Policy Tracker - Keeping track of what happened in the world of education in January 2019
January is traditionally the month when the final performance tables for last year are published and developments for the new year announced. Particular developments for 2019 so far have included proposals for a new inspection framework from Ofsted, a new teacher recruitment and retention strategy from the DfE, more activity around T levels, a new blueprint for UK colleges, and updates on university admissions and the use of unconditional offers for higher education.
Key headlines from the month
- Life-saving skills. DfE includes in new health programmes from Sept 2019
- Music. DfE promises new KS 1-3 curriculum by 2020
- MFL. University of York announced as first Centre for Excellence for Languages
- GCSE computer science. Ofqual confirms interim arrangements to 2021, exam element from 2022
- Tiered GCSEs. Ofqual urges schools to exercise caution over higher level entries
- Performance tables. DfE publishes final figures for 2018 exams
- School CPD. New analysis shows a drop in spending in 2017
- Academies. DfE claims a new benchmark reached in pupil numbers
- Inspections. Ofsted launches consultation on its new inspection framework
- Teacher recruitment and retention. DfE issues new strategy
- Teachers’ pay. Government proposes 2% for 2019
- Baker Clause. IPPR think tank finds not all schools adopting requirements yet
- Railcards. Government extends half price rail travel to 16 and 17 yr olds from Sept 2019
- GCSE maths resits. Nuffield fund MEI to conduct research into possible alternatives
- T levels. DfE invites providers to bid to offer the next wave of T levels
- Apprenticeships. DfE launches new ‘Fire it up’ promo campaign
- Apprenticeship levy. ESFA launches short survey on future operation of the levy system
- FE. UK colleges propose new post-Brexit blueprint
- Unconditional offers. Office for Students proposes action
- TEF. Review group issues call for evidence
- Accelerated degrees. Commons approves legislation for a Sept 2019 start
Reports/Publications of the month (in order of publication)
- Government Response to the Ed Committee Report on Value for Money in HE. The government outlines the work it and the post-18 review are doing as it responds to the Committee Report
- The health impacts of screen time. The Royal College of Paediatrics issues new self-determining guidance for parents and clinicians on ‘sensible’ amounts of screen time
- A Question of Degree. The Onward think tank proposes a graduate tax cut, limiting the number of low-value uni courses and increasing high level tech ed in a new Paper for the post-18 review
- School CPD. The Teacher Development Trust reports on analysis from SchoolDash showing a drop in spending on school CPD for 2017 and launching a new Benchmarking Tool as a consequence
- The Baker Clause: One Year On. IPPR finds many schools not providing choice about alternative career routes as required under the Baker clause and calls for Ofsted to have a policing role
- Monitoring new apprenticeship providers. Ofsted blogs about what it is has found from its initial round of monitoring visits and outlines what providers need to do to demonstrate sufficient progress
- The importance of parent-child reading in early years. The Nuffield Foundation reports on research from Newcastle University showing that parent-child reading bring language benefits
- College Governance. The Collab Group along with the law firm Shakespeare Martineau report on some of the changes facing governing boards in colleges
- The Impact of Selective Secondary Education on Progression to HE. The HE Policy Institute argues that grammar schools can play a big role in helping disadvantaged student reach Oxbridge
- Mental health services for children and young people. The Public Accounts Committee reports on its Inquiry finding services patchy and taking time to respond but equally facing growing demand
- Primary Colours. The Fabian Society outlines the decline of arts education in primary schools and calls for ring fenced funding, trained specialists and Ofsted to monitor
- School revenue balances. The Education Policy Institute examines school revenues for 2017/18 finding maintained secondary schools with the largest deficits but evidence of surpluses as well
- Post-qualification application. UCU and NEON revisit the case for a post–qualification application (PQA) system but as part of a 3-stage, more extensive application process
- Escape of the wealthy. The Intergeneration Foundation highlights how by paying upfront, wealthier students are able to avoid more punitive aspects of the loan system like heavy interest rates
- Expressions of interest for 2021 T levels. The DfE invites bids from providers to offer the next wave of T levels due to start in September 2021
- New inspection framework. Ofsted launches the proposals and thinking behind its new inspection framework and invites comments by April 5 2019
- Office of the School Adjudicator Annual Report. The Office, which oversees the school admissions system in England, publishes its latest annual report confirming the system is working well
- The Early Years Workforce in England. The Education Policy Institute reports on the state of the workforce highlighting low pay, lack of diversity and low levels of qualification in some areas
- Independent Review of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF.) The group set up to conduct an independent review of the TEF issues a call for evidence by 1 March 2019
- Evaluation of Provider-level TEF 2016/17. The DfE publish its commissioned report into Year 2 of the TEF suggesting its had little initial impact but is beginning to be focus attention on teaching
- Developing a Four Nations College Blueprint for a post-Brexit Economy. College leaders from across the UK call for a new Social Contract to enable colleges to deliver on skills needs for the future
- The Graduate Market in 2019. High Fliers Research publish its latest annual survey of the graduate market showing top employers looking to increase recruitment this year
- Career-related learning in primary. Teach First and the Education and Employers charity report on the importance of career-related education in primary and announce plans to develop pilots
- Academy accounts and performance. The Public Accounts Committee reports on Academy accounts arguing that too many lack transparency and urges Ofsted to have a reporting role
- Decisions on future assessment arrangements for GCSE computer science. Ofqual confirms that interim arrangements will apply up to 2021 with exam board designed ‘exams’ from 2022
- A study of Progress 8 and school accountability in England. Researchers at Bristol University highlight the importance of taking in contextual factors when considering the Progress 8 measure
