Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 16 January 2026

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:

Banning mobile phones for teenagers, consultation responses on V levels and are students still woke?

Three of the top talking points in education this week.

Let’s start with social media and mobile phones and the debate about their use in schools.

Kemi Badenoch said a future Conservative government would follow Australia and ban mobile phones for under 16s. “Children are not adults.”

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham agreed. “It seems to me parents would welcome a cross-party consensus around much bolder action.”

The NASUWT teaching union added its voice. “If we are serious about safeguarding children, protecting their mental health and combating the behaviour crisis in our schools, then a statutory ban for under‑16s must happen urgently.”

And significantly, Teacher Tapp reported in a survey commissioned by the TES that, “almost all teachers (97 per cent) agree to some extent that there should be greater regulation of children’s social media use.”

This all came as the government published its latest commissioned report into its Children of the 2020s project, showing that in the words of the researchers, “two-year-olds in England watch television, videos or other digital content for an average of two hours each day, double the daily recommended screen time.”

So where are we with it all?

The Technology Secretary has said she will be guided by the evidence while the Education Secretary maintains school leaders already have the powers to ban phones in schools.

The government has said it will publish guidance on screen time for children in a few months’ time but there is a sense that things are moving in this area and more details may come on Monday as part of an amendment to the Schools Bill.

Away from phones, SEND reform has remained in the spotlight this week with a new campaign group coming together to protect education and health care plans (EHCPs.)

The newly launched ‘Save Our Children’s Rights’ campaign fear that “a reduction or complete snatching-away of EHCPs in mainstream wouldn't mean their needs magically vanish. It would, instead, increase applications for already-overcrowded special schools or mean they would be forced out of school altogether.”

Their petition now has over 100,000 signatures

In other news this week, the latest figures on the numbers of children being home educated as well as those missing education, the latter down slightly to be fair, continued to raise concerns.

According to the NAHT, “the increasing use of home education and worrying number of children still missing education highlight the importance of the government’s plans for a register of children not in school and a single unique identifier for each child”

Elsewhere, Conservative MP Dr Neil Shastri-Hunt introduced his Bill to MPs ‘requiring the teaching in schools of skills relating to emergency situations.’ The Bill receives a Second Reading on 29 May.

The Sunak’s maths charity reported on how maths make many families, let alone children, go weak at the knees. According to their survey, 20% of parents were not confident about helping their children with their homework.

‘A quiet shame,’ as the Chief Exec of the charity put it, with children often reflecting similar anxieties.

The charity promised £500,000 in grants to two organisations working with schools and families.

Ofqual published its regular guidance for schools, colleges and students about arrangements for this year’s exams. Lots of important information on everything from assessments to access.

And the Education Secretary brought big names from sport, TV and the arts together to help launch the ‘Go All In’ campaign behind the Year of Reading.

“I’m asking families across the country to read together for just 10 minutes a day,” she said, with best selling author Richard Osman sitting next to her.

In FE, a number of organisations have been publishing their responses to the government’s consultation on V levels and other post-16 qualifications which closed at the start of this week.

Exam board AQA suggested in its response that some changes were needed, including to the proposed timetable.

On V levels it said they shouldn’t “become quasi-academic qualifications, in their content or assessment.”

And on T levels, it “recommended that the Government uses this welcome revamp of the qualifications offer to reconsider whether T Levels can perform the role proposed for them – to be the only large vocational option available – for every sector and occupation.”

More details in its full consultation response here.

The Skills Federation highlighted the importance of working with employers and skills bodies in developing V levels as well as ensuring that young people, employers, careers advisers and others were fully briefed on any qualification changes.

“The differentiation between ‘T Levels’ and ‘V Levels’ needs to be drawn carefully given that the words ‘vocational’ and ‘technical’ are often used both inter-changeably and in different ways.”

More details in their response here.

In other news, the government released the latest progress report on its Modern Industrial Strategy.

The Q4 report for the end of last year pointed to 50,000 jobs created and £79bn invested to date along with claimed wider business reforms, such as the skills white paper and the Employment Rights Act, all intended to support growth.

