Welcome to the February issue of Education Entrepreneurship Monthly from The Entrepreneurs Network – our monthly update covering news, views, research and events of interest to entrepreneurs in education.
As the prospect of emerging from lockdown draws near, sobering reports from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and The Resolution Foundation added their analysis of just how bad the economic impacts of Covid-19 have been – predicting lower than expected economic growth and a slow economic recovery. The British Chambers of Commerce and the IPPR contributed to wide consensus in support of extensions to the furlough scheme, loan guarantees, and targeted grant support, and concern that young people should not be overlooked.
Last month, the Government’s response the Augar review of post-18 education highlighted an entitlement to lifelong learning, provision aligned to employer needs, and ‘high-value’ courses (where incentives are aligned to encourage courses with good job outcomes). With reputational and revenue issues at the fore, an international education strategy update of a fortnight later stuck to core targets on student recruitment and income generation. Passing the task of figuring out what its provisions for quality improvement to the Office for Students (OfE), the Education Secretary expressed his wish that "higher education providers who do not demonstrate high quality and robust outcomes" should be subject to financial penalties and in extreme cases stripped of their degree-awarding powers. WonkHE summarised the proposals here.
The Government’s Further Education White Paper 'Skills for Jobs’ built on its previous efforts to counterbalance the degree route with a ‘high-quality’ technical one, and drew support from the Association of Colleges (AoC), the Collab Group, and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP). Some remained sceptical, however, arguing that without increased funding, little would change.
On a related note, the Public Accounts Committee reported on its inquiry into college finances in England, concluding these remained ‘fragile’ with a number of pressure points including Covid, pension, and VAT costs. Among its recommendations was a funding formula based on current rather than lagged data.
In summary, while the government's continued emphasis on quality improvement in FE and post-18 education and training are to be lauded, critics are right to point out that aspiration alone - with the regulatory pressures that tend to follow - without equal attention to implications for funding and financial sustainability, can, do and will continue to undermine even the best of aspirations. Here the indications are that necessary trade-offs are not being squared at cabinet level. In this instance, it's clear that the Treasury is not fully on board with the official government line on the importance of well-funded public services for a healthy economy, and DfE decision-makers habitually over-promising and under-delivering as a result.
In schools, whether, when and how they should re-open has become a matter of wide debate, coming to a head on the issue of teachers’ (and other frontline workers) being prioritised ahead of others for the vaccine. The government has stuck to its focus on the clinical case, saying only that, subject to the data, schools will probably re-open on or around 8th March (now confirmed).
Meanwhile, Ofsted published a new report on remote education, suggesting that despite concerns about accessibility and pupil engagement (especially for SEND pupils), schools had done better than might have been expected. The regulations for schools to publish on their website their remote education offer formally came into effect. Lending support for this policy emphasis, at the end of the period the government reported that the number of laptops and tablets dispatched since the start of the term had passed ~500,000. As I’ve commented in previous issues, readiness to deploy digital resources of high quality will in future be a key determinative of market growth, as also will teacher development. Relatedly, this month the government announced 6 new Teaching Hubs (making a total of 81) – intended to operate as local centres of excellence for teacher development. There are evidently some strong market drivers in play here.
News and Views
Without capital. Frequently seen as the default route for founders, venture capital isn’t the only route. Kjartan Rist, Founding Partner of Concentric, the London & Copenhagen-based venture capital firm, considers what bootstrapped firms have to teach us.
Pitching at Series A. Phil Boyer, partner at Crosslink Capital, shares five tips for start-up founders who are ready to raise their Series A round.
Venture capital funding reaches new heights. VC funding secured by UK Firms reached its highest level during Q4 2020 – more than double that of firms from France, which was the next most active European country.