Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 12 September 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:

Plenty of big news items this week for the new ministerial team in the education dept to get stuck into, if they weren’t aware enough already.

Among the week’s headlines, Ofsted confirmed details of its new inspection regime to mixed reactions, pupil attendance was raised in two new reports each using the word ‘crisis,’ the IfS examined SEND reform, NEETs were highlighted as a growing concern by two further reports, the Times Higher reported on course closures in UKHE over the past year, and in a big move for the HE sector, two universities announced a super merger.

And talking of universities, the OECD launched its 2025 ‘Education at a Glance’ survey of global education systems this week, focusing this time on tertiary education and giving in the words of Lord Willetts “a vote of confidence in Britain’s universities.”

But at 500+pages, the report is more ‘Education at a Gasp’ than ‘at a Glance.’

And if all of that wasn’t enough for the new ministerial team, the Shadow Education Secretary reckoned there were three ‘immediate actions’ they should take. These included scrapping the academy part of the Schools Bill, banning smartphones in the classroom and not allowing exams to be replaced by course work.

“There are a host of other issues, SEND, behaviour, teacher retention, absence, care system, apprenticeships,” she went on to say, “but the above three are things you can do right now to improve standards for children at school.”

The Education Secretary may have claimed in her welcome message at the start of the week that ‘we’ve got a lot to look forward to’ but some are still hoping.

Let’s start the week’s run through with a look at Ofsted’s new inspection framework, due to be implemented from 10 November for volunteers and for which details emerged this week as part of the government’s wider reforms on schools accountability.

There’s a lot to take in but in essence the proposed new system is built around three components.

First, the DfE, described as ‘the steward and regulator for the schools system.’

It may still be awaiting confirmation through the current Schools Bill on the procedure for converting underperforming schools into academies or not but now has plans to develop from next year a digital service to enable school leaders to compare their performance against other similar schools.

Second, the Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) programme. Broadly a ramped up team of school improvement experts currently working with so-called ‘stuck’ schools but shortly to consider how to support those who need more help generally.

And third, Ofsted with its revamped inspection framework including notably a new 5-point grading scale, wider range of evaluation areas, new toolkit and report card.

The Education Secretary claimed that “by providing a fuller picture of school performance – from attendance and behaviour to inclusion – we’re giving parents the transparency they deserve and schools the tools to improve.”

But questions will be asked about how it all fits together and how easy it will be for parents and families to get an easy picture of school/college performance.

On top of that, Ofsted remains a source of contention for many. ASCL for instance dismissed the Ofsted reforms as “a reformed system that appears to be even worse’” while the NEU dissed the 5-point grading scale as ‘Nando’s style.’

Others like Professor Julia Walters have called for a delay in implementation. As the NAHT, whose own members in a snap poll rejected the new plans wrote, ‘what happens next will be key.’

Next for schools, pupil absences featuring in two new reports this week.

In one, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) highlighted the devastating effects missing school can have on a young person’s life chances. “Failure to attend school regularly extinguishes hopes of GCSE passes and is a reliable predictor of a disastrous adult life marred by crime, unemployment and low earnings.”

In the other, the children’s commissioner found schools battling to cope with a growing range of additional needs of children with variable levels of funding and support and school absence part of the mix. “Many schools are doing what they can to fill service gaps and support children with a wide range of additional needs, but that doesn’t happen in a systemic or consistent way.”

Both reports talked of a crisis.

Related evidence this week from the Education Endowment Foundation and the ONS have added to the sense of urgency.

In fairness, the Education Secretary prioritised tackling school absence in a message last week and the dept clarified its statutory guidance on the matter for schools and authorities this week.

Either way, absence data is likely to be carefully scrutinised in the coming months.

And to round off schools news this week, the DfE published further provisional data on this summer’s KS2 attainment.

Unions welcomed the government’s announcement on progress being made on RAAC schools but as the NAHT explained there’s lots of other issues with school buildings that need addressing.

“The issues with the school estate are not just about RAAC. We hear of problems with leaking roofs, children learning in draughty portable cabins, and even school dinners being served in corridors.”

And according to Teacher Tapp, Wednesdays, followed by Mondays, are the most popular days for meetings. TGIF perhaps.

