Policy Eye - highlights of the week ending 21 June

Money’s been a big theme around education policy this week but it’s not been the only one.

There’s also been a fair bit on teaching and learning with the OECD releasing its latest TALIS tome, its large scale international survey into teaching and learning in schools across member countries, the government publishing an impact report on Traineeships and the Office for Students publishing the results of the latest TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) assessments, quite a collection of Ts.

Also this week, the Prime Minister unveiled new prevention plans around mental health, the Education Secretary made a wide-ranging speech on disadvantage and the Education Committee questioned the Social Mobility Commission about what sort of impact it had made so far. And finally, the Augar review has continued to attract comment and analysis, the NFER has looked at how ready the first wave of T level providers are for lift-off and of course we’ve had the heartwarming ‘Thank a Teacher Day.’

Here’s some details on a couple of these stories starting with the money ones first:

Funding matters are never far away from education concerns, indeed they feature in at least six of the questions listed under MPs questions on Monday and of course there’s been the welcome news of a generous donation to Oxford University this week but two particular stories deserve mention.

First, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) considered some of the funding claims being sprayed around by the Tory leadership contenders recently. Simply to reverse recent cuts could cost £3.8bn for schools and £480m for 16-19 and that’s without the £1bn+ needed each year to maintain spending in real terms. It’s a salutary analysis and both it and the accompanying remarks from the Association of Colleges (AoC) are well worth reading for understanding the context.

The second story on funding this week concerns T levels with the government confirming its plans for the initial funding of T levels in a response to its earlier consultation. A further operational report is due to follow this year but broadly the government has confirmed it’s sticking with its initial banding proposals as part of the current formula model, despite some disquiet, with some additional one-off payments and specific funding for placements and English and maths.

The other big education story this week has been OECD’s release of its latest TALIS survey, always interesting when it comes to comparing our school system with those of other countries. The summary for England has some fascinating data. Our primary and KS3 teachers, it seems, have it tough in many ways.

• ‘Theresa May calls for mental health to be a priority.’ (Monday)
• ‘£3.8bn needed to reverse school cuts.’ (Tuesday)
• ‘Teachers in England work longest hours in Europe.’ (Wednesday)
• ‘Vice-Chancellors still attend pay meetings despite outcry.’ (Thursday)
•  ‘Fewer selfies, more reality, says Damian Hinds.’ (Friday)
  

• Mental health support. The Prime Minister promised new funding, training and support for teachers and NHS staff to help them spot and support those with mental health issues, building on the government’s earlier strategy
• Tackling disadvantage. Education Secretary Damian Hinds reflected on the issue of disadvantage in a wide-ranging speech to the Reform think tank, citing five factors in particular (ethnicity, language, place, home, adversity) and pointing to the importance of evidence to support changing policies
• How much? The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) ran their eyes over the various figures currently being proposed for reversing funding cuts for schools and colleges suggesting they could cost around £3.8bn and £480m respectively with additional uplifts to maintain levels in real terms
• UK Living Standards. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) examined living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK in a new report based on 2017/18 data suggesting that household incomes have remained static and poorest groups have seen their income fall by 1.6% although those in their 20’s have seen some of the strongest growth in incomes 
• EdTech Hub. The Dept for International Development (DFID) announced it was working with the World Bank, Cambridge and a number of tech companies to develop an EdTech Hub that can improve education technology in developing countries
• Loneliness Awareness. The government launched a new set of initiatives with some added funding as it pledged to work with a number of organisations to help tackle loneliness as part of Loneliness Awareness Week

• Augar winners and losers. UniversitiesUK published its commissioned report by London Economics looking among other things at likely winners and losers from the Augar recommendations and pointing to high-earning grads and STEM focused institutions among the likely winners and low-earning grads, arts institutions and the taxpayer among the likely losers
• Post Augar blues? The HE Policy Institute (HEPI) attempted to banish any post-Augar blues by listing eight reasons to be cheerful including the demographic upturn among 18 yr olds, possible changes to the visa system and potentially the re-introduction of maintenance grants 
• Dropout debate. Nicole Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students, challenged the view that recruiting students from disadvantaged backgrounds tended to generate higher dropout rates, pointing the finger instead on being recruited on to inappropriate courses and then left to flounder
• TEF results. The Office for Students published the results from the latest TEF (Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework) assessments, building on those from previous years and showing 282 institutions now with a TEF award
• More university rankings. The latest QS World University rankings, which rate some thousand universities globally on things like research impact, graduate employability, and academic standing saw a number of UK universities including Oxford and UCL improve their position, some others drop, Massachusetts Institute of Technology retain its top position and China, Australia and Singapore showing strongly 
• Received with thanks. The US businessman, Stephen Schwarzman, granted Oxford University what’s been called ‘the largest single donation since the Renaissance’ to help create a new centre, focused on ethical questions around artificial intelligence, and due to open in 2024, housing a range of humanities disciplines 
• The road ahead. Bill Rammell, V.C. at the University of Bedfordshire, reflected on the current state of HE in a blog on the HEPI site, listing in particular issues he hoped to prioritise over the next couple of years as the new Chair of the MillionPlus group of modern universities 
• V.C’s pay. The University and College Union (UCU) reported that many institutions still allow vice-chancellors to attend the remuneration committee meetings where their pay level is set

