News and guidance

Testing Testing. How ready are you?

Julia Harnden and Tom Middlehurst reveal whether landmark school reforms match white paper promises and how leaders can prepare for sweeping change. 

Earlier this year we set out our expectations of the much-anticipated Schools White Paper. Above all, we wanted clarity of purpose. Now, several months on from its publication, we can test alignment with the Employment Rights Act and Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, both of which provide the legislative scaffolding to deliver the ambition of the Schools White Paper. It’s also a good time to check if your organisation is prepared to embrace the legal and policy changes coming your way, and build them into your strategic plans. 

Employment Rights Act 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (tinyurl.com/ek59ytn7) represents the most significant reform of UK employment law in decades. Introduced as part of the government’s Plan to Make Work Pay, the Act strengthens worker protections while reducing insecure employment practices. It sets out a significant programme of legislative change spanning the next 18 months to two years, including creating the Fair Work Agency – whose remit is to ensure that employment rights are fully implemented – and the establishment of a School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB). 

As the Act applies to the national workforce, it is important that ASCL’s influence is used to shine a light on the impact for the education sector. One way that ASCL is doing this is in our responses to the numerous consultations from the Department for Business and Trade, which will inform the details of each policy change and how it applies to you as an individual and a leader representing an employer. 

While the Act sets out the minimum expectations on employers, we see this as an opportunity to support the development of a positive workplace culture, where all staff feel supported, protected and respected. Here are three key questions to help assess your organisation’s preparedness for the Employment Rights Act.

1. Is your HR team/provider aware of the implementation timeline (tinyurl.com/msbepa8a) set out by government?
2. Does your staff wellbeing policy include changes introduced by the Act? These include enhanced family leave rights and flexible working requests.
3. Are you and your governing board aware of how the Act seeks to modernise trade union legislation (tinyurl.com/ek59ytn7)? 

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (tinyurl.com/4j4d8w77) sets out the government’s ambition to break the link between a young person’s background and their future success, and is intended to set the direction of travel in delivering the government’s Opportunity Mission. 

The Act focuses on aligning the sector, enhancing welfare and removing barriers to education. Very broadly, the Act sees safeguarding as a collective, system-wide responsibility and sets out higher expectations for governance and trust-level leadership that underpin the Schools White Paper expectation that all schools will become part of an academy trust. 

ASCL policy specialists continue to represent you in formal and informal consultation forums and to influence specific policy development of the new Trust Standards and multi-academy trust (MAT) inspections. We have worked closely with members and the DfE during the pilot phase of the primary breakfast club rollout, including securing improvements in the funding model. And we are pleased that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act includes a positive response to our call for the expansion of free school meal eligibility to include all families on Universal Credit. 

During its passage through the Commons and the Lords, it has tackled policy implementation challenges on mobile phones in schools and the use of social media by young people under the age of 16. Here are three questions for you to consider ahead of the implementation of the Act later this year:

1. Have you checked compliance readiness for changes to uniform policy, workforce qualifications, and (if applicable) the continued rollout of primary breakfast clubs?
2. Have you reviewed your mobile phone policy and, if so, is it compliant?
3. Does your board have sufficient strategic capacity to handle MAT inspection? 

Schools White Paper: Every child achieving and thriving 

The focus of the Schools White Paper is collaboration, prioritising quality over pace, and includes a number of system changes, some of which are seismic, including the expectation that all schools will be part of a trust, and some that build sensibly on things that are already in place. 

ASCL Council (www.ascl.org.uk/council) has already invested time in assessing the proposals and has given ASCL’s policy team a clear steer on how we can influence the consultation process. At the time of writing, there are several consultations that we will be responding to, and we anticipate that there will be more until the end of this year and beyond. 

Only time will tell if the workforce implementation plan delivers the additional 6,500 teachers that the government is aiming for, and if targeted support for retention and wellbeing will be sufficient to address the size of those particular challenges in our sector. 

The ASCL policy team is closely involved in several aspects of the Schools White Paper, including the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) review, enrichment and pupil engagement frameworks, scoping of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB), reforms to disadvantage funding, and, more broadly, we are represented on every subgroup of the Improving Education Together (IET) task force chaired by the Secretary of State. 

