Steve Besley's Education Eye: week ending 23 January 2026

What's happened this week?

Important stories across the board:

A lot to take in this week.

The IfS published its latest annual Nuffield funded report into education spending in England. Down £14bn since 2010/11 it reckoned. Debate heated up about social media bans for under 16s. The Lords voted for it, the government said it’ll consult on options. The government published a new International Education Strategy and confirmed funding support for the Turing Scheme for another year. Inflation remained high and the labour market flat in the final set of economic data for last year. And aficionados gathered at Bett and Davos, in some cases not sure what they had just witnessed.

Here’s some detail for schools, FE and HE respectively.

In schools, the government took a step nearer banning mobile phones for teens with the launch of what it termed ‘a national conversation’ with parents about the wider impact of technology on children’s wellbeing generally.

“We will bring forward a swift three-month consultation on further measures to keep children safe online," the Technology Secretary told MPs before adding, “we will act robustly – just as we did with Grok.”

The Statement came as the DfE issued new, non-statutory guidance for schools on restricting mobile phone use in schools.

Up to now the government has tended to leave decisions to headteachers.

Latest figures indicate that most schools now have mobile phone policies in place although the government’s own figures suggest that over half of secondary school students find ways round the restrictions.

The guidance, which covers the roles of staff, parents and students including sanctions and searches, includes a number of case studies showing how many schools have gone about it.

Culture, communication and clarity about purpose and roles of all concerned seem to be key.

“On rare occasions where pupils do not follow the policy, or where a mobile phone is found following a spot check,” one secondary school explained, “devices can be confiscated for a week (longer in some circumstances) and can only be collected by a parent.”

The guidance makes clear that both the government and Ofsted have headteachers’ backs when it comes to confiscating or banning phones.

“My message to headteachers,” the chief inspector said, “is you now have all the backing - and the backing of my inspectors - to ban mobile phones in schools immediately.”

They’ll be checking on school mobile phone policies in inspections.

So not quite a ban yet, despite this week’s House of Lords vote for one, but an expectation that schools will be mobile-free zones by default, that Ofsted will do the checking and if need be finger wagging and that a consultation will look at options such as curfews, bans, age assurance measures and ways of preventing addictive use.

ASCL said it was ‘good news’ although it felt that the government should have responded sooner to growing concerns about the online risks to young people.

The Independent reported figures from the Good Growth Foundation suggesting that 66% of parents surveyed would support ‘a clear and enforceable ban’ on social media platforms for children.

Others are less sure, arguing that they should be banning online companies rather than young people.

That was the line taken by Ian Russell of the Molly Rose Foundation. ‘The government should enforce existing laws rather than implementing sledgehammer techniques like bans.’ The NSPCC agrees.

Much now hinges on the consultation.

For the children’s commissioner, it’s a case of “if, after consultation, Ministers put forward a clear plan to properly enforce a ban that’s based on how children tell us they access these sites, I would support it.”

On briefly to other developments of note for schools this week. Three in particular.

First, and still on the theme of tech, the Education Secretary addressed BETT where she promised funding for testing out new technology and set out new goals for AI in education.

“I’m so excited about AI because it means that we have the chance to make education work better for every single learner.”

The goals included supporting children, supporting teachers, supporting teaching and learning, opening up data and helping schools connect.

Second, the IfS’s latest annual report on education spending in England indicated that spending per pupil for primary this year amounts to £7,000 and per secondary pupil £7,800. That’s up 12% on 2010/11 figures for primary but down 3% for secondary.

The government has promised to maintain funding in real terms for the next three years but as the IfS said, inflation, rising costs and most dramatically of all SEND costs, could make this very tight.

The NAHT concluded, “this report lays out in stark terms the difficult choices ahead for the government when it comes to spending on schools, with costs expected to continue rising and demand for support for pupils with additional needs likely to increase further.”

County councils agreed. “Faced with exponential rises in demand and costs, councils have increasingly had to request that money from mainstream schools is diverted to prop up SEND services, with around £150m re-routed this way last year.”

The NEU pointed to its recent member survey showing schools running on empty.

And third, unions welcomed a new guide for helping parents and others engage with schools positively particularly if they have an issue to raise.

The guidance puts forward a 5-step approach from what kind of issue, to how to escalate it if need be. It also suggests how to avoid making things worse. Targeting people or behaving aggressively for instance.

