@julia-harnden.bsky.social is such a font of edu-financial wisdom - it is a real privilege to work with her. This article provides a really balanced summary 👏🏻

Join us in Manchester next month when we'll be inviting leaders to examine how strong #pastoral leadership underpins a thriving, connected and successful school community. Full details at www.ascl.org.uk/pastoral#pastoral Many thanks to event sponsor humanutopia #ASCLPastoral #SEND

Lorna Newbrook appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning to promote her #pintformike blood donation campaign. If you’re a post-16 leader, use Lorna’s 🆓 resources as part of your Y12/13 programme and help your students to save lives in memory of Mike♥️ pintformike.org

🎯 First term at ASCL done! Grateful to work with inspiring colleagues & excited for what’s ahead in post-16 education. 🎄 Wishing everyone a well-deserved Christmas break – thank you for all you do to support young people! 🫶🏻 #FestiveThanks #ChristmasWishes

“It is great news that more young people will get to benefit from studying abroad...through Erasmus+. Our hope is that this will help to incentivise language learning in schools...and put young people in the UK on an even footing with their European peers." Full comment: https://ow.ly/BlqG50XKOju

🆕 FE Outcomes 2022/23 for 544,050 learners aged 16–18: ✅ 85%➡️sustained positive destinations (-1ppt) 💼 48%➡️employment (-3ppt) 🎓 66%➡️learning (+1ppt) (51➡️FE;15➡️HE) ⚖️ 2% benefits V positive overall, but regional gaps remain tinyurl.ee/kDNQe 👏🏻THANK YOU FE staff👏🏻

🌟More wonderful wisdom from @mmulholland.bsky.social 🌟

📢 Maths & English funding rules 2026–27 ✅100 hrs per subject ✅Face-to-face, whole-class ✅+35 maths hrs encouraged ✅2.5% tolerance stays 👀DfE will consult on English & maths resit policy changes from the White Paper in early 2026. Full update: tinyurl.tools/bb1427eb

1 in 8 young people (16–24) in the UK are NEET - enough to fill Wembley Stadium x10. Alan Milburn has launched an inquiry & is calling for a “coalition of the concerned” – educators, employers, communities – to share evidence & ideas. 💻 Submit here by 30 Jan: shorturl.at/6Ofgy #NEET #Post16

Lorna is determined to get this out to post-16 providers & has created a 🆓PowerPoint with her powerful 3min video & letter for parents for schools & colleges to use with their Y13. This also links to calls in the post-16 white paper for enrichment to include civic engagement. #whatsstoppingyou?

✍️ Sixth form colleges and designated institutions will be able to apply to become one of 19 new ‘technical excellence colleges’ next year, under plans for wave two of the TEC programme feweek.co.uk/bids-open-fo...

Final week of term for post-16 leaders? Focus on 4 priorities: ✅ Check in on vulnerable students & complete safeguarding actions ✅ Share helplines & support for the break ✅ Thank your team personally ✅ Celebrate successes & bring some joy! Small actions = big impact. www.linkedin.com/posts/claire...

🎓 UCAS 2025 data: cost-of-living reshaping post-18 choices. • ~1 in 3 to live at home (⬆️ from 1 in 5 in 2015) • >50% of most disadv learners commute vs <20% least disadv • 43% 💬 living costs make HE less likely • Scholarships & proximity major factors in uni choice www.ucas.com/data-and-ana...

#ASCLmembers: December's festive-themed Team ASCL webinar, including NFF allocations, #AutumnBudget, #SEND funding, the college financial planning handbook, and lifelong learning entitlement, is available to watch or download: www.ascl.org.uk/teamascl#ASCLmembers#AutumnBudget#SENDlog in required)

"We also call for wider systemic support including improved access to mental health services, secure housing, and affordable transport, which are critical to enabling participation in education and training." Full comment on funding for training & workplace opportunities: https://ow.ly/J52H50XFLAv

With EHCP demand rising, tribunals increasing and councils facing unsustainable deficits, we look at the specialist colleges forming partnerships in their communities that could provide part of the solution to the SEND crisis @natspec.bsky.social @ohcandat.bsky.social feweek.co.uk/send-first-c...

c.1M young people set to benefit from new govt investment in post-16 pathways: ✅ £34m for NEET prevention & FE attendance ✅ Pilot: auto-enrolment for those without a post-16 place ✅ 350K new training/work opportunities ✅ Jobs Guarantee for 18–21 UC claimants 🔗 tinyurl.com/4srcytb5

Great to present for @ascl-uk.bsky.social at today’s trailblazing Kent #PathwaysForAll event! Fab to see schools, FE & specialist FE leaders, employers & LA united to ensure ambitious post-16 pathways, tackle NEET & address skills gaps.Grateful for all insights shared - true collaboration in action!