With so much at stake, here are three questions for you to consider at your next senior leadership team or board meeting:

1. How proactive are you in local planning and collaboration with local partners, especially with regards to SEND provision?
2. How well does your existing enrichment provision meet the expectations of the Schools White Paper, and how does your school talk about enrichment?
3. As the trigger for disadvantage funding shifts away from free school meals and towards low prior attainment (LPA), what does the intersectionality between economically disadvantaged and low prior attainment learners look like? 

You may want to revisit the same questions early next academic year, to check progress against your strategic plan. 

Final thoughts 

Now is the time to move from awareness to action: stress-test policies, strengthen board capability, and embed priorities in strategic plans. We will continue to influence policy development and support you through consultation and implementation. However, readiness will depend on how the government and organisations prepare together, with a clear focus on deliverability for the sector.

Julia Harnden
ASCL Deputy Director of Policy
@julia-harnden.bsky.social

Tom Middlehurst
ASCL Deputy Director of Policy
@tommiddlehurst.bsky.social 

In March, the Department of Education in Northern Ireland published the outcome of the Independent Review of Assessment (tinyurl.com/ufate9fe), a key pillar of the department’s TransformEd strategy (tinyurl.com/2mm37vf9). 

Following publication of the review, which was led by Tim Oates CBE, the department produced its Policy Framework for Statutory Assessment (tinyurl.com/3y5b37pd), which is designed to deliver on the recommendations for pupils from Year 1 to Year 10. The framework confirms the introduction of a new statutory assessment pathway; the development of a writing repository; a record of development and education for each pupil; and the means to analyse assessment data to support teaching, tracking and system-wide improvement. Crucially, the department also confirmed that this data “will not be used for high stakes accountability or published at individual school level”. 

This marks a significant change in key stage assessment arrangements in Northern Ireland. Previously the vehicle for assessing pupils at Key Stages 1–3 were the Levels of Progression in Communication, Using Mathematics, and Using ICT. However, from the outset their application was fraught with difficulty for several reasons, including the broad nature of the statements within each, the administrative burden associated with assessment and the lengthy periods of industrial action where engagement with the process was discouraged.

ASCL Northern Ireland welcomes these changes. Until now, the only meaningful system-wide measure available has been GCSE outcomes; these new arrangements will provide teachers with clear and consistent information that will inform planning and allow them to assess pupils effectively. They will also provide invaluable data at key transition points and allow schools to provide easily understood feedback to parents. 

Key to successful delivery will be workload associated with the new arrangements. With ongoing concerns across the sector about teacher workload, initiatives such as these are being treated with suspicion, but both the review panel and the department have assured stakeholders that workload associated with delivery will be kept to a minimum. Whether those assurances prove justified remains to be seen. 

Michael McAuley
ASCL Northern Ireland Director

I write at a time when the Scottish National Party (SNP) has just won the Scottish election, for the fifth time in a row. By the end of the current Parliament, the party will have been in power for 24 years. We don’t know yet who the new Cabinet Secretary for Education will be, but they will have a difficult job on their hands as the system negotiates major reform, both in terms of curriculum and qualifications.

Curriculum reform is taking place in terms of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. Members of our Executive have expressed their concerns about how this is being delivered and have expressed a lack of confidence. We will be in direct discussion with the government about these concerns over the next few weeks. 

A resolution has been reached on the SNP manifesto promise from 2021 on the reduction in class contact time by 90 minutes. This arrived shortly after the threat of industrial action by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scotland’s largest teaching union. Implementation will be phased: for primary teachers, this will be from August 2027, while for secondary teachers, this will be from August 2029. This has led to claims of unfairness from some in the system as, currently, primary and secondary teachers have the same pay and conditions. This deal changes this for a period of two years. We will continue to advocate for other ways of reducing workload for that two-year period. 

Since Alison Mitchell joined our team as Professional Learning and Policy Officer in December, we have developed a broad and varied professional learning programme to ensure it reflects the needs and aspirations of our members at all leadership levels. You can view our full programme of events online at www.sls-scotland.org.uk/cpd

David Barnett
General Secretary, School Leaders Scotland

The TES Wellbeing Report 2026 (tinyurl.com/5n9bhcx3) presents an urgent warning for education in Wales: workload has reached crisis levels, and the implications for reform, recruitment and retention are now impossible to ignore. 

The evidence is stark – 83% of teachers identify workload as their biggest source of stress, and 71% describe their workload as unmanageable, up from 61% in 2024. Most troubling of all, only 3% say they are able to keep their work within contracted hours. These figures represent not dissatisfaction, but systemic failure. 

