Powerhouse: Coronavirus: The Education Perspective
The education sector lost 54% of its economic output every day at the height of the coronavirus lockdown. This UK Powerhouse whitepaper investigates the co
Coronavirus: The Education Perspective
In conversation with education experts on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Welcome
What education insiders think about the pandemic’s impact on the industry, and the reasons to be positive about the future.
The education sector was losing 54% of its economic output every day at the height of the coronavirus lockdown, according to our latest UK Powerhouse report.
Schools, colleges and universities have faced huge challenges as a result of the disruption of social distancing. But how can education organisations support and retain staff after the crisis? How can they futureproof their institutions? And what will learning look like for students in the future?
We brought together key figures from the education sector to share their experiences, and talk about the positive changes the coronavirus situation may bring.
Our panel discussed:
- How the education sector can recover from the financial impact of COVID-19
- How education organisations have supported staff through the pandemic
- How the student experience has changed during the pandemic
- What government is, isn’t and should be doing to support education’s recovery from the crisis.
Jenny Arrowsmith
Chair, employment law partner and head of the education sector
Irwin Mitchell
Roundtable attendees
- Jo Maher, principal and CEO, Loughborough College
- Lynn Forrester-Walker, vice principal of business and finance and deputy CEO, Hartpury University and Hartpury College
- Jonathan Wood, education officer, Bath Rugby Foundation
- Lisa Tomlinson, head of people and commercial development, Fircroft College of Adult Education
- Kimberly Downton, head of legal services, Ruskin Mill Trust
- Adrian Kneeshaw, CEO, Carlton Bolling College
- Dr Spencer Pitfield OBE, CEO, Paces Sheffield
- Sarah Page, director, Learners First Schools Partnership
- Jan Hutt, director of human resources, Northampton College
- Mary Vine-Morris, director for London region and national lead for employment services, Association of Colleges
- Hillary Bright, head of HR services, City College Norwich
- Karen O’Reilly, assistant principal – HR, South Staffordshire College
- Nicola Saintey, head of human resources, Petroc College.
Representing Irwin Mitchell
- Jenny Arrowsmith, employment partner and head of the education sector
- Michelle Beaumont, partner and real estate expert
- Helen Dyke, senior associate solicitor and employment expert
- James Betts, associate solicitor and public law expert
- Rachel Hetherington, associate business development manager
- Lilly Drakoulakou, business development executive.
What's UK Powerhouse?
UK Powerhouse is our quarterly economic briefing looking at regional growth around the UK. It’s published in partnership with economic think tank Cebr, and built around a city tracker ranking that helps you spot investment opportunities or areas for expansion.
Each briefing centres on a specific sector or theme. Our latest edition delves into the effects of coronavirus on different industry sectors, and looks at how different UK regions are coping with the crisis.
This whitepaper forms part of a series of roundtable events in response to our UK Powerhouse findings. The series covers the following additional sectors:
Tell me more about UK Powerhouse
Key Findings
The crucial points all education organisations should know right now.
Key Findings
How the Education Sector Can Recover from the Financial Impact of COVID-19
The financial issues caused by the crisis, and what educational establishments should do to plan for future success.
How the Education Sector Can Recover from the Financial Impact Of COVID-19
The coronavirus crisis brought traditional education activity to a halt overnight.
There was an immediate impact for both staff and students, but what was the knock-on effect on finances?
Our panellists discussed what they learned as a result of lockdown, and attempts to safeguard the sector from ongoing and future disruption.
The cost of empty classrooms
When the lockdown came into effect in March 2020, face-to-face learning was suddenly no longer possible. As a result, the sector had to dramatically diversify their approach with very little planning time. To add further complication, many pupils and students weren’t equipped for home learning, and teachers weren’t set up to teach remotely.
Students were no longer able to learn on-site, while residential colleges and universities had to send all or most of them home. Our panellists discussed the financial impact of a lack of students on-site, which in some cases meant a loss of millions of pounds.
A large proportion of residential fees were lost, and there were adverse impacts to other funding streams too, including catering income and transport costs. Even specialist colleges with other sources of income faced a loss, such as those offering equine courses who’d usually charge for livery costs. Some special education courses require the maintenance of livestock and infrastructure, which had to continue despite the lack of students.
Public funding for student numbers or student fees continues to be the main source of revenue for education. For some time, organisations in the sector have tried to generate other sources of income to address challenging budgets. As a result of the pandemic, they found themselves facing financial losses.
In the early days of lockdown, there was uncertainty over access to the furlough scheme, and whether organisations still had responsibility for agency staff, including invigilators. This stopped organisations from being able to make immediate responses.
Apprentices need face-to-face interactions for many aspects of their practical learning. Apprenticeships have therefore been significantly impacted by lockdown. For some education institutions, this has been a serious blow to funding.