In FE, both the AoC and AELP suggested they could work with the new Ofsted inspection framework, albeit with some shrugs of shoulders about timing and workload.

Interestingly former FAB boss Tom Bewick reckoned a different type of inspection model was needed for post-18, more like Trust Pilot with defined criteria he reckoned. Anyone remember ALI, the old Adult Learning Inspectorate?

In other news, two reports this week have honed in on the growing numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs.)

In one, the TUC, which has been in conference this week, pointed to “a growing crisis in young people’s labour market participation.” It called for quality apprenticeships, a jobs guarantee and support for disabled young people.

In the other, the Learning and Work Institute highlighted the difficult relationship between many young people and the benefits system. “The current system presents challenges for effective implementation and does not always effectively support young people.” It called for dedicated Jobcentre coaches, funding and support.

These both came as the OECD underlined in its latest report the challenges facing young people with poor or no qualifications. “The labour market outcomes of young adults without upper secondary attainment in the United Kingdom are weak.”

In fact as HEPI’s Nick Hillman pointed out in his summary of the report, there’re among the worst among competitor countries.

On a more positive note, young skill athletes including from the UK have been participating in the EuroSkills event in Denmark this week.

And the government announced funding through its new Defence Industrial Strategy for the creation of five new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges.

They’ll open next year and provide skills training as part of a range of training options in a growing sector.

In HE, the OECD praised much of the UK’s tertiary system in its latest global report pointing to high completion rates and returns all helping make it “one of the most attractive destinations for international students.”

Former vice-chancellor Sir Chris Husbands has an excellent summary of some of the report’s implications for English HE on the HEPI website. Two he notes are the high cost and flexibility of the current funding model and secondly the emerging cost challenge of low attaining young people.

Elsewhere, the Times Higher reported on the sector’s first multi or super university as Greenwich and Kent Universities announced plans to join forces from 2026/27.

It’s one of the options that’s been bandied about for some time for intuitions under financial pressure and will no doubt be followed closely as a future operating model.

The boss of Universities UK called it ‘a perfect example of creative thinking.’ The UCU described it as ‘a takeover.’ Wonkhe has a useful summary of it all on its website.

In other news, Universities UK highlighted the work universities were doing to provide the high-level skills needed for the government’s recent industrial Strategy.

“From workforce development to breakthrough research, universities are key partners in building a resilient, high-growth economy. There can be no national renewal without them.”

And ‘Think before you click.’

The Student Loans Co reminded students of the perils of scams as it geared up to pay loans and payments to over a million students at the start of a new academic year.

It feels exhausting already.

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

The top headlines of the week:

‘Mental health the top concern for almost three quarters of schools’ (Monday)
‘Ofsted to bring in ‘report card’ school inspections despite criticisms’ (Tuesday)
‘UK’s first ‘super-university’ to be created as two merge from 2026’ (Wednesday)
‘Pupils behind more than half of ‘insider’ school cyber attacks’ (Thursday)
‘Special needs overhaul risks becoming ‘welfare reforms mark 2,’ IfS finds’ (Friday)

General:

Reforming Jobcentres. The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee published its report into Jobcentres calling for a shift in their focus from monitoring compliance with benefit conditions towards employment support.
Insecure work. The TUC highlighted the extent of so-called insecure work, typically agency, seasonal and zero hours contract work, in a new report timed for its Annual Congress, with women and those in care ,leisure, service and elementary occupations most likely to be affected.
Health and wellbeing at work. The CIPD and Simplyhealth pointed to ‘a sharp increase in sickness absence’ at work with mental health and stress the main causes, acknowledging the work being done in many companies to support employee wellbeing but calling for stronger support, funding and statutory schemes where necessary.
Labour market. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG published their latest Jobs Report pointing to a sharp rise in staff availability and further reduction in permanent placements over the last month, albeit with regional and sector variations
Generation New Era. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) announced a new cohort study, the first since the Millennium Cohort Study at the start of the century, looking on this occasion at children born in 2026 with a view to building a picture of childhood across Britain in the 21^stc.
Education at a Glance. The OECD published its 2025 major survey of education systems across member countries focusing this year on tertiary education and pointing to a successful system in the UK with high participation and attainment/completion rates, albeit at high levels of cost and financial pressure.