Thanks to @midkentcollege.bsky.social for hosting me today – great discussions on curriculum reform & fantastic to see such diverse provision in action! Special thanks to Chris Hare, Jim Mawby, James Egan & Simon Cook for organising. Excited for tomorrow’s Kent Sector-Wide #Post-16 Conversation.

Continuing visits to FE colleges this week to hear priorities & how CAR + White Paper proposals are landing. Thanks @midkentcollege.bsky.social & Simon Cook for arranging. Excited to keynote at Kent’s #PathwaysForAll event on Thurs & hear more about how #KentChoices is helping ⬇️ NEETs too.

Lovely to finally receive the certificate for this today. A lot of work to complete alongside working full time on SLT in school. Thank you to everyone who helped and supported along the way 🫶🏻

Thanks to all at #Netsixthform Autumn Conference! Great engagement from delegates. All resources are on Padlet, containing links to further detail. Remember: Join @ascl-uk.bsky.social by 7 Dec for discounted fees + chance to win £200 M&S hamper! ascl.org.uk/Membership

Looking forward to presenting two sessions for @ascl-uk.bsky.social at the (always brilliant) NetSixthForm Conference tomorrow, updating sixth form leaders on recent changes from the Post-16 White Paper & CAR as well as helping to prepare for the renewed Ofsted framework.

An outstanding analysis of the challenges around SEND & practical recommendations from the brilliant @mmulholland.bsky.social. Grateful to work alongside such expertise @ascl-uk.bsky.social. Thanks for including that 13.8% of EHCPs are held by post-16 students, to bring this group into focus too 👏🏻

Thanks to everyone who joined today’s #Esports webinar and engaged with our brilliant panel! 🎮 Huge thanks to Kalam Neale, Alice Whorley & Tom Dore for sharing expert insights on Esports in education. (1/2)

Huge thanks to Alison Maynard & the team at New College Durham for such a warm welcome & a brilliant insight into their impressive provision 👏 Great conversations on T Levels, V levels, apprenticeships, L2, foundation degrees & employer engagement. (1/2)

#ASCLmembers: the latest #Primary Focus by @tiffharris.bsky.social is out now, with a closer look at the #Curriculum and #Assessment Review and its implications for primary schools, updates on #Ofsted under the new inspection framework, and upcoming professional development opportunities.

💰 Sixth form college teachers have accepted a pay award of 4 per cent but have rejected workload proposals by leaders feweek.co.uk/sixth-form-c...

Essential reading: Shuab Gamote & @peterhyman.bsky.social amplify the voices of KS5 students, revealing the wisdom, clarity & hope they bring to today’s challenges. Let’s empower 16–19s as #rolemodels: credible, grounded, inspiring. Meet them where they are, & listen. The recommendations are 🎯

Today's briefing with @pepediiasio.bsky.social comes from ASCL HQ and includes reflections on the first #Ofsted inspections under the new framework, Progress 8 and Attainment 8 performance measures, and the latest on the post-16 and skills white paper and V levels: ow.ly/Bz8Z50Xq23b

Check my LinkedIn post for more detail on the context of the Level 3 landscape behind this blog too: www.linkedin.com/posts/claire...