- Performance tables. The DfE publishes the final approved figures for 2018 exam performance showing performance by school type, student group, subject and region
- Secondary accountability measures. The DfE publishes the latest version of its guidance with a number of small amendments included
- Unconditional offers. The Office for Students offers some thoughts on the growing problem of unconditional offers proposing among others things to conduct a wide-ranging review of the issue
- Navigating the Educational Moral Maze. The Ethical Commission set up by the Association of School and College Leaders publishes its final report listing ethical principles to guide future leaders
- Teacher recruitment and retention strategy. The DfE launches a new strategy aimed at tackling both recruitment and retention together for the first time and support early career teachers especially
- Exploring flexible work practices in schools. The DfE publishes its commissioned literature review into flexible working practices in schools finding a mixed picture with most focused on p/t working
- Early Career Framework. The Education Endowment Foundation reports on its work in developing the Early Career Framework ahead of its proposed national roll-out
- School snapshot survey. The DfE publishes the results from its latest survey conducted last summer with some interesting responses on the EBacc, pupil behaviour and aspiring (or not) to headship
- Identifying schools for support. The DfE launch consultation on scrapping the coasting and floor standard mechanisms and simply relying instead on Ofsted’s ‘Requires Improvement’ metric
- Degree Apprenticeships. Up to Standard? The HE Commission reports on Degree Apprenticeships finding a good idea beset by issues about standards, funding and middle class capture
- FE bodies: insolvency guidance. The DfE issues guidance for college corporations on how to reduce the risks of insolvency ahead of new legislation that came into force at the end of the month
- The adult skills gap. The Social Mobility Commission publishes a new report showing how the most advantaged workers get the most support and training and calling for the balance to be redressed
- The Devolution of the AEB to the GLA. The Collab Group examines what role London’s colleges should play in helping deliver the Mayor’s priorities under the new devolved adult education budget
- Engineering Skills for the Future. The Royal Academy of Engineering revisits its landmark Perkins Review and finds issues like teacher shortages and levy restrictions limiting take-up
- T level Capital Fund. The DfE invites bids from providers starting in 2020 who may need help with specialist equipment or facilities
- Disadvantage gap widens in English and maths. The Education Policy Institute investigates the latest performance tables and finds attainment gaps not showing any signs of improvement
- Getting Apprenticeships Right. The CBI calls for the Institute for Apprenticeships to be given a stronger role as it outlines a series of proposals for some further apprenticeship reforms
- Impact of social media and screen-use on young people’s health. The Commons Science and Technology Committee calls for a statutory code for social media companies
- Government evidence to the STRB. The government publishes its advice to the body looking at teachers’ pay for 2019 suggesting a pay increase limited to 2%
- How to apply to set up a mainstream free school. The DfE issues its latest criteria for applications focusing as before on disadvantaged areas and areas where more good school places are needed
- End of Cycle data. UCAS publishes its final set of data for 2018 university admissions showing an increase in the use of unconditional offers and no real improvement in closing the disadvantage gap
Speeches of the month
- The Skills Minister’s 16 January Sixth Form Colleges Association speech praises the work of sixth form colleges, recognises their concerns over funding but urges continued dialogue
- Amanda Spielman’s 16 January Sixth Form Colleges Association speech sets out the thinking behind Ofsted’s proposed new inspection framework and launches consultation on it
- The Education Secretary’s 21 January Education World Forum speech outlines some of the challenges facing education across the world and some of the steps being taken in England
Quotes of the month
- “Together I believe we can start a new chapter with optimism and hope” – the PM issues her New Year message
- “It is no exaggeration to suggest that this would be an academic, cultural and scientific setback from which it would take decades to recover” – universities highlight the dangers of a No Deal Brexit
- “I have looked hard for the golden lever to pull to reduce your workload. It’s not there or believe me I would have found it” – The Education Secretary reassures teachers that he’s still fighting their corner on workloads
- “If we walked into a college in Canada, we would see sixth-formers receiving 26 hours of tuition per week. In Singapore that figure is 27 hours and in Shanghai it is 30 hours. We give our sixth-formers 15 hours of tuition per week” – MPs discuss college funding
- “It is not surprising that the starts went down to begin with because it was a very big change but they are now rising and that rise has been significant at L4/5 and above” – the Skills Minister talks up apprenticeship numbers in a Westminster Hall debate
- “We want to inspire and excite both potential apprentices and employers by showing that apprentices have a natural energy and enthusiasm that rubs off on everyone around them” – the DfE launches a new promo campaign around apprenticeships
- “We’re on a clear growth path and I am looking forward to the exciting times ahead” – the chief exec of the Institute for Apprenticeships on picking up T level responsibilities as well
- “Only an English civil servant could manage to define work experience in a way that includes almost everything except actual work” – the Principal of Bedford College reflects on the pros and cons of work experience
- “Nothing is more pernicious to true standards than a culture of curriculum narrowing and teaching to the test”- Amanda Spielman launches Ofsted’s new inspection framework with its emphasis on the quality of education
- “Progress 8 effectively punishes schools teaching high proportions of disadvantaged pupils for the national underperformance of these groups” – researchers at Bristol University report on the importance of contextual factors when it comes to using the Progress 8 accountability measure
- “There’s no correlation across countries between the prevalence of test in a system and students’ anxiety” – OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher on how far tests create pupil anxiety
Word or phrase of the month
- ‘Fire It Up.’ The slogan for the new apprenticeship
campaign