestic students’ to gain skills in AI, cyber security and more. And TechExpert which will support 500 domestic PhD students with research in similar areas.

Concerns remain of course about the application of AI in some aspects of education and the DfE has been busy this week strengthening the guidance available.

Its latest version, aimed at teachers, points out some of the benefits such as ‘creating educational resources’ as well as some of the dangers such as ‘inappropriate or unsafe’ content, and comes with a range of free support materials.

Ultimately it says “we see more immediate benefits and fewer risks from teacher-facing use of generative AI.”

Further research from Ofsted, the dept’s own edtech evidence board, and others is expected in the coming months.

Moving on, here’s what else has been happening in education this week.

In schools, Ofsted announced it was delaying to September its response to the consultation on inspection reforms with the new framework now set for introduction from November.

The issue is the ‘scale of feedback received,’ over 6,500 responses. The Education Secretary was disappointed with the delay. “It is disappointing therefore that Ofsted has found it necessary to delay its consultation response, and the publication of inspection materials, until the start of September.”

Unions weren’t impressed either given the short timescale now to prepare for new style inspections. “The introduction of a nonsensical inspection framework is now compounded by a nonsensical timetable,” was how ASCL put it.

Talking of familiar concerns, the Local Government Association (LGA) added further details from its work on SEND this week, calling for access to SEND support to be more widely available and not dependent on creating an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP.)

“We think it is vital that a future system provides a much broader “core” offer of support for all children and young people who need it, which does not depend on them having a statutory plan.”

It goes on to call for greater investment, workforce training and capacity, let alone teeth to ensure accountability but it’s an interesting approach.

The NFER highlighted some of the challenges faced by teachers from ethnic minority backgrounds at key points in their career. In a report prepared for the Lewis Hamilton Foundation, they suggested that tackling some of these issues could bring dividends all round. “Through tackling inequalities, the government could substantially improve persistent long-term recruitment and retention issues.”

The government called for views on the setting up of a School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

As the Education Secretary explained, support staff make up over half of half of the school workforce “but for too long they have not had the voice and recognition they deserve and have lacked a sector-specific forum for agreeing their pay and conditions.”

And finally for schools, a batch of stats to note this week. They include the numbers of pupils with special educational needs (up,) provisional GCSE and A level exam entries (down) and the numbers who got their first choice primary or secondary school place for this year (down and up.) Links below.

In FE, with the revised Industrial strategy now set for the end of the month, the Commons Business and Trade Committee published its report into the Strategy, calling among other things for the Skills Minister to be a joint role across DfE and Dept for Business and for the Industrial Strategy Council to be on a statutory footing.

It also helpfully listed ten ‘tests’ for judging the Strategy, including “Is there clear, well-resourced institutional leadership for research and development in each of the growth sectors?” (Test 9.) Sector Skills Councils anyone?

In HE, ahead of this week’s AI announcements, the government ratcheted up excitement with the promise of “a transformative £86bn boost to science and tech.”

It will involve “a bumper funding package worth more than £22.5 billion a year in 2029/2030” for research and innovation available through local regions. Although as many have pointed out, the overall package is spread over four years and suggests just a 10% rise over the period.

It came as the Education Committee launched a new Inquiry into HE finances.

“Our inquiry will look at the pressures on university finances, the steps that could be taken to stop a university from becoming insolvent and the plans and processes that should be in place in the event that a university does go bankrupt to protect students and staff and safeguard the local economy.”

According to the UCU “'With vice-chancellors axing courses, limiting student provision and slashing thousands of jobs, universities are in crisis and this inquiry couldn't come soon enough.”

One area they might look at is the extent of links between HE and the drive for economic growth. This was the theme of a report from Wonkhe’s project group this week, looking at ways of redesigning the tertiary model.

“The paper proposes new regional bodies to broker collaboration between colleges, higher education institutions, and employers to meet local skills needs.”

In a similar vein, the Social Market Foundation called in a new report for government and universities to work more closely on recognising the role that universities play in enhancing social mobility in their communities.

The Committee should also look at HEPI/Advance HE’s latest annual survey of student’s academic experience published this week. There are some interesting pointers in the survey about how many students are having to do paid work in term time to cope with the cost of living as well as views on value for money.