Excited to begin a series of FE college visits this week, starting in my university city! Looking forward to hearing from FE leaders on priorities, concerns, & how CAR & White Paper proposals are landing so @ascl-uk.bsky.social can ensure we are representing our FE members optimally. (1/2)

🎮 With digital literacy & enrichment key features of this week’s CAR, this exclusive 🆓 webinar for @ascl-uk.bsky.social members is timely. Join me, Kalam Neale & Alice Whorley from @britishesports.bsky.social to explore how esports can enrich curriculum & inspire future talent. tinyurl.com/22znyw7w

In today's video briefing, @pepediiasio.bsky.social is joined by ASCL Deputy Director of Policy @tommiddlehurst.bsky.social and ASCL President @drjoro.bsky.social for their summaries of and reactions to this week's #Curriculum and #Assessment Review final report: ow.ly/ymCw50Xon5b #education

Headteachers' leaders have called for schools who have volunteered to be the first to be inspected by Ofsted to be allowed to withdraw over concerns about changes in the way the watchdog will use data in new inspections. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

#Curriculum and #assessment review: Until pay and working conditions are improved, other reforms to the system only increase the issues teachers face, says @pepediiasio.bsky.social in his latest blog in @tesmagazine.bsky.social : ow.ly/8yUu50Xn4C9

*SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT* We're delighted to announce that two-time World Champion and athletics commentator Colin Jackson CBE will be joining us at #ASCL2026. Colin is a powerful advocate for diversity, inclusion, and #mentalhealth awareness. Join us: www.ascl.org.uk/annualconference

Thanks to all at today’s CATS Global Schools Cross-Group INSET. Key ideas on #IndependentLearning: 💡KS5 students need scaffolding 💡Make them THINK, in & beyond lessons 💡Embed high-quality T&L & resourcing 💡Foster ownership & reflection 💡Build a CULTURE for independence 🤫Silent ≠ independent!

Looking forward to presenting tomorrow for @ascl-uk.bsky.social at CATS Global Schools’ Cross-Group INSET day, focussing on developing independent learning and critical thinking skills. #IndependentLearning #CriticalThinking #Post16 #ProfessionalLearning

🚨 UCAS sees record 'early entry' October applications: 📈 79,160 total (+7.4%) 🧑‍🎓 41,010 UK 18-year-olds (+5.3%) 🏥 Medicine: 25,770 (+10.4%), incl. mature students (+11.2%) 🌍 Intl. apps: 24,350, led by 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 🇸🇬 🇭🇰 🇮🇳 📊 More applicants from deprived areas in England, Wales & Scotland. #UCAS #HE #EarlyEntry

Really interesting discussion on the White Paper, focusing on some of the aspects that have received less attention / reaction so far. I agree with @ukshane.bsky.social that this was a real missed opportunity in regards to addressing the pay gap between school & FE teachers.

#TransitionalSafeguarding is a vital issue I've explored in previous blogs: 🔗 www.ascl.org.uk/News/Blog/Se... 🔗 www.thesixthformslant.com/post/lost-in... Support for young people mustn’t stop at 18; often, that’s when they need it most.

Great insights from @DattaJon, as always. Good to see the Contextual Admissions Project ref’d in the White Paper (p.57) as a model for tackling systemic barriers to access. Proud to represent @ascl-uk.bsky.social on the advisory group with @universitiesuk.bsky.social, UCAS & @suttontrust.bsky.social

'We want V-levels to be a success. But at the moment it is difficult to look beyond the huge qualification gap that will open up next year when these BTECs are scrapped, and the tens of thousands of students that are likely to fall through it' schoolsweek.co.uk/if-opportuni...

It was a busy video briefing yesterday with @pepediiasio.bsky.social, with the launch of the Phone Free Education project, V levels, applied general qualifications, #GCSE retakes, and the #Covid inquiry. See the video here: ow.ly/vn4750XfAxa #ASCLmembers #post16 #education

The Government's Post-16 education & skills white paper is a step towards more flexible pathways for young people. We welcome the potential of these reforms, and continue to call for a 16-19 Student Premium to ensure young people get the support they need. Full comment: epi.org.uk/comments/com...

The Department for Education has just published a blog which gives their explanation of the new qualifications put forward in yesterday’s White Paper: educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2025/10/new-...

🚨 | NEW BLOG: The government’s new Young Futures Hubs could transform support for young people — but only if they meet the needs of girls and young women. Our new blog with @cfyounglives.bsky.social & @agenda-alliance.bsky.social explores how to make that happen. www.ippr.org/articles/mee...

I was delighted to speak on behalf of @ascl-uk.bsky.social on @bbc5live.bsky.social’s Drive programme yesterday,offering our immediate (20 mins post-publication!) reflections on the Post-16 & Skills White Paper. #ASCLMembers:👀 for ‘White Paper Special’ 📧 newsletter today for a key issues summary.