More specifically ...

Schools:

School accountability. The government published its approach to school accountability following earlier consultation, outlining a set of revised principles, new digital school profiles and mix of inspection, intervention and support mechanisms that will be introduced over the coming months.
Ofsted inspections. Ofsted set out its revised inspection approach due from 10 November incorporating a new 5-point grading scale, a refined set of 6 evaluation areas and a new report card system, claiming that it had broad support for such changes and would continue to focus on ‘the wellbeing and workload of providers.’
Inspection response. The NAHT reported that school leader members ‘overwhelmingly rejected’ Ofsted new inspection plans, citing negative impact on wellbeing, lack of trust, increased workload and lack of meaningful change among their concerns in a snap poll.
Schools’ Plan. The children’s commissioner highted the extent and range of children’s needs both inside and outside of school as she published the results of her major new survey report, finding support systems for young people variable and calling ultimately for ‘a new vision’ of education with Local Mission Boards, statutory support where necessary and services beyond the school gate.
SEND reform. The IfS examined some of the issues around SEND reform arguing that while it could be costly, doing nothing could be more expensive, arguing for improved supply-side provision and accountability.
Missing school. The Centre for Social Justice reported on school absences, pointing to a dangerously cavalier attitude among some families about the importance of attending school, highlighting the damage this can do young people’s prospects and calling for more mentors, enrichment activity and Family Hubs to help tackle the issue.
Missing school and links to mental health. Loughborough University and the ONS highlighted links between children missing school and experiencing mental health issues in a new study, looking at data in England from 2021-2022 and concluding that school absence and mental health issues often become ‘a vicious cycle.’
Schools absence. FFT Education Datalab examined whether missing the first week of term was critical for tackling persistent absence suggesting that while missing any weeks was potentially damaging, missing the start of term put pupils in secondary schools, especially those with SEN, at greater risk of persistent absence.
School admissions. The Sutton Trust reported on its work looking into school admissions suggesting that there’re still a lot of misconceptions about parental choice with housing, finances and logistics key factors.
Tackling disadvantage. The Education Endowment Foundation pointed to new research showing low literacy skills, poor attendance and mental health needs as key barriers to improved performance for disadvantaged pupils, calling for schools to focus pupil premium support on high-quality teaching and targeted support as ways of helping.
Off the RAAC. The government claimed that more than half of schools and colleges affected by RAAC had now had the dangerous concrete removed or were well on the way to having it removed.
Data breaches. The Information Commissioner raised concerns that an increasing number of data breaches in schools over the last few years have been caused by pupils themselves, calling on schools and families to confront the issue with young people where necessary.

FE/Skills:

Ofsted inspections. Ofsted set out the details of its new inspection framework incorporating as promised a new 5-point grading scale and report card but with some changes to the evaluation areas for FE and skills providers around inclusion and ‘contribution to skills needs’ as explained in a dedicated toolkit.
Defence Colleges. The government announced as part of its Defence Industrial Strategy that it would fund and support five new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges, to open next year and provide skills training for both new and existing staff in the defence industry.
Plan for Young People. The TUC highlighted the growing issue of NEETs in a new report, calling for support in the form of a national jobs guarantee scheme, ringfenced high quality apprenticeship opportunities and investment in skills.
Youth Guarantee. The Learning and Work Institute examined likely challenges and opportunities around the Youth Guarantee in a report for the Youth Futures Foundation, pointing to concerns about the relationship between young people seeking work and the benefits system and calling among other things for dedicated Youth Employment Coaches and a Flexible Support Fund.

HE:

New ‘super’ university. Greenwich and Kent Universities announced plans to work together and form a new multi-university grouping from 2026/27, creating the sector’s first ‘super university’ as financial pressures continue to mount.
Course closures. The Times Higher reported that nearly 4,000 courses had closed across UK universities over the past year, often in subjects like agriculture and food, physical and social sciences, but with less selective universities taking the biggest hits.
Cold spots. The British Academy called for more collaboration between institutions and stronger regional partnerships to protect SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts and the Economy) subjects, which it argued in a new report were increasingly being squeezed out, leaving some students unable to access to such subjects.
OECD report. HEPI Director Nick Hillman summarised some of the details from the OECD’s latest survey of global education systems which focused on tertiary education, highlighting some of the strengths of the UK system such as high completion rates in HE but equally some of the concerns, such as the poor returns for those with low qualifications.
Supporting industrial strategy. Universities UK published a series of case studies showing the work universities were doing in providing skills and support for each of the key growth areas in the government’s recent Industrial Strategy.
Research at Risk. Universities UK, ARMA and CaSE highlighted the challenging financial scenarios facing many institutions when it comes to research with some having to cut back on activity and having to restrict options, calling on the government to recognise the importance of research in its Budget thinking.