Funding for the creative industries and the publication of the fraught Defence Investment Plan are among the key moments for the first quarter of this year.

The Learning and Work Institute confirmed the details of its work with the Institute for Employment Studies on helping better understand and support local labour markets.

The project, commissioned by the government just before Christmas, is currently in its initial consultation and mapping stage which completes this April.

The government announced the appointment of Praful Nargund, the founder of the Good Growth Foundation, as skills adviser at the DWP.

He’ll work with others at the dept until the summer at least, looking at how best “to maximise the impact of adult skills policy in England following its transfer to the Department for Work and Pensions.”

It’s a start but as the Edge Foundation’s Chief Exec highlighted in a blog this week there are plenty of other issues to get to grips with this year when it comes to skills.

She listed planned apprenticeship reforms, tackling youth unemployment and alternative qualification routes like V levels as three to be going on with.

And, for many people, a key player when it comes to skills in the coming months will be Skills England.

In an interesting article this week for FE Week, skills adviser John Cope cast his eye over how this important body is shaping up.

“There’s (also) a danger of expectations racing ahead of capacity,” he wrote. “Skills England has inherited complex functions, high visibility and deep-rooted problems. Without the tools, stability and time to succeed, optimism will quickly turn to cynicism, regardless of leadership.”

Early days but a sharp reminder of the challenges ahead.

In HE, the OfS reported on top degrees awarded over recent years.

Going back to 2010/11, it showed that while the number of first-class degrees awarded in recent years dropped to 28.8% last year, it’s still considerably higher than the 15.8% of 15 years ago.

Some of this may be down to higher quality teaching and learning but, it seems, not all.

“While unexplained first and upper second-class degree attainment has also fallen for the third consecutive year, we remain vigilant to the risk of unexplained increases becoming embedded and undermining public confidence in the value of a degree.”

Elsewhere the OfS announced the names of its new panel of provider members designed to help shape the future of HE regulation.

“Their views will help us to develop future policies and understand how our regulation impacts institutions of all types and sizes,” as the OfS Chair explained.

‘Advice and constructive challenge’ is the order of the day.

Elsewhere MPs looked at the potential merits of a statutory duty of care for universities with the minister saying they will continue to monitor the evidence.

And HEPI Director Nick Hillman asked ‘are students still woke?’ as the Institute published the results of a recent survey among undergraduate students about free speech.

Most (71%) support the government’s current approach towards free speech in HE and 90% report feeling able to ‘express their views without obstacle.’ But 35% reckon Reform should be banned from speaking at HE institutions.

As Nick concluded, “overall, if it were ever right to use the loaded term ‘woke’ to describe contemporary students, then it seems clear the so-called ‘end of woke’ has not yet reached university campuses. However, in places the results suggest students’ views are contradictory or even confused, so labelling them with any such term may be unfair.”

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

The top headlines of the week:

’Tories would ban under-16s from social media’ (Monday)
‘Ofqual chief reveals ‘anxiety’ about the use of AI in exam coursework’ (Tuesday)
‘Almost all teachers want under-18 social media limits, survey shows’ (Wednesday)
‘A quarter of 11-yr olds have below than expected reading skills, research shows’ (Thursday)
‘New £200m scheme will offer SEND training to all training staff’ (Friday)

General:

Education Committee concerns on Grok. The Chair of the Education Committee wrote to the Chief Exec of Ofcom raising concerns about the use of the Grok AI chatbot, supporting Ofcom’s decision to launch a formal investigation into the matter and calling on Ofcom to keep them appraised of any progress.
DCMS. The NAO reported on the work of the Dept for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) supported 4.9m jobs and generated £220bn in economic activity in 2023, largely through tourism, sport and the creative industries.
Business confidence. The consultancy Deloitte published the results of its recent survey among Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) indicating an uptick in confidence with 59% of respondents, up 20% on 2024, optimistic about the potential of AI in boosting performance.
Business recruitment. The British Chambers of Commerce published its latest Quarterly Recruitment Outlook showing fewer than a quarter of surveyed firms expecting to increase the size of their workforce over the next three months, with construction, manufacturing and retail continuing to struggle with recruitment.
Infants and screen time. The government published further evidence from its commissioned research study into children growing up in the 2020s, looking here at the learning environment and screen time among two-year olds and finding just over half reading or looking at books daily but nearly all watching TV or screens each day.
Children’s homes. The children’s commissioner published a further report into the use of illegal homes being used to house vulnerable children, showing that caravans, Airbnbs and so on are still widely being used especially for teens, calling for more foster care and therapeutic homes generally.
Early years. The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) called for ‘fair and sustainable funding’ and support for private, voluntary and independent nurseries as it launched a new publicity campaign highlighting their work.