A number of specialist schools and colleges need to perform day- and night-time assessments to assess whether they can meet a pupil’s needs. These institutions have been unable to complete assessments during lockdown, and some anticipate having some vacant places for the coming term as a result.
Funding for these placements is generally provided by local authorities under Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans. Being unable to complete assessments has slowed down this process, leading to delays in pupils securing placements.
Special educational needs (SEN) providers often rely heavily on fundraising to access additional funds needed for their service delivery. They were unable to run their fundraising activities over the spring and summer months, with their finances suffering as a result.
Social distancing and market uncertainty has caused problems for property and student accommodation markets. Some of our panellists, who had planned for real estate developments to improve facilities, or create more residential living space, said the crisis had put their plans on hold.
Today, no industry can be truly self-sufficient. But the crisis has shown that the education sector can face up to even the hardest challenge.
Skills are important to the UK economy in driving productivity, increasing social mobility and helping to “build back better”. With the UK’s unemployment rate at its highest since the 2008 recession, there could be an opportunity for many adults to retrain. The sector is in a prime position to support these individuals, but the government needs to consider funding support to create these new jobs and help rebuild the economy.
There needs to be more of an incentive for employers to take apprenticeships on, and for mature students to be appropriately subsidised. Apprenticeships are less attractive to adult learners who have financial commitments, such as families to support and debts to pay. The government could do more to encourage learners to seek alternative routes to employment.
There’s also a need for more incentives to urge local companies and education establishments to collaborate. How can this be done without clear policies, foundations and funding in place?
For some of our panel, the lockdown provided an opportunity to reflect and consider what changes could be made to the traditional way of teaching and learning, and managing income streams.
Creative thinking was needed about how to do things differently, such as:
- Managing cash flow
- Investment into improved infrastructures, such as technology or Wi-Fi.
SEN providers in particular highlighted the level of complex planning that had to take place to find new ways to deliver services. This is especially important for students shown to need face-to-face learning because of their special educational needs.
For others on our panel, lockdown allowed them to reap the benefits of changes they were able to put in place. These include using savings made on agency staff to invest in future education needs.
One participant revealed they’re now working to a five-year plan. By getting third parties and partners to commit longer-term, more working capital is available. During the crisis, the decision is whether to dip into these funds or save them, which our panellist agreed was a nice problem to have.
Many institutions are considering whether investing in more or better equipment would make any future crises easier to handle. Are there any improvements that could help avoid future disruption, or ensure improved teaching methods, should we see another lockdown?
By finding new opportunities and solving simple problems, educators can provide a better experience than ever for students. The crisis may have impacted the bottom line in the short term, but it could reveal ways to make new and improved investments in the future.
How Education Organisations Have Supported Staff Through the Pandemic
The challenges faced by those working in the sector, and why good mental health support is vital.
How Education Organisations Have Supported Staff Through the Pandemic
With schools, colleges and universities closed and students staying at home, the crisis has had a huge impact on education professionals.
Other sectors were able to furlough their employees, but the education sector continued to teach in person, supporting students of key workers. Education organisations also diversified by teaching students virtually.
It was recognised that staff generally coped well with the need to adapt and change their ways of working. Panellists discussed the need for leadership training to support leaders with change management. The demands on leadership are changing, and employers need to have the right training and policies in place to support leaders long-term.
There were new approaches identified that could make a positive difference once the crisis has passed. Despite the difficulties education institutions have faced, said our panel, there are reasons to be cheerful.
Searching for the silver lining
As with any organisation, staffing costs make up a large part of outgoings in the education sector.
As senior leaders embraced new ways of running their institution, there were some unexpected advantages.
The challenges of social distancing and other issues around the crisis meant schools, colleges and universities no longer needed regular supply teacher support. For many, this meant big savings. One participant revealed that at one of their sites, supply teacher fees are around £300,000 a year, a figure which has seen a huge drop during the crisis.
"I think there’ll be a lot more people who look at teaching as a secure profession, because clearly teachers have been paid throughout the crisis,” said Adrian Kneeshaw, CEO of Carlton Bolling College. “I think this will make recruitment a lot easier in future years as well, so that’s a real positive.”
Education institutions are also looking at better ways to manage finances. There are many benefits to this, such as cost savings, and increasing work efficiencies to build better resilience. Examples include taking the time to update contractual terms and staffing structures, and reviewing policy and processes.
When most people think of education, they picture classrooms full of students. At least for the time being, coronavirus has changed this landscape significantly.
Social distancing forced schools, colleges and universities to adopt a new approach to teaching. For the teachers themselves, part of this was a move to working from home.
In some sectors, working from home was already widespread before lockdown. Others were able to make the switch fairly easily. But the education sector has traditionally been a face-to-face industry, so for many staff the move to remote working had its own set of challenges.