“We welcome the publication of this guide as a step forward in taking some of the heat out of complaints from a minority of parents and in encouraging reasonable and respectful behaviour,” ASCL wrote.

On to FE where that IfS education spending report showed a total spend for the sector for the current year of £14bn, with plans to add £300m to this over the next three years.

Much of this is targeted at a catch-up for growing numbers of 16–18-year-olds in colleges, currently on £7,900 per student. Maintaining this in real terms would require a further £150m by 2028/9.

Spending on adults skills and apprentices has increased by 7% in real terms in recent years but is still 25% below the 2010/11 level.

Elsewhere, City and Guilds called for a flexible post-16 system as it issued its response to the Skills White Paper proposals on qualification reform.

T levels should reflect employer led occupational standards while V levels should be clear about their purpose and come in different sizes, they went on to say.

The response came as The Guardian issued an excoriating Editorial questioning aspects of the recent City and Guilds sell-off. “While the deal cannot be unpicked,” it wrote, “delayed scrutiny and accountability are better than none.”

In HE, the government released its new International Education Strategy.

“It is a relief to have the paper finally out, as it has been a wait,” wrote HEPI director Nick Hillman who went on to provide a helpful critique of the Strategy, offering a guarded welcome especially over the cross-government approach.

The Times Higher noted that “the document feels more restrained.” Others called it ‘bland.’

This is largely because the focus of the Strategy has shifted from the hardened numbers of the previous 2019 Strategy, 600,00 international students recruited a year and so on, towards a more general set of ambitions.

In all there are three: ‘building global education partnerships,’ sustainably’ recruiting students and ‘growing education exports.

As the government explained, “this approach removes targets on international student numbers in the UK and shifts the focus towards growing education exports overseas by backing UK providers to expand internationally, build partnerships abroad and deliver UK education in new markets.”

The nearest we get to a target is the third ‘ambition’ where the Strategy calls for the value of education exports to hit £40bn a year by 2030. The paper cites a benchmark figure of £32.3bn in 2022.

Much of this growth in export value will be driven by sector plans from across education.

But as Wonkhe concluded, “throughout the strategy there is nothing that deals with the restrictions being placed on higher education as the largest single contributor to educational exports.”

In other news, the Times Higher examined the available accounts of 100+ Universities UK institutions and reported that while 30, the same number as last year, had operating deficits, cash flow from operating activities had significantly increased.

“On average, institutions produced £14.8 million net cash each from operating activities – up from £7.7 million in 2023-24 but well below the £31.9 million of 2021-22.”

The NUS revealed how much the bank of Mum and Dad were being tapped into to support students living expenses.

“Most parents are contributing over £200 a month towards their child’s university living expenses. And 1 in 10 are contributing over £1000 a month,” their survey found. They called for parental income thresholds used for determining maintenance loans to be updated to reflect inflation.

This all came as the IfS in its education spending report acknowledged many of the financing challenges facing both universities and students in its latest annual report on education spending.

The recent commitment to raise the fee cap in line with inflation will help and “provide some much-needed certainty for universities and prospective students alike” but the impact of various repayment and tax freezes let alone the introduction of an international student fee levy remain concerns.

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

The top headlines of the week:

• ’Third of UK universities post deficits but cashflow improves’ (Monday)
• ‘UK consulting on bringing in social media ban for under 16s’ (Tuesday)
• ‘Crunch time on rising cost of SEND provision, says think tank’ (Wednesday)
• ‘Lords back UK social media ban for under-16s’ (Thursday)
• ‘Almost half of school leaders needed mental health support last year’ (Friday)

General:

• World Economic Outlook. The IMF published its assessment for the world economy this year, pointing to ‘a small upward revision’ globally to 3.3% although less for the UK but with much depending on geopolitical let alone domestic tensions along with the impact of AI.
• Going for growth. The Resolution Foundation acknowledged government efforts to restore stability and plan for growth despite the uncertainties created by its increasing number of policy U-turns, but called for bolder policy making particularly in the areas of planning, trade and the labour market, especially employment among the under 25s and over 50s.
• Labour market. The ONS published its latest initial figures on the UK labour market for last autumn showing wage increases remaining steady but the unemployment rate up, vacancies improving only slightly and youth unemployment remaining a big worry.
• WorkWell. The government announced the national rollout of its ‘WorkWell’ service, aimed at helping those with health conditions to stay or return to work with multiple local agencies including GP referrals and Jobcentre Plus lined up to offer support.