If the new Welsh government is serious about educational reform, workload must be placed at the centre of its agenda. Wales is reform rich but time poor. The success of recent reforms has relied heavily on the ingenuity and goodwill of teachers and school and college leaders – professionals who repeatedly make the impossible happen. However, ignoring the workload crisis risks undermining the very workforce on which reform depends. When capacity is stretched beyond its limits, failure becomes inevitable. 

This moment demands honesty and collaboration. Workload reduction does not happen by goodwill alone, nor is there a quick fix. It requires strategic planning, clarity of purpose and, above all, political prioritisation. Too often, reform in education means adding expectations without removing others. The system absorbs change because professionals care deeply about children and young people, but that model is no longer sustainable. 

Children in Wales deserve educators with the energy, confidence and creativity to inspire learning. That is not possible in a system where staff are exhausted, overwhelmed and driven by relentless accountability pressures. Workforce wellbeing is not a secondary concern; it is foundational to educational quality. 

The new Welsh government has a narrow window to signal its intent. Prioritising workload would demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainable reform and to putting children and young people first. Failure to do so risks entrenching a crisis the system can no longer absorb.   

Claire Armitstead
Director of ASCL Cymru 

Are you retiring from a school or college leadership role? ASCL Associate membership allows you to remain part of a trusted professional community while embracing the next chapter. As an Associate, you continue to receive ASCL publications, including our online Leader magazine, email briefings, and access to a wide range of website resources. Membership also brings new opportunities through the exclusive Associates News magazine, social activities, the ASCL Associates Committee, volunteering roles, and the chance to chair our popular planning for retirement events. 

ASCL Associate member Pauline Thomas highlights the value of staying involved: “Becoming an ASCL Associate helped me stay connected with people who truly understood my career. I’ve enjoyed meeting others, discovering new interests, and taking part in visits, events and online seminars, all of which have been a great source of ideas and inspiration for this next stage of life.” 

ASCL Associate membership is a great way for you to stay connected and enjoy fresh opportunities – find out more at www.ascl.org.uk/associates

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest information and tell us of any change in job title, school/college address, home address, and email. You can change your personal information online by simply logging in to your account (www.ascl.org.uk/MyASCL). Ensuring that we have your most up-to-date details will enable us to help you quicker should you need to contact us for support. It will also enable us to ensure that you receive all your member benefits.

The ASCL Benevolent Fund (ABF) is an important element in the association’s policy of providing protection and care for all members, past and present, and their dependants. While most members, active and in post, are unlikely to need help, a serious accident, redundancy, chronic illness, or disability can change the situation quite traumatically. 

Whether it is a short-term financial crisis or a long-term problem, the fund stands ready to help. If you know someone who may benefit from the fund or if you think you would benefit yourself, please call 0116 299 1122 or find out more at www.ascl.org.uk/benevolentfund 

ASCL has been quoted widely in the media over the recent period on a range of issues. 

ASCL’s Annual Conference in March attracted significant media attention, with approximately 20 journalists in attendance at the ACC Liverpool. Numerous policy announcements were made during the event, including the launch of a new Key Stage 3 Alliance (tinyurl.com/4arpmxhx) by the DfE and a pilot scheme from Ofsted (tinyurl.com/mrcmp64m) to recruit groups of school and college leaders to be part-time inspectors. ASCL President Jo Rowley used part of her conference speech to highlight the impact of parental behaviour on the wellbeing of school leaders, and was invited to discuss the issue on Times Radio and LBC News. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was in attendance at the conference and comments made in a press huddle, regarding lawyers opposing SEND reforms, made national headlines (tinyurl.com/2k3fwrah). 

Mobile phones in schools have continued to be a source of much debate, particularly while the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was ping-ponging between the Commons and the Lords. In April, General Secretary Pepe Di’Iasio was invited to discuss the issue on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (vimeo.com/1185107305), while Deputy Director of Policy Tom Middlehurst gave evidence (tinyurl.com/5n6spvz2) to the Commons Education Select Committee. The government’s decision to place existing guidance on mobile phones on a statutory footing generated plenty of column inches (tinyurl.com/4y4rv4mk).

School leaders are facing an unusually intense period of change. From the Every Child Achieving and Thriving white paper (tinyurl.com/k2emj2ps) to new statutory rules on the use of force, seclusion and restraint (tinyurl.com/27fdswhh), 2026 is a year in which policies need to be more than paperwork. They need to be genuinely current. 