More specifically ...

Schools:

Exams 2026. Ofqual published its regular guidance for schools and colleges as well as for students, on the arrangements and important information for this year’s exams, covering everything from new specs in some GCSE languages, to how grading works, to access and contingency procedures.
SEND training. The government announced a package of ‘flexible’ training and resources to help provide teaching staff in early years, schools and colleges from next year with the tools needed to support SEND provision.
SEND reform. Leading campaigners and other organisations joined with the new Save Our Children’s Rights (SOCR) campaign to make sure education, health and care plans (EHCPs) were protected ahead of proposed reform plans, following rumours that they could be under threat.
Use of AI in marking. Ofqual published a commissioned research report into the use of AI in high-stakes marking suggesting that along with other measures it had value as a quality assurance tool and in training markers but that greater clarity was needed on its intended use, the nature of the qualification in question and interpretation of results before being used for any high-stakes marking.
Nervous about maths. The Richmond Project, a charity founded by the Sunaks with the aim of helping families in particular with using numbers, reported on a new commissioned survey showing the extent of people’s anxiety over maths, pledging funds for two organisations to help families and schools with maths.
Recruiting more physics teachers. The NFER acknowledged in a new Gatsby funded report that the recruitment of physics teachers had improved recently but that future curriculum changes among other things meant more would be needed, pointing to the importance of bursaries and early career payments as ways of helping boost numbers.

FE/Skills:

Industrial Strategy Update. The government published the latest quarterly report on its Industrial Strategy with a series of charts and investment details for each of the eight key industrial sectors, along with supportive developments undertaken in the wider business environment.
The year ahead. Alice Gardner, CEO at Edge, looked ahead to some of the priorities for skills this year in a blog on the FE News website, pointing to planned apprenticeship changes, tackling NEETs issues and the potential emergence of V levels as likely big topics.
Local labour markets. The Learning and Work Institute outlined its work with the Institute for Employment Studies, commissioned by the government, on how best to monitor and support local labour markets with initial consultation due to complete this April.
Construction apprenticeships. The British Association of Construction Heads (BACH) wrote to the government expressing concerns about the impact of proposed apprenticeship reforms on the sector, arguing among other things that the complexity of the sector had not been recognised and that the quality assurance proposals would lower standards.
Management apprenticeships. The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) called on the government to retain all current management apprenticeships and to invest fully in management training generally, arguing that full training for managers was essential for future productivity.

HE:

Top degrees. The Office for Students (OfS) published further analysis of degree classifications over time, extending its brief to include the years 2010/11 - 2023/24 and showing that while the number of top grades awarded has fallen in recent years it’s still above that of 2010, with the reasons behind this not fully clear.
Provider Panel. The OfS announced the members of its new Provider Panel that will work closely with the organisation providing advice and guidance on HE regulation.
Free speech. The HEPI reported on its recent survey among undergraduates on free speech issues, suggesting that the full picture is ‘nuanced and at times contradictory’ but that most feel free to speak their views and support the government’s current approach on the matter but that over a third would ban Reform from speaking at events in HE institutions.
University applications. The BBC ran through the financial implications and potential returns of going to university as the latest deadline for 2026 applications loomed this week.
To merge or not. Former VC Sir Chris Husbands examined the question of institutional mergers in a blog on the HEPI website, suggesting that while they may appear a popular option at times of financial stress, they may not be straightforward with weak government incentives, complex regulation issues and cultural differences among the challenges to be overcome.

