After a year in office, Labour’s education team has delivered a credible first album. It may not have earned rave reviews across the board, but it’s made its mark – and crucially, it’s set the tone. Now comes the ‘tricky second album’.
From ending minimum service levels to restoring powers to local authorities, this has been a year of meaningful signals and early substance. Even the profession’s perennial cynics would struggle to deny that things feel different.
It’s been a purposeful and considered start. Engagement with the sector has been genuine rather than performative. Bridget Phillipson has secured funding for back-to-back teacher pay awards. The curriculum and assessment review is in the hands of someone who knows the terrain.
Meanwhile, SEND advisory groups are doing what they should: bridging policy and practice. And while Ofsted could only be described as being in the foothills of being transformed, it is (at last) being challenged.
But year two is always harder. The buzz of being new fades. The system, having held its breath, exhales and starts looking at the detail. And although not insurmountable, there are some challenging issues to navigate.
First up: local authority powers. The principle is sound. But what if local government itself starts to drift? What if more councils start to resemble those that have already begun removing equality, diversity and inclusion policies from their schools? What happens when a local authority aligned with Reform UK is suddenly in charge of admissions or school improvement?
Localism only works when it is underpinned by shared values. The government will need a plan for what happens if that social contract breaks.
Then, there’s the maths. Declining pupil numbers mean declining budgets – not just for schools, but for the DfE itself. If the entire system is funded on a per-pupil basis, how do we make the case for real-terms increases when headcount is falling?
The pressures on schools are rising, not shrinking
The pressures on schools are rising, not shrinking. We need a new narrative that makes the case for education as essential infrastructure, not just a numbers game that contracts in line with demography.
Then, many questions remain about the new RISE system, not least the murkiness of the interface between RISE and Ofsted. Is it a replacement? A supplement? A warm-up act?
The two-year pause on Progress 8 also raises questions. What will we use to measure the impact of school improvement across the system? At the very moment we’re asking for joined-up accountability, we risk getting lost in a fog of data.
Meanwhile, if all schools are now to be treated equally, regardless of legal status, what becomes of the regions group?
Originally set up to oversee academies, its remit is already starting to fray at the edges. If local authorities are back, and the DfE is back, what exactly is the regions group for? Either it needs redefining or repurposing. It can’t just drift.
And of course, there’s technology. The digital and AI expectations set out in the new academy trust handbook are bold (and arguably overdue), but they will require real investment. Schools cannot magic up cyber defences, AI literacy or new systems from nothing. If this is the priority it should be, then the Treasury must back it accordingly.
But perhaps the most urgent question is around Ofsted itself.
Even after reform, the inspectorate is visibly struggling to keep up with its core remit. The backlog is significant. Confidence is low, with little prospect of a bounce-back. And now, the promise of MAT inspections looms.
But inspecting a trust is not the same as inspecting a school. It requires a different lens, a different skillset. Does it, perhaps, need a different assessment to what Ofsted can offer? Asking Ofsted to stretch even further without fundamental change feels like setting it up to fail.
None of this should cast a shadow over what has been a strong and genuinely hopeful first year. The sector is more optimistic than it has been in a decade.
But tricky second albums are tricky for a reason. Expectations are high, and the early buzz only lasts so long. The real test now is whether this government can follow a bold debut with something even stronger.
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