A recent Upper Tribunal ruling, UW v Cheam Academies Network (tinyurl.com/4yju7xcf), makes this particularly pressing for behaviour and exclusions. The case, involving a pupil with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), confirmed that Equality Act 2010 duties extend across the full disciplinary process, from day-to-day behaviour management through to permanent exclusion. 

If your policy applies the same rules and sanctions to all pupils – without flexibility for those with disabilities – it may not meet the required standard. Consider reasonable adjustments at every stage and involve your SENCO early. This isn’t optional. 

Keeping pace with legal developments while leading a school is an enormous ask. 

That’s why Browne Jacobson LLP developed a pack of best practice policies, which offers more than 40 ready-to-use templates – including behaviour and exclusions policies – regularly updated so that compliance doesn’t have to fall solely on your shoulders.

• Find out more at www.brownejacobson.com/products/hr-educationpolicies-academy-trusts

The National Audit Office’s (NAO’s) report on falling pupil numbers in primary schools (see tinyurl.com/2dtys5u6) confirmed what many school leaders already knew: falling pupil numbers are no longer a regional concern but a national crisis. From 2018/19 to 2024/25 demand for primary school places fell by 3%, with a further 7% fall forecast by 2030. 

The NAO estimates that this could mean schools receiving £288 million less in per-pupil funding in 2027 alone. The impact is unlikely to be felt equally; disadvantaged children, who are more likely to attend lower-performing schools, may be disproportionately affected. 

For school leaders, the financial pressure is only part of the picture. Here we set out some of the key legal and practical issues that may need attention now:

• Funding compliance matters. The DfE’s Falling Rolls Fund (tinyurl.com/2s38np65) aims to support schools facing a temporary decline in pupil numbers, but funding is limited. Eligibility is not automatic – local authorities can set additional criteria, and formula changes, fixed costs and declining demand mean that not all schools will qualify. Applications must be prepared carefully and with a full understanding of the relevant conditions.
• Repurposing surplus space carries legal risk. For academies, repurposing surplus space engages the terms of the funding agreement and may require formal consent from the regional director. Taking legal advice before acting is essential. That said, creative use of surplus space has allowed some schools to bring nursery provision on-site or to offer space for specialist provision, which addresses a significant area of national need, and can generate meaningful benefits for the wider school community.
• Reducing your Published Admission Number (PAN) is legally regulated. While it may seem counterintuitive for a school seeking to attract more pupils, reducing a PAN can provide greater stability in numbers and support longer-term planning. A PAN reduction requires proper consultation under the School Admissions Code, and if the process is not followed correctly, a school may be exposed to legal challenge.
• Closure or amalgamation must follow the statutory proposals process. Many local authorities are considering shrinking school intakes rather than pursuing full closure, but the volume of unfilled places does leave some schools genuinely at risk. As an alternative, many schools are exploring federation, which allows a single leadership appointment to be shared across two schools, reducing costs without necessarily triggering redundancies. The multi-academy trust (MAT) model offers similar flexibility, enabling staff redeployment across settings and helping schools to retain skilled professionals during a difficult period. 

Falling rolls demand proactive legal and financial planning, not reactive crisis management. Act now, seek advice early, and explore all available structural options before decisions are made for you. 

ASCL has commented that the double whammy of inadequate per pupil funding and falling rolls has created a huge risk to the viability of many small primaries, and that communities are in danger of losing schools that have been a feature of those communities for decades.

• See our press release www.ascl.org.uk/FallingPrimaryNumbers

Take a look at our member benefits portal – a one-stop-shop for all the partner benefits that you can receive as an ASCL member. 

Our partners offer a range of products and services for you and your school, college or trust, with many of them offering exclusive discounts for ASCL members. 

From preferential rates on healthcare services, car insurance and financial advice, as well as discounts on education tools, performance management systems and self-evaluation surveys, our portal provides information on partner benefits, plus limited-time special offers.

• To find out more and to take a look at the latest offers, please visit www.ascl.org.uk/PartnerBenefits

ASCL’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) is a core and ongoing responsibility of our association. We recognise that meaningful progress in DEIB requires continual reflection, learning, and action, both within our own organisation and in how we represent and support our diverse membership. 

We are committed to fostering a culture in which every colleague feels valued, a wide range of voices actively shape our work, and inclusion in educational leadership is continually strengthened. 