Tweets and posts of note:

“Social media is harming our children. Far too little is being done to protect them from violent and sexual content online. That’s why I’m announcing the next Conservative government will raise the age of consent for social media to support parents” -@KemiBadenoch.
“Teaching is weird because even if your class is generally well behaved, if one kid derails the whole thing, you still get asked what you could have done differently. The problem is likely not the teacher” -@JamesAFurey.
“To those that keep citing kids can leant off an AI teacher or from a screen please remember the pandemic & that online learning didn’t really hit the mark” -@Samstricko181.
“My son’s reception class have a ‘mystery reader’ slot each week that parents can sign up for to come in and read to the children. It was my turn a few days, and it was easily the highlight of my week!” -@SarahFarrellKS2.
“I bought a pen that can write underwater. It can write other words, too” -@BobGolen.
“If Britain is going to be invaded can it at least be by the Romans, we desperately need the roads resurfacing!” -@BigBearF1.
“Adult life really boils down to four things: Everything is expensive, I don't know what to eat, I'm tired, and ibuprofen” -@Dadsaysjokes.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

“Early signs of a pickup in confidence” – the NIESR responds to the latest UK growth figures.
“Today’s students are more definite in their views than their predecessors. Confusingly, however, they offer stronger support for the principle of free speech while also being even keener to see specific barriers against free expression” – HEPI reports on free speech in our universities.
“England’s skills system has a long history of new bodies that never quite land. Skills England is now around the thirteenth national skills body in fifty years. Structural churn slows delivery and carries a hidden cost in lost corporate memory” – skills adviser John Cope on the challenges facing Skills England.
“The number of things that are being pumped out by schools has increased a hundredfold”- the headmaster of one private school on how such schools are coping with the VAT imposition.
“Whatever the SEND system's problems, the answer is not to remove the rights of children and young people. Families cannot afford to lose these precious legal protections” – campaigners call for EHCPs to be protected ahead of SEND reforms.
“Despite an unusually rapid increase in illness-related absence through November, particularly at secondary, overall rates of absence and persistent absence in this year’s Autumn Term were broadly similar to last year’s” – FFT Education Datalab digs into pupil absence figures for last term.
“Some of my happiest childhood memories are of reading with my grandad, getting lost in The Chronicles of Narnia together” – the Education Secretary at the launch of the National Year of Reading.
“It’s like a post-apocalyptic tale where the last people left on earth are the 22 people in a castle in Scotland” – an insider describes what life is like in The Traitors.

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

0.3%. The growth figure for the UK economy in November, higher than expected as car production and some services picked up according to the ONS.
22%. The number of surveyed firms that have cut staff training over the last quarter with 57% saying its stayed the same, according to the British Chambers of Commerce.
21%. The number of women surveyed reporting that they had experienced unfair treatment at work due to expecting or having children, according to a survey from the TUC.
88%. The number of undergraduates surveyed who support the use of trigger warnings, up slightly in recent years according to a survey of free speech in HE by HEPI.
17. The number of colleges in England where staff are said to be on strike this week over pay and conditions, according to the UCU.
34,700. The number of children missing education as of last term’s census date, down from 39,200 on the previous autumn according to latest government data.
175,900. The number of children educated at home at some point over last year, up from 153,300 the previous year according to latest government figures.
90%. The number of parents surveyed keen to improve their children’s maths skills, with 78% wanting to improve their own, according to research commissioned by the Richmond Project.
69%. The number of teachers surveyed who think the government should introduce more regulation over children’s use of social media, according to a survey from Teacher Tapp.
10 minutes. The amount of time that families should set aside each day for reading together if possible, according to the Education Secretary.
4%. The revised pay offer agreed for teachers and school leaders in Northern Ireland for 2025/26, according to the NAHT.

Everything else you need to know ...

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

MPs Education Questions (Monday 19 January)
Launch of the OECD’s ‘Digital Education Outlook 2026’ (Monday 19 January)
Annual World Economic Forum of global leaders at Davos (Monday 19 – Friday 23 January)
BETT 2026 Conference with official opening by the Education Secretary on Day 1 (Wednesday 21 – Friday 23 January)
UCAS 2025 End of Cycle provider-level undergraduate data level release (Wednesday 21 January)

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.