HE:

• Education spending. The IfS pointed to a 22% drop since 2012/13 in real terms in the teaching spend for universities as it published its latest annual report on education spending in England, acknowledging that the recent increase in the fee cap in line with inflation will help many institutions but that the cost of loan repayments will remain challenging for many students.  
• International Education. The government published its promised new International Education Strategy built around ‘ambitions’ rather than targets, listing three, including strengthening partnerships and markets abroad, supporting ‘sustainable’ international student recruitment and growing education exports to the tune of £40bn pa by 2030.
• Cash flows. The Times reported on its latest funding analysis so far for some 100+ UUK registered universities indicating that 30 have operating deficits, the same as last year, but that fewer than 10% had negative cash flows.
• Bank of Mum and Dad. The NUS published the results of a new survey showing that over half of parents surveyed contribute over £200 a month to their child’s university living expenses, calling for parental income thresholds which are used to means test maintenance loans, to be adjusted to reflect inflation.  
• Turing Scheme 2026/27. The government confirmed that it was inviting schools, colleges and HE institutions to apply for placements abroad under the Turing Scheme for the coming year.
• Drone degree. The government announced that the New Model Institute for Tech and Engineering (NMITE) will launch a degree in drone technology from this September, helping to provide for the specialist skills identified by the Strategic Defence Review.
• How much? The Student Loans Company outlined the latest details on living cost support for students in England for this year and next with charts showing minimum and maximum maintenance loan levels available.

Tweets and posts of note:

• “Inevitably this week some people will come away from the BETT show having lost their minds over the new shiny tech that’s being released. All I will say is view everything with a critical lens (not negative). Lots of shiny tech has been presented over the years, not all good.” -@Samstricko181.
• “Odd to me that we're talking so much about banning social media for under-16s and banning smartphones in schools but not about the fact schools are teaching and giving so much homework to do on screens when it is completely unnecessary for the subject in question” -@siennamarla.
• “I do think that we need products that are designed for children that limit the amount of time that they're on - these things are addictive. Even when we as adults use them. You look up and you realise you've been on it for half an hour when you wanted to check something, just for five minutes” -@KemiBadenoch.
• “Some graduates on so-called 'Plan 2' student loans are forecast to pay back more than they borrowed” -@BBCr4today.
• “I am on a nearly ten-year unbroken streak of not attending a single useful Professional Development Day!” -@JamesAFurey.
• “I’ve been accidentally called ‘mum’ several times by children in my class, but today my son accidentally called me by his teacher’s name!” -@SarahFarrellKS2
• “My teacher told me not to worry about spelling because in the future there will be autocorrect. And for that I am eternally grapefruit” -@BigBearF1.
• “A lot of women say their husband never listened to them. I am proud to say I have never heard my wife say that” -@robertwlk.

A selection of quotes that merit attention:

• “Public spending on education has also fallen as a share of national income, from about 5.6% of national income in 2010–11 down to about 4.1% in 2024–25” – the IfS publishes its latest annual report on public spending on education in England.
• “Momentum is uneven” – the IMF updates on the global economy.
• “I am looking forward to contributing to the Group’s mission and shaping its public contribution through partnership with government, industry and beyond” – Professor Libby Hackett on being appointed as the next Chief Exec of the Russell Group.
• “The latest data indicate businesses are still not feeling confident about taking on more staff or expanding their operations” – the British Chambers of Commerce responds to the latest labour market figures.
• “This strategy places our world‑class education system at the heart of the UK’s global engagement” – the government releases a new International Education Strategy.
• “AI can do so much for our education system. But it will never replace the human light of learning, passed down from one generation to the next” – the Education Secretary focuses on the role of AI in education in her address to this year’s BETT.
•  “We will consult with parents, the organisations representing children and bereaved families, technology companies, and – crucially – with children and young people themselves” – the government launches consultation on online safety for young people.
• “Good, clear communication about the risks of mobile phone use and the benefits of mobile phone-free time can support parents in managing their child’s mobile phone use outside school” – the government issues new guidance to schools on communicating with parents about mobile phones.
• “Our most recent survey shows that schools are ‘running on empty’ with shortages of even basic supplies like glue sticks and pens” – the NEU reports on its latest members’ survey about school funding.

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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.