28th July 2026

EPI comment on the Prime Minister’s proposed education reforms

Responding to the Prime Minister’s proposed education reforms, Julie McCulloch, Chief Executive at the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said:

“The Education Policy Institute welcomes the ambitions on education set out by the new Prime Minister today. While there is much to admire about England’s education system, major challenges remain. As our recent annual report starkly highlighted, the attainment gap between children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers remains stubbornly wide, and recent attempts to address this disparity have stalled or reversed.

Our research has also shone a spotlight on the widening participation gap in post-16 education. Nearly one-in-four students from low income backgrounds do not go on to post-16 education or training, compared with one-in-ten other students. This gap has been widening and is particularly acute for those living in persistent poverty. The interim report of the Milburn review into young people and work found a similar picture. It documented myriad and interconnected reasons, across the labour market, education, health and welfare, for the shockingly high numbers of young people now not in education, employment or training. 

Clearly, something must change. It is essential, though, that the reforms the new Prime Minster wishes to see are underpinned by a robust evidence base, and learn from previous attempts to create greater parity between vocational and academic pathways.

It is also crucial that everyone involved in developing this new approach is mindful both of current capacity constraints, and of potential unintended consequences. Offering more technical education to students from age 14 may help to engage more young people, but it will also require teachers with different expertise. Disadvantaged students need more focussed support than is often currently possible in our underfunded schools and colleges, whatever route they take. And there is a risk that, if implemented poorly, an over-focus on the needs of the local economy and on greater student choice below the age of 16 could have the opposite effect on social mobility from the one intended.
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The number of young people, particularly those from less advantaged backgrounds, who are currently disengaged from education is a major national problem, and the Burnham government is right to signal an early focus on this issue. The challenge will be to stop the policy pendulum from swinging too far, and ensure these reforms are set up in a way which addresses what doesn’t work about the current system without dismantling what does.”