SEND reforms to 'strip away' children's legal protections, charity says. That was according to a recent headline on the BBC website.

Needless to say, the Department for Education, or DfE, disagrees, claiming that their planned reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities system in England represent “a clear expansion of children’s rights”.

When so much money, time, effort and emotion is poured into the SEND system every day, any attempt to change the system was likely to prove controversial. The DfE’s consultation on their proposed changes is open until May 18th, and there is plenty at stake for everyone concerned.

So what reforms has the DfE put forward in their consultation? Are children’s legal rights going to change, and if so, are they changing for the right reasons? And how confident can we be that children and young people, their families, teachers and school leaders will be better off as a result of the DfE’s reforms?

My guests are Sam Freedman, a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government and a former advisor at the DfE, and Jim Lauder, who works in a school trust and is also the parent of a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan, or EHCP.

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Normally a Schools White Paper from the Department for Education, or DfE, would attract plenty of attention on its release as it sets out the direction of travel on schools policy for the foreseeable future.

But when the new Schools White Paper was launched on February 23rd, the media focus was instead on the DfE’s plans to reform the special educational needs system in England.

Those special needs reforms will be the subject of my next podcast, but in this episode we are taking a deep dive into the Schools White Paper because it was not short of bold ideas and policy goals. Whether they are the right ideas and the right goals is very much up for debate.

So what are the main reforms in the Schools White Paper? Does the White Paper successfully combine ambition and pragmatism? And which of its reforms are likely to stand the test of time, and which will be quickly forgotten?

My guests are Laura McInerney, the co-founder of Teacher Tapp, and Freddie Whittaker, the editor of Schools Week.

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VAT on school fees, the end of their business rates relief, a big hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions, falling pupil rolls. It is no exaggeration to say that independent schools in England have had a very tough couple of years financially.

These pressures have already forced some independent schools to close, but what if, rather than closing, these struggling schools became state schools instead?

That may sound outlandish but, as my new report for the Private Education Policy Forum shows, 27 independent schools have jumped from the independent sector into the state sector since 2007 – either as academies or free schools.

So why did these independent schools decide to move into the state sector? What obstacles did they face along the way? And, crucially, have these former independent schools become successful state schools?

To discuss this new report, I’m delighted to be joined by my co-author, Dr Tilly Clough, a lecturer in law at Queen's University Belfast.

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On the 28th of October 2021, the first ever episode of Inside Your Ed was released. Almost four and a half years later, I’m delighted to say that this is episode number 100 of Inside Your Ed – quite a milestone for a podcast with a tiny budget but a big interest in education policy.

Of course, little did we know in October 2021 that just a year later, the launch of ChatGPT would herald the emergence of a new form of Artificial Intelligence, or AI.

The long-term impact of this new Generative AI on our education system remains unclear, but that has not stopped the Department for Education, or DfE, from making not one, not two, but three announcements in the early weeks of 2026 on this very subject.

So what has the DfE announced in relation to AI and other forms of education technology, or ed tech? Are there any reasons to be cautious about the DfE’s direction of travel? And what will ultimately determine whether children and young people stand to benefit from a greater use of AI and ed tech in schools and colleges?

My guests are Renate Samson, a policy and data consultant who co-authored a major report last year for the Ada Lovelace Institute and Nuffield Foundation on AI in education, and Dr Cat Scutt, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching.

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“It’s been a terrible year to graduate and find a job” said a recent headline in the Financial Times.

Other newspapers have also chipped in with equally gloomy headlines such as “Where have all the graduate jobs gone”, “It’s a jobs desert” and ‘It’s so demoralising’: UK graduates exasperated by high unemployment”.

So why are so many seemingly well qualified young people finding it hard to get a job? To what extent is AI to blame for graduates’ labour market woes? And are the challenges facing graduates likely to get better or worse in the coming years?

My guests are Sarah O'Connor, the employment columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times, and Stephen Isherwood, the joint Chief Executive of the Institute of Student Employers, a membership body that supports organisations who recruit graduates.

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Welcome back to Inside Your Ed – I hope you’ve all had a great start to 2026.

Last year concluded with an action-packed autumn term of education policies, including the Curriculum and Assessment Review, a Post 16 White Paper and a new levy on international students along with several announcements on extra funding for schools and families.

But fear not, because this year is already poised to offer plenty more drama and debates. A Schools White Paper is expected in the coming weeks, including reforms to the support for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, or SEND for short, and that all comes on top of simmering tensions over this year’s teacher pay awards and Ofsted’s controversial new inspection framework.

To share his views on what is coming up in 2026, I’m delighted to be joined by Pepe Di’Iasio, the General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents over 25,000 leaders in primary, secondary and post-16 education.

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In January 2025, I recorded an episode of Inside Your Ed titled ‘Will the debate over vocational and technical qualifications ever end?’.

It is therefore rather fitting that my final podcast of 2025 will prove beyond all reasonable doubt that this debate shows no sign of ending anytime soon.

In November this year, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review proposed the creation of V levels - a new set of vocational qualifications for 16 to 19 year olds that are intended to sit between academic A levels and technical T levels.

The Government accepted this recommendation and has since launched a consultation on the design and implementation of V levels in order to get these new qualifications ready for September 2027.

So what problems are V levels supposed to solve? What opportunities and risks lie ahead for learners and providers with this new brand of qualifications? And will V levels be seen as a prestigious choice for young people or will they struggle to compete with A levels and T levels in terms of their visibility and profile?

My guests are Professor Dame Alison Wolf DBE, the Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management at Kings College London and author of a government review of vocational qualifications in 2011, and Shaun Hope, the principal of Bishop Auckland College, which delivers further education, vocational training and higher education to over 4,000 students across Durham.

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For the Higher Education, or HE sector, it may be starting to feel like one step forward is almost immediately followed by one step backward.

Last year, the announcement of a rise in tuition fees in line with inflation was accompanied by a large increase in taxes on employers, including HE providers, which probably wiped out some, if not all the extra fee income.

This year, the decision to again raise fees in line with inflation was accompanied by a brand new tax on HE providers in the form of an international student levy.

Needless to say, this new levy comes at a time when many universities and other providers are known to be struggling financially, and that’s before you even consider potential problems with the levy itself.

So what is this new international student levy? Are there likely to be winners and losers in different parts of the HE sector following the levy’s introduction? And are there ways that the levy could potentially be improved, or should the sector just keep fighting against it regardless?

My guests are Rose Stephenson, the Director of Policy and Strategy at the Higher Education Policy Institute, and Chris Havergal, the editor of Times Higher Education.

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