Finally, UCAS launched a new pilot scheme to help with applicant grade predictions.

It will provide schools and colleges with their own UCAS Predicted Grade report which teachers and students will be able to see and help guide their choices.

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

The top headlines of the week:

‘AI skills drive in schools to out power in hands of next generation -Starmer’ (Monday)
‘DfE sets out how schools can ‘safely’ use AI’ (Tuesday)
‘Ofsted inspection plan delay sparks Phillipson rebuke’ (Wednesday)
‘GCSE entries fall in German, science and history’ (Thursday)
‘One in five children in England requires special needs help in school’ (Friday)

General:

Chancellor’s Spending Review speech. The Treasury published the Chancellor’s full Spending Review Statement to MPs setting out the key headlines, occasional asides and major spending decisions for depts for the next 3-4 years.
Spending Review 2025. The Treasury published the full report accompanying the Chancellor’s Spending Review Statement, complete with key principles, spending decisions and dept settlements for the Review period.
IfS on the Spending Review. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) provided its take on the Spending Review, acknowledging the difficult choices that the Chancellor faced but suggesting that a lot of the figures doled out in the Statement were hard to reconcile and that tax rises may yet be needed in the autumn.
Resolution Foundation on the Spending Review. The Resolution Foundation offered its take on the Spending Review suggesting that the ‘win’ for the NHS means ‘shrunken’ public services elsewhere but that lower-income households should benefit from many of the measures while fearing ‘a darkening autumn of fiscal reality.’
Global Economic Prospects. The World Bank pointed to growth weakening to 2.3% across ‘most economies’ this year, the slowest rate of global growth since 2008 and driven largely by “a substantial rise in trade barriers and the pervasive effects of an uncertain global policy environment,” as it published its latest report.
Labour market outlook. The ONS published its latest estimates for the UK labour market showing a 0.2% fall in the employment rate between March and April this year, particularly in the hospitality sector, with further concerning signs of a fall in vacancies and continuing rise in youth unemployment but with pay growth up.
Labour market analysis. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) provided its regular assessment of the latest labour market data pointing to a ‘cooling’ market with 14 out of 18 sectors showing a fall in vacancies and concerns about youth unemployment but noting a small decrease in the overall inactivity rate.
Good Work Index. The CIPD reported on the findings from its 2025 Good Work survey looking at how workers rate their working lives against seven ‘dimensions,’ with work-life balance and mental health worries a concern for some but others reporting a positive picture, with job autonomy and supportive line managers key factors in this.
Child’s play. The Raising the National Play Commission, launched last year with the Centre for Young Lives to look into the importance of play to children’s development, called for a funded National Play Strategy for England and for raising the age of digital consent to 16 as it highlighted the importance of giving children time and space to play as they grow up.

More specifically ...

Schools:

AI skills. The government announced plans to provide secondary schools across England with funding and support to train up a million young people over the next three years with AI skills as part of a major new ‘TechFirst’ programme.
AI guidance. The government updated its guidance for teachers on the use of generative AI, setting out both opportunities and challenges that come with its use and how to use it effectively and safely, along with a range of free support materials and training modules to help.
Provisional exam entries. Ofqual reported on exam entries for GCSE, AS and A level this summer with provisional figures showing a drop in entries across all three exams with GCSE entries down by 0.6% notably for German, Engineering and some sciences, and down 0.4% for A levels, notably Languages and English.
Ofsted inspections. Ofsted explained that it had received a huge response to its consultation on inspection reform with considerable support for the proposed school report cards but that more work was needed on other aspects meaning its formal response would now be delayed until September and the introduction of the new framework to November.
Support staff. The government launched consultation on the setting up of a School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSNB) with views sought in particular about how best to define such staff, whether to include agency workers and current pay and conditions.
SEND reform. The Local Government Association (LGA) called for ‘a national vision around values and expectations for SEND reform’ along with open access, as it reported on the series of workshops held with young people, practitioners and members following its earlier commissioned report into reform of the SEND system.
Free school meals. The Education Policy Institute called for a system of auto-enrolment for free school meals as it published a new Nuffield funded report highlighting significant regional variation in how meals are accessed.
Teacher R and R. The NFER reported on teacher recruitment and retention in a report funded by the Lewis Hamilton Foundation, arguing that tackling concerns and issues facing teachers from ethnic minority backgrounds could greatly increase teacher numbers and help meet government targets in this area.