Our panellists explained how they supported staff through the transition. Many employees received new equipment, such as laptops and monitors, to allow them to carry on delivering a full programme of lessons virtually.
With group discussion and one-to-one feedback no longer available, teachers had to amend teaching plans and find new ways to support their staff to deliver virtual lessons.
The new way of learning required high levels of engagement and cooperation. Those most impacted were students with special educational needs and those from deprived backgrounds. These groups were more likely to find virtual learning challenging, being unable to adapt to that way of learning, or not having the technology or internet required.
Any initial fears teachers had about remote working and teaching soon faded, according to our panel. Many staff said fewer meetings and distractions meant they were now more productive than ever.
The challenge for educators has been to ensure employees feel like part of a team even when they aren’t on campus. According to our panellists, it’s a challenge the sector has risen to with great success.
As teachers adjusted to a new working routine, education organisations had to make sure they were offering staff proper support, and that students received continuing access to education.
First and foremost was the need to stay in close contact with colleagues. The fast-moving nature of the crisis meant they had a lot to communicate to both staff and unions about new ways of working and re-opening.
Return to work discussions became political very quickly. Education organisations had to try to address staff and union concerns, and follow changing government guidance in short timeframes.
Those who engaged with staff well had the least difficulties with implementing return to work. These institutions mentioned how many of their teachers were engaged and wanting to return to some kind of normality in teaching.
Employees were kept abreast of important changes, but organisations also found new ways to build team spirit. Regular communication, online social events and remote sharing of resource have all helped employees to feel less isolated.
As lockdown measures start to ease, organisations continue to prepare colleagues to return to campus. For many, it’s about building confidence that employers are taking the right steps to ensure staff and student safety. Our panellists discussed the measures they’ve put in place, including:
- Risk assessments
- Union discussions
- Measures for social distancing and complex timetabling arrangements
- Innovative solutions to minimise contamination
- Occupational health workshops.
It’s likely that the pandemic has changed the education sector forever. As we emerge from the other side, what matters most is doing what’s best for students. Organisations should take advantage of the positive outcomes, such as finding new and more flexible ways of delivering outstanding education that were impossible or impractical before.
The coronavirus crisis has presented all employers with a unique set of challenges, but particularly those in education. Some have stayed up to date with the latest guidelines, and sought legal support for how to interpret them to their own setting. These organisations have reduced the risk of complaints, disputes and other unwanted legal issues.
The right advice can help you identify the different needs you may have. Legal experts can show you how to move forward amidst a background of difficult hurdles, remain compliant, and provide the right level of support to staff or other stakeholders.
Jenny Arrowsmith
Partner and employment expert at Irwin Mitchell
How the Student Experience has Changed During the Pandemic
The impact of lockdown on learners of all backgrounds, and the ways technology has transformed the education landscape.
How the Student Experience has Changed During the Pandemic
As the saying often goes, “the customer is always right”. In the business of education, that means keeping students engaged and progressing well with their learning.
But how can students have the same quality experience without being in the same room as their teachers or classmates?
Our panellists discussed how they delivered lessons during lockdown, and the new opportunities arising from the crisis.
Certain institutions have only been able to make minor adjustments to teaching during the crisis. With social distancing in place, some courses (such as agricultural) continued, with students moving outdoors to learn how to milk a cow and other practical lessons. A panellist referred to students undertaking work experience virtually with commercial partners, instead of in person.
For many, though, things had to change. Most of our panel described how they’d moved to ‘blended learning’, combining face-to-face teaching with online lessons and reading material. For the time being, the emphasis is on the latter.
Students received learning packs, digital and hardcopy, to help with learning. Electronic equipment, such as laptops and dongles, helped pupils carry on studying at home. But for some, remote learning is a challenge in itself.
Older learners, those with special educational needs and disadvantaged adults may all have faced difficulties in studying at home. Some might not be computer literate or need access to specialist technology. Others may live in homes or areas where network access is poor or non-existent.
For some students, transitioning to a situation where learning took place in front of a screen rather than in a classroom was challenging. These students needed a lot of support from their home environment to engage with virtual learning. Educators have had to find innovative solutions to these problems, with some providing students with devices in the short-term.
Home learning can’t fully replace traditional methods of teaching. There’ll always be a need to continue face-to-face interaction to track student progress and engagement. Physical lessons are also important in certain practical subjects. But for many students, a move to other forms of learning was welcomed with open arms.
“We know that different students learn in different ways,” said Lynn Forrester-Walker, deputy CEO of Hartpury University and College. “I think the coronavirus crisis has given educators the opportunity to realise alternative teaching methods really can work.”
Whether they learn best in a crowded lecture theatre or a quiet bedroom, all students need a strong support network to succeed. However difficult lockdown has been on learners, it’s had a huge impact on those around them too.
Families with children were suddenly faced with full homes around the clock. Large numbers of parents were juggling with remote working themselves.