Tweets and posts of note:

“How tired am I after the first week back? I've just had to take a break whilst slicing a bagel” -@MBDscience.
“Two year 1 girls come running round the corner and crash into me. Both hit the floor. That's why we don't run, I say, after picking them up. Sorry, they say. Just don't run, girls, I say. Ok, and they walk down the corridor. 5 yards down, one says to the other, who is he?” -@llewelyn20.
“The naive adoption of a new technology because of how shiny it is, is the drumbeat of education for an entire century. From interactive whiteboards to iPads, it’s been an expensive and repetitive waste of time. And it’s time more people in the sector said so” -@tombennett71.
“Teachers sleep better in the holidays! 18% report very good sleep, about 3x higher than in term-time” -@Teacher Tapp.
“I just sent myself an email (I do this in order to file things of interest to me, or ideas). It went straight to the 'Deleted' folder. My email account decided to delete one of my thoughts. I am affronted and outraged.” -@MichaelRosenYes.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

“This first in a generation study will help us understand what childhood is like in 21st century Britain” – the science minister announces a new cohort study of children born in 2026 intended to build a picture of childhood in the 21^stc.
“If today's announcement is indicative of how the government intends to deal with financial instability in the sector we should all be worried” – the UCU responds to the proposed merger between Kent and Greenwich Universities.
“Young people today are yet again facing an uncertain future, with unemployment risking further scarring to their pay and progression prospects” – the TUC sets out an ‘ambitious’ new plan for young people.
“The changes we are introducing are fair and empathetic for professionals, but without losing sight of our core purpose to raise standards ” – Ofsted introduces its new inspection framework.
“We have previously said that we will consider encouraging members who serve as Ofsted inspectors to withdraw their services and we will now put that question to our elected members" - ASCL responds to Ofsted’s reformed inspection framework.
“Bluntly, the most well executed and evidence-based pedagogy the teaching profession has to offer is of no use for a child outside of the classroom the lesson is happening in” – the children’s commissioner highlights the growing range of challenges children face outside the school gates.
“Persistent school absence is a disaster for individual prospects but it is also an economic time bomb” – the Centre for Social Justice reports on the devastating impact of school absences.
“England is among the countries with high turnover, with 0.8% of teachers retiring and 8.7% resigning each year” – one of the bits of detail for this country from this year’s Education at a Glance report.
“I strongly believe that parents, not algorithms, should be raising our children” – EU President Ursula von der Leyen calls for social media restrictions for children in her State of the Union address this week.

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

9.4. The average number of sick days claimed by UK employees a year, according to a report from the CIPD.
4m. The number of people in insecure employment last year, according to the TUC.
7.13m. The number of exam results issued across England this summer, according to Ofqual.
6,500+. The number of responses received to its consultation earlier this year, according to Ofsted.
91%. The number of NAHT members who rejected Ofsted’s new inspection plans, according to a snap poll from the union.
57%. The number of data breaches in schools over the last couple of years caused by students, according to the Information Commissioner.
150,000+. The number of children to have experience the bereavement of someone close to them last year, according to a report from the children’s commissioner highlighting the range of challenges facing children both in and out of school.
42%. The number of parents surveyed who said that what children were taught in school was unlikely to help them in later life, according to a report from the Centre for Social Justice.

Everything else you need to know ...

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

Westminster Hall debate on children with SEND (Monday 15 September)
Learning and Work Institute/Pearson webinar on ‘Occupational standards and the changing needs of the economy’ (Wednesday 17 September)
Edge webinar on ‘How to engage more small businesses and young people in apprenticeships’ (Thursday 18 September)

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.