FE/Skills:

Industrial Strategy. The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee published the results of its inquiry into the government’s Industrial Strategy making a number of recommendations such as further skills devolution and setting out ten ‘tests’ for judging how the Strategy develops.
Youth unemployment. The House of Commons Library Service reported on youth unemployment, pointing to an upward trend over recent months reaching 14.3% in the last quarter up from 13.6% previously, albeit with a slight improvement in the overall employment rate and the inactivity rate leaving the UK sitting near the middle in terms of comparison with other OECD countries.
Apprenticeships. The government indicated that its plans to build Sizewell C will generate hundreds of jobs including 1,500 apprenticeships.
Balancing work and care. The Learning and Work Institute indicated that there are ‘nearly 6m people of working age in the UK’ who are having to balance work with unpaid care, calling for better workplace flexibilities and entitlements, along with a reformed carers’ allowance.

HE:

Committee Inquiry. The Education Committee announced a new Inquiry to look into the financial viability of university finances in the face of rising challenges, issuing a call for evidence for by the end of July.
Student academic experience. HEPI and Advance HE published their latest annual survey report into the academic experience of students, pointing among other things to ‘a dramatic rise’ in the number of f/t undergrads undertaking term time jobs, an increase in the number of respondents saying their experience has exceeded expectations but a rise in the number who would not now take the HE route.
Tech skills. The government announced two new programmes, TechGrad and TechExpert that will provide funding and support for eligible domestic students in developing AI and other tech skills for the future.
Research and innovation. The government promised funding worth £22.5bn pa by 2029/30 for research and innovation inviting local leaders to develop ‘innovation clusters’ across the UK to ‘turbo charge’ some of our fastest growing sectors including life sciences and manufacturing.
Predicted grades. UCAS launched a pilot scheme providing schools and colleges with their own predicted grade report, enabling students and teachers to look at both offers and grades held by previous successful applicants and providing a useful benchmark for the future.
SHAPE graduates. The British Academy reported on the latest data on SHAPE graduates showing that they ‘increasingly work in the UK’s highest growth sectors,’ enjoy strong wage growth and achieve positive results
New tertiary model. Wonkhe called for a greater alignment between HE, skills and economic growth as it published an initial report from its project looking into the future of post-18 education and proposing among other things a framework for regional growth, the creation of devolved post-18 education and skills groups, and a single qualification framework for post-18 provision.
Social mobility. The Social Market Foundation highlighted the key role universities can play in tackling social mobility, calling in a new report for a more holistic approach the be adopted reflecting universities’ wider impact on students, employees and local communities within the context of an extended national strategy.

Tweets and posts of note:

“There will be anxiety among teachers that the "core" schools budget is being increased just 0.4% per year after adjusting for inflation over coming three years. And all of this is likely to be eaten up by teachers' salary increases ”-@Peston.
“Normally I walk my youngest up to the classroom before saying goodbye. Today he looked at me solemnly and said, ‘Daddy, can I walk myself from the school gates from now on?’ And I said, ‘Sure,’ because of course he can, but nothing prepares you for that sucker punch to the heart” -@tombennett71.
“I'd love it if we didn't have to be so diplomatic in our parent emails. Instead of "If your daughter said that, I'm afraid she's mistaken", I'd love to say "your daughter is lying to you." But I can't. Because then I'd get even more angry emails” -@MBDscience.
“Having a PhD in education doesn't make you an expert in teaching. In fact, in many cases it's the opposite” -@C_Hendrick.
“I was brought up to regard English literature as a kind of secular religion. I never doubted that poetry and novels contained the meaning of life” -@j_amesmarriott.
“Opinion: A library is not a fast-fashion store. You don’t discard last season’s items because nobody wanted them, says Andrew Hui” -@timeshighered.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