• T level funding. The government published a response to its earlier consultation on T level funding with further operational details to come later this year but confirming broad support for adopting the current funding formula and proposed rates for English and maths and the industry placement despite some unease over the proposed funding band levels 
• Provider roll call. The government updated and confirmed its list of providers selected to offer T levels in 2020 and 2021 
• Are you ready? The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) reported on its survey into how ready many of the first wave of T providers are for launch in Sept 2020, finding many enthusiastic but signaling concerns around recruitment, some placements and the tight timescale 
• Traineeship developments. The government published the results of a commissioned report into the impact of Traineeships looking at successful progression for the 2013/14 cohort and launching a new achievement rate for the coming year 
• Migrant skills. The IPPR think tank examined the issue of migrants’ skills and how these are currently unrecognized, calling for better recognition and accreditation of migrant’s current skills, the ending of restrictions on ESOL funding and support to help with labour market integration
• Augar and adult skills. Sir Alan Tuckett reflected on what the Augar review meant for adult education welcoming in particular the support for a lifelong learning allowance and for a national retraining scheme though noting that little was said on community provision or distance learning but concluding with two cheers all the same

• Teaching and Learning International Survey. The OECD published the results from its latest 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) reflecting evidence from 48 countries including the UK which showed among other things, that primary and KS3 teachers in England worked longer hours and with varying degrees of training when compared to other countries
• Pupil premium update. The DfE issued its latest guidance for schools on the pupil premium covering the funding, reporting and accountability procedures for 2019/20
• Guide to the pupil premium. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) published a brief guide to how best to apply Pupil Premium funding listing five core principles, a tiered approach and some case study evidence
• Children in Need. The government published the concluding report from its Children in Need review promising four actions in particular including ensuring such children remain visible, remain in education, have high aspirations and are well supported. 
• Council role. The Local Government Association (LGA) published a Parliamentary briefing highlighting the work of councils in creating additional school places and calling on the government to give them a lead role in determining locations for new free schools and in commissioning new buildings
• Our plans. The Standards and Testing Agency published its business plan for up to March 2024, a period which will see not just the regular Key Stage 1 and 2 tests among others but also the new reception baseline assessment and the maths multiplication checks
• Time to be creative. Sharon Hodgson MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Art, Craft and Design in education called in a new article in The House magazine for such subjects to have a place in school curricula

• “T-levels implementation should be delayed again, says chair of @SMCommission” -@FEWeek
• “53% of teachers say they allow their students to use information & communications technologies to complete projects or classwork” -@OECDEduSkills
• “How far a university research story can get: Over a million readers already today. Dogs' eyes evolve to appeal to humans” -@seanjcoughlan
• “A primary school in Bradford has asked pupils to stop peppering conversations with the word ‘like,’ in retaliation to its excessive overuse by the Love Island contestants” - @GMB 
• “Managing out the geniuses will end in dismal mediocrity |THE” @ed_ontap

Staff retention. This week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published some interesting stats on one year retention rates for employees, based on 2016/17 figures. It seems that the police have the highest retention rate in the public sector followed by nurses, midwives and the heads of educational establishments at 92%. Primary and secondary school teachers had retention rates of 87% and 82% respectively while FE teachers at 79% were less likely to stay after one year. Rates vary by age and sector and of course a lot depends on whether you have permanent contract or not. 

• “So, even in the early years the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged is something like four months of development. But it keeps on growing as you go through school” – the Education Secretary tackles some of the issues around disadvantage in a keynote speech
• “The government will consider the Post-18 Education and Funding review panel’s recommendations carefully and will conclude the review at the Spending Review” – The Universities Minister responds to a Question in Parliament on the Augar review
• “Forgive me the cliché, but it is one that remains ever true: it is modern universities that do the heavy lifting on tackling the social mobility crisis in this country” – Bill Rammell, the new Chair-elect at MillionPlus on the important role that MillionPlus members play
• “At the moment most governments are utterly unprepared to deal with this, and why would they be, it’s a different type of technology” – Stephen Schwarzman, the American businessman, who has donated a large sum to Oxford University to study ethics in artificial intelligence
• “70 hours per year equates to 140 hours teaching time over two years and will be sufficient over the two years of a T level for students who take a GCSE which requires around 120 teaching hours” –the DfE defends its T level English and maths funding proposals
• “During a typical lesson, teachers spend 80% of classroom time on actual teaching and learning on average in England which is higher than the OECD average of 78%” – one of the many findings from the OECD’s latest international survey of teaching and learning

• £150m. How much the American businessman Stephen Schwarzman has donated to Oxford University to look into the issue of ethics in artificial intelligence
• 76. How many higher education providers gained a gold award in the latest TEF (Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework) rankings published by the Office for Students
• 36%. What the drop in fee income to higher education institutions would be if the tuition fee was lowered to £7,500 as proposed by the Augar review, according to a report from London Economics
• £3.8bn and £480m. How much would be needed to reverse full funding cuts for schools and colleges respectively, according to analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS)
• £30,000. How much the government is proposing to provide as an additional one-off payment per provider for each new T level introduced in 2020
• £20m. How much the government is making available through the adult education budget for developing traineeship programmes
• 70%. How many teachers in FE want to be able to use technology more in their work, according to a survey by the Education and Training Foundation
• 39. The average age of teachers in England compared to 44 in other OECD countries, according to the latest OECD survey
• 52.1 and 49.3. How many hours a week the average primary and KS3 teacher respectively works in England, higher than most other countries according to the latest OECD survey 
• £1,320 and £935. How much schools will receive under the pupil premium for 2019/20 for each eligible primary and secondary school pupil respectively, according to the latest details from the DfE
• 75%. How many 18-24 year olds reported feeling lonely at some time, according to the latest survey conducted for Loneliness Awareness Week

• Education Questions in the Commons (Monday)
• AELP Annual Conference (Monday, Tuesday)
• THES event on ‘Improving digital literacy in higher education’ (Tuesday)
• Festival of Higher Education (Wednesday, Thursday)