On education funding, SEND and parental complaints
Mark Blois, Partner in education, said: “Our School Leaders Survey paints a candid picture of a sector that remains frustrated with government policy. While sentiment has improved during Labour’s second year, this comes from a low bar with only one in five school leaders actually satisfied. That is not a ringing endorsement.
“The most pressing issue is money. Only 27% of leaders have any confidence in their financial security over the next three years – and when the majority of a school’s budget is spent on staff, financial pressure and staffing pressure are one and the same thing. The reforms set out in the schools white paper are ambitious and the direction of travel on SEND is broadly right, but more than two-thirds of leaders do not believe the funding announced is sufficient to bring the government’s ambitions to life. Ambition without resource is just aspiration.
“Beyond funding, there is an operational crisis taking hold in school leadership that rarely gets the attention it deserves. Nine in ten school leaders say parents are escalating complaints far more quickly than two years ago – and increasingly those complaints are arriving AI-generated, longer, more legalistic, and with less appetite for dialogue.
“Almost a quarter of schools have lost staff as a result, and nearly half report that staff have considered leaving. The white paper acknowledges this problem, which is welcome, but the sector needs enforceable mechanisms rather than just guidance.
“Andy Burnham inherits a sector that wants to work with government, not against it. But the goodwill is conditional on adequate funding, workable reform and a genuine recognition that school leaders are already operating at their limit.”
On supporting higher education amid financial pressures
Nathalie Jacoby-Danesh, Partner in the higher education team at Browne Jacobson, said: “Andy Burnham has spoken powerfully about putting universities at the heart of local economies, and his track record in Greater Manchester reflects this, spearheading the Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement with an ambition to drive social and economic change in the region.
“But much of his focus for post-16 education has been on young people who don’t go to university, which he makes plain shouldn’t be the only route for school leavers. While creating an inclusive education system that broadens opportunities for young people and targets specific skills gaps should be a priority for government, there may be concerns within the education system about how this narrative is framed given its current fragile state.
“Universities have faced wave after wave of financial pressure, and in the process they have also taken a reputational battering. The tuition fees debate became another opportunity for commentators and politicians to position themselves against universities rather than alongside them.
“The sector deserves a Prime Minister willing to break that cycle by working in genuine partnership with the sector to solve structural challenges while ensuring work, training, apprenticeships and degrees are pathways of equal standing.
“A good starting point for supporting universities would be to stop treating international students as a migration statistic to be managed down, but recognising they are people who choose to invest in our universities, cities, towns and businesses.
“With new research from the Higher Education Policy Institute finding they will generate a net economic benefit of £40.4bn over the course of their studies, it’s time to abandon the proposed international student fee levy and protect the graduate route visa. This would provide an immediate, concrete signal that this government is serious about supporting universities as part of its wider growth agenda.”