In January 2026, ASCL joined several education organisations in renewing a collective commitment to improving equity, diversity, and inclusion across the education sector, through the publication of a shared statement of action (see www.ascl.org.uk/EDIStatement). 

Each organisation has set out the work it is undertaking and the progress it has made. In 2026, ASCL’s commitments include:

• celebrating diversity by attending Pride events across the UK, demonstrating visible solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/ questioning plus (LGBTQ+) communities and supporting member leaders to feel represented and valued
• continuing to strengthen links between professional leadership communities and ASCL’s policy work, ensuring that the voices of members from diverse backgrounds directly inform policy positions and consultation responses
• continuing to expand our professional leadership communities by exploring the needs of leaders with disabilities, helping to ensure our member networks reflect and support the full diversity of educational leadership 

See more information at www.ascl.org.uk/DEIB about how we support members through our professional leadership communities, resources on allyship, and guidance on embedding inclusive employment practices within workplaces.

We know that school and college leadership can be both immensely fulfilling and immensely challenging, often at the same time, so, here, we just want to remind you of all the great benefits of your ASCL membership:

• If you need support and guidance over any employment or professional issue, our exclusive member support hotline (0116 299 1122) is just a phone call away. It is staffed by experienced school and college leaders and supported by our specialist, regional, and legal teams.
• As an ASCL member you receive our twice-weekly newsletters (www.ascl.org.uk/newsletters). But did you know we also publish newsletters specifically for business leaders, independent sector members, post-16, primary, SEND, and trust leaders, as well as newsletters for our members in Wales and Northern Ireland. See and subscribe to them on the link above.
• ASCL Professional Development (www.ascl.org.uk/pd) offers a wealth of online and in-person events, including conferences, courses, programmes, and tailor-made services. And if you’re planning to recruit a new member of your senior team, do take a look at our leadership appointment service at www.ascl.org.uk/LAS
• We represent members at the highest levels of government and with regulators and other stakeholders. Our teams are working on your behalf on the issues that matter: funding, recruitment and retention, SEND provision, and much more. If you have something you’d like us to raise, please do let us know by emailing TellUs@ascl.org.uk 

ASCL provides many other services that you can explore on our website: www.ascl.org.uk When times are tough and you need someone on your side, we’re here for you.

The DfE has consulted on draft statutory guidance to replace the current guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions, which has been in place since December 2015. The consultation closed in May, and a response is expected this summer (see tinyurl.com/3k5u22sb). The key changes schools should prepare for now are as follows:

• Two published policies are now required. There must be a medical conditions policy and a new dedicated allergy safety policy, each owned by a named governor and senior leader and reviewed annually.
• Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs) should be used more widely, and a formal diagnosis is no longer a prerequisite.
• Annual whole-workforce allergy awareness training is expected, covering recognition of anaphylaxis and use of adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs).
• Spare AAIs must be stocked and accessible within five minutes from anywhere on-site. A locked cabinet requiring a keyholder to be present does not meet this standard.
• Spare AAIs can also be used without prior consent in unforeseeable emergencies.
• Near misses must be formally recorded and reported, treated as seriously as incidents resulting in harm. 

While the final guidance is not yet in force, schools should begin their gap analysis now. Use the draft to audit your current policies, IHPs, training, and incident processes. 

ASCL has submitted a response to the consultation. In our response, we have stressed that these responsibilities should not sit with schools alone and have highlighted the risks created by cuts to clinical services, which have shifted complex procedures on to non-clinical school staff. We’ve called for robust NHS-commissioned clinical nursing services in schools. Read our response www.ascl.org.uk/ConsultationMedicalConds

ASCL has submitted our response to the government’s consultation on SEND reform (tinyurl.com/47m7cr4p) that has now closed. 

We’ve welcomed the reforms and their ambition but have voiced serious concerns about the scale of expectation being placed on schools. We’ve said it isn’t clear that funding will be sufficient to afford the staffing, time, and collaboration needed to implement the reforms, and have warned that the volume of change across the system in general is overwhelming. 

Our response also highlights the contradiction between the ambition of SEND reform and a system of high-stakes assessment and accountability in which schools and colleges are penalised for any lower academic outcomes for some pupils with SEND. Education policies, we have said, should align with the equitable principles set out in the white paper. And we’ve said the reforms must not undermine relationships with parents by becoming all about compliance management.

• You can read our response at www.ascl.org.uk/ResponseSENDReform and press release at www.ascl.org.uk/SENDReform