It's been a tough year for teachers. Last month new evidence that working hours (already lengthy by European standards) are now being stretched to unmanageable levels was submitted by Hayes Education Training. Since then, Oak National Academy has reported that as many as 90% believe their workload to have increased under COVID, for the majority substantially. According to an RSA survey, 66% have been angered by the lack of support from government. Teachers received validation from Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman in the Ofsted Annual Report, who expressed concern with the way in which schools had come to be regarded as the 'go-to solution' for society’s ills – even as Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a pay freeze.
In face of these challenges, radical proposals for reducing workload and transforming the way schools work seem more important than ever. With delivery support from a number of private providers, the government’s National Tutoring Programme got off the ground last month to support disadvantaged students and their schools in the aftermath of the pandemic. Though the overall level of funding has in the end been disappointing, in the long term we believe that, to echo EEF CEO Becky Francis, it’s a partnership “which could make a significant contribution to efforts to close the disadvantage gap”.
As inroads into the lower mid-market widen as a result of ongoing scale-up investment into online private tuition provision (Mobeus Equity Partners’ substantial follow-on investment in MyTutor; Supporting Education Group’s acquisition of toota; and Ananda/Downing/NESTA’s investment into Third Space Learning), there’s plenty of headroom for growth for school-based tutoring provision. (For an innovative model of how to approach the latter, take a look at Montreal-based Paper.)
As if to highlight the efficiency gains to be made from tech-based whole school solutions, Arbor Education joined The Key Group (including ScholarPack) last month, so tightening its already strong grip on the MIS switcher market. More recently dominant provider Capita SIMS was acquired by Montagu Private Equity. And alongside The Key Group, Kinderly nursery management made the finals of the Education Investor Awards, pointing to a similar need among preschools. Taking a wider view of the Edtech scene, it’s evident that positive impact for teacher workload remains a key criterion for success.
Online learning providers have gone above and beyond this year and it’s clear that without their resources, learning loss would have been much worse. Not to diminish these efforts, Teach First highlighted that the digital divide has worsened. In their Teacher Tapp survey report they reported that schools in the poorest areas of the country were struggling to provide the access and resources necessary to help pupils with online learning. The conclusion is obvious: government must increase the number of devices for schools and pupils most in need.
On a brighter note, KPMG reported that VC investment in European Edtech in general was on the rise. Getting in on the act, Fintech accelerator SuperCharger got its first cohort of Edtech entrepreneurs motoring and deep tech investors Brighteye VC announced a new fund for investing in Edtech start-ups.
In an indicator of the seismic shifts in the market this year HolonIQ’s MetaEduSummit report found there had been an increase and acceleration in direct-to-consumer offerings, as parents, students and workers seek learning support, upskilling and progression in the labour market. The trend continues among start-ups, for example, Arc Education and Scribeasy.
Notably, half of those at Seed through Series B on Holon’s European Edtech 100 list of the most innovative are worker or labour-market oriented, as entrepreneurs mobilise to the challenges of labour market entry, training and retraining, upskilling and outskilling. Reflective of these concerns, the government’s Spending Review committed significant funding to the Restart Programme and to the delivery of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. Countering the fatalism of many, the Behavioural Insights Team published a useful report showing how deploying insights from behavioural and data science might open-up new job opportunities and equip jobseekers with the support they need by focusing on job goals rather than compliance with benefit criteria.
News and Views
A fair result: It was always inevitable that next year’s exam arrangements would involve a series of concessions to mitigating circumstances. As the government fleshed out what it had in mind, Ofqual offered this explanation, while hastily kicking off a consultation into the one bit it hadn’t been prepared for – giving advanced information about the content of exams to candidates.
Regulator Review: In a separate report on the progress of onscreen assessment, the regulator identified five equity-related issues inhibiting adoption at the country level, which would require significant additional funding to rectify. These are: (i) variance local network capability; (ii) variable staff competence and training requirements; (iii) tech resources; (iv) upgrades to security; (v) planning and implementation.
Annual review: The Office for Students (OfS) published its Annual Review of HE in England focusing on the response to the pandemic and the rapid shift to online learning. It also scopes out priorities for the coming year that include building on that investment, raising the bar on quality and standards, and improving opportunities for mature students.
Education for entrepreneurship: Octopus recently released Spinning out Success, highlighting universities’ positive track records in turning academic achievement into entrepreneurial success. The report considers the innovative and thriving companies these institutions have supported and distils lessons about the nature and kind of support needed for them to spin out investor-ready businesses.
Visa routes: The government opened a number of new visa routes of relevance to entrepreneurs seeking to make England their base of operations, including the Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Start-up and Innovator visas, under its new points-based immigration system. Good news for early-stage businesses hampered in their efforts to recruit the skilled people they need to grow.
European EdTech: HolonIQ released its ‘Europe EdTech 100’ annual list of the most innovative EdTech start-ups across Europe.
Education speak: Following a recent gathering of Edtech innovators and educators, Mindcet Edtech offered this useful summary of what to keep in mind when doing an investor pitch or seeking to persuade early adopters to trial.
Was this forwarded on to you? If so, you can sign up here. James Croft is Co-Founder and Head of Education at specialist corporate advisory firm Whitebeam Strategy. An experienced entrepreneur, James was previously Founder and Director of the Centre for Education Economics (CfEE) think tank. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs and a former editor of Investor Publishing’s EducationInvestor Global magazine. Connect with James on LinkedIn or pick-up Whitebeam’s #InvestEd feed on Twitter, where they track development, opportunity and investment in education markets around the world.