“We are renewing Britain, but I know that too many people in too many parts of our country are yet to feel it” – the Chancellor sets out the theme for her Spending Review speech.
“She’s finished but she hasn’t said anything” – Independent journalist John Rentoul sums up the Spending Review details as the Chancellor sits down.
“The thing you have to remember about the spending review is that it is really only an itemised wish list of what the Government intends to spend in different departments” – former Conservative Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng explains what the Spending Review is all about.
“This training programme will unlock opportunity in every classroom – and lays the foundations for a new era of growth” – the PM announces a new programme of tech skills for secondary schools.
“I’m trying to think how we can break some of the addictive behaviour and incentivise more of the healthy developmental … and also the good communicative side of online life”- the tech secretary reflects on the case for social media apps caps.
“Teachers are irreplaceable, and AI could never be a substitute for teachers' professional judgement and the personal relationships they have with their students” – the government publishes new guidance on AI for schools and colleges.
“The recent jobs data paints a picture of a rapidly weakening labour market” – the Resolution Foundation comments on the latest labour market figures.
“For too long apprenticeships and skills have been a nice to have, not a necessary condition of prosperity” – Andrew Pakes MP and co-chair of the APPG on Apprenticeships.
“I note your absolute commitment to introduce the revised framework in November as planned and communicated to the sector. I look forward to receiving regular reports on your progress in the coming weeks and months” – the Education Secretary puts the Chief Inspector on notice over the introduction of proposed reforms.
“While “broken” is a term many people use and recognise, some argued that the term is not useful to those in the system currently nor at this stage when the question is how, not if, future reform will take place” – the LGA tackles reform of the SEND system.
“What’s beautiful about studies done in fully inclusive classrooms is that it’s not just neurodivergent kids that thrive, it’s all kids. One in four kids is not ‘special’. It’s not a special education, it’s education” – Jamie Oliver discusses the importance of inclusive education ahead of his programme on dyslexia.
“Too many of our children are spending their most precious years sedentary, doom scrolling on their phones and often alone, while their health and wellbeing deteriorates” – the Centre for Young Lives calls for a National Play strategy for children.

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

£109.2bn. The DfE’s budget by 2028/9, up from £100.9bn for 2025/6 according to the Spending Review report.
5%. The expected level of savings and efficiencies by the DfE over the Spending Review period, according to the Review report.
0.3%. The fall in UK GDP for the month of April, although up 0.7% overall for the three months to April according to the ONS.
4.6%. The UK unemployment rate for the three months to March 2025, the highest level in over three years according to latest estimates from the ONS.
14.3%. The unemployment rate in the UK for young people aged 16-24, up from 13.6% previously according to latest estimates from the ONS.
8.5m. The number of working people who believe their jobs are undermining their health, according to CIPD’s latest Good Work Index.
£78m. The budget for the Turing scheme for 2025/6, according to an update from the government.
120. The number of UKHE providers offering AI undergraduate courses this year up from 47 last year, according to figures quoted by the Times Higher.
42%. The number of student respondents who said that only one to three staff know their names and progress, according to HEPI/Advance HE student survey.
54%. The number of students who said they use cash less than once a month or never, according to a survey from Save the Student.
5.2m. The number of vocational and other related qualifications issued over the last year, up 2.4% on the previous year and mainly at L3, according to Ofqual.
1.7m. The number of pupils in England with special educational needs, up 5.6% on last year according to latest government figures.
92.6% and 83.5%. The percentage of applicants who received an offer of their first preference school this September for primary and secondary respectively, slightly down for primary and slightly up for secondary according to latest government figures.
18.2%. The persistent absence rate for pupils in England so far this year, lower than at the same point last year according to latest government data.
£1,515. The pupil premium funding available for each primary school child eligible for free school meals for 2025/26, according to latest government details.
15%. The number of parents with a child under five who have had to quit their jobs in the last year because of high child care costs, according to a survey from the Early Education and Childcare Coalition.

Everything else you need to know ...

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

MPs Education Questions (Monday 16 June)
Education Committee Evidence Session on the Curriculum and Assessment Review (Tuesday 17 June)
National Thank a Teacher Day (Wednesday 18 June)

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.