For many, the pressure of combining this with full-time childcare and supporting home learning has been intense.
Our panellists commented on the support they gave to families as part of their offering. This has only increased as the demands on parents grew during lockdown.
What should the future look like for students?
Much has been written about ‘the new normal’ after coronavirus. There are some obvious examples of what this will look like for education.
Blended learning is certain to continue long after lockdown ends. Schools, colleges and universities will likely need to invest in better technology to support this. And communication will continue to be crucial, for students and staff alike.
But what other changes could make the student experience even better? Better after-school facilities could help youngsters academically, but also provide practical life lessons.
Investment in residential spaces could also help to deliver quality education in a more cost-effective way, or provide more open spacing to support social distancing in cramped campuses. Complications remain, such as access to free school meals and suitable transport, but these are essential issues to address.
Coronavirus has opened up a world of possibilities for both students and educators. But progress will only be possible with investment and commitment from the highest level.
What Government Is, Isn’t and Should be doing to Support Education’s Recovery from the Crisis
The importance of good governance for a successful education sector in the post-coronavirus world
What Government Is, Isn’t and Should be doing to Support Education’s Recovery from the Crisis
Opinions will always differ about the UK government’s response to coronavirus. According to our panellists, though, the education sector should have received better, quicker guidance.
Government advice also needed to be more reflective of the different needs for schools, colleges and universities, and the various stakeholders they engage with.
As the country starts to rebuild, what are the key lessons for the sector? More importantly, how could students benefit?
Today’s education landscape is increasingly complex.
Institutions offering a straightforward curriculum still exist, of course. But many education organisations now cater for a wide variety of students with a range of paths to qualifications. During the crisis, this caused problems.
The main challenge for many of our panellists was interpreting the guidelines around coronavirus. Some work with special educational needs students, others with students of different ages or backgrounds. Some offer apprenticeships which have been dramatically affected. Others are concerned over the new T Level qualifications due to commence in the new term.
Many of our participants found it difficult to interpret the guidelines and apply them to their organisation. References in the guidelines were generalised statements about employment terms of staff and expectations for re-opening. This created confusion and conflicting concerns amongst all stakeholders, including staff, unions, parents and students.
The government has had to be reactive to the pandemic as it developed. But the crisis has highlighted the importance of clear guidelines for all areas of the sector, and a deeper understanding of funding and employment terms. Our panel called on the government to recognise a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work when it comes to the sector as a whole, as well as sub-sectors individually.
The education sector has faced significant challenges throughout the crisis. For the most part, though, organisations have dealt with issues in an agile way and weathered the storm successfully.
Our panellists felt there was much to be proud of. The crucial next step is for government to acknowledge the resilience the sector has shown.
One participant discussed the ways that the government monitors schools, colleges and universities. Schools must complete attendance registers, or they can suffer funding cuts.
They need to re-open, but must do so safely and where their campus or staffing numbers allow. They need to make teaching methods effective, however these are delivered. Wouldn’t an outcomes-based approach be more suitable?
Our panellists agreed the sector has earned the right to a degree of autonomy. A better level of trust between government and the sector, said our panel, would be a positive outcome from the difficulties of the crisis.
Throughout the crisis, the sector has had to find new and better ways to communicate. Many have not just adapted, but thrived. They’re now sharing ideas more regularly, challenging the status quo and building a deeper understanding of what’s required.
According to our panellists, the government needs to follow a similar approach post-pandemic. Schools, colleges and universities often have great relationships with their local authority or local partners. But the link between local authorities and government isn’t quite as strong, our panel said.
Local authorities are likely to have a much clearer idea of what each sector needs and when, as are school leaders. Crucially, that includes funding requirements and addressing local needs for boosting local economic growth.
Our panellists suggested that government needs to work more closely with local authorities and school leaders, rather than giving them generic guidance. Building a stronger understanding of local requirements will ultimately mean students get a better experience.
Since our roundtable took place, government have discussed and agreed numerous funding packages for the sector. This includes, amongst other things:
- College collaborations
- 16 to 19 pupil funding
- “Catch-up” packages.
Most local authorities will see increases of over 3% in the funding allocated per pupil. Only historically highly funded authorities will see smaller increases. Catch-up funding is being made available to mainstream schools.
Of all the changes that should remain after the crisis, the most important is arguably the most difficult. But better support from government will make it easier for educators to do the job they love. With the right approach, the post-coronavirus generation could be happier, healthier and better educated than ever before.
Supporting You Through COVID-19
We share the latest legal updates to help you and your business in these unprecedented times.
Supporting You Through COVID-19
We’re keeping up-to-date with the changes the UK government is making and how they could affect you.
From employment concerns to family law matters, get all the latest updates on our coronavirus hub or sign up to one of our webinars.
Visit the hub
