The Education Policy Institute partnered with the Key Group to hold a private roundtable on: ‘Delivering the data spine today – what is possible with AI, and how schools and the wider education sector can better leverage live data’
In January 2026, the Education Secretary announced plans to develop a ‘data driven school system’, with the schools white paper, published in February, announcing the introduction of a new ‘data spine’. The government’s vision is to connect and share pupil-level information, such as Key Stage 3 attainment and progress, SEND and behaviour data, to support decision-making around government policy and improve collective understanding of the education system as a whole, and by schools and trusts of their own cohorts.
While individual schools use Management Information Systems (MIS) to support school staff in their day-to-day administrative, school improvement and pastoral activities, a near-live data view across all schools and trusts is currently very limited in its breadth, restricted to attendance data at the Department for Education. The DfE, through the introduction of a data spine, has a vision to build on the capabilities of a MAT-wide view very substantially – to allow a sector-wide view of national pupil data.
While the potential benefits are clear – the data spine could provide real-time insights into what is happening in schools – there are significant challenges to delivering these ambitious plans safely and effectively. A number of questions remain unanswered relating to system design; data storage, usage and protection; the scale, time and cost of implementation; and the complexity involved in aggregating typically unstandardised data sets e.g. behaviour data, where sanctions for behaviour policy infractions look very different depending on the ethos and context of the school. It is therefore critical to help policymakers think through how best to harness the potential of this data – ultimately, to deliver on the government’s vision while avoiding unintended consequences.
This roundtable brought together policymakers, school and trust leaders, research and sector experts to explore the opportunities and challenges presented by the data spine work, with a focus on supporting policymakers to understand the risks and complexities involved, and delivering a system that achieves its goals.
Partner with us
This roundtable was an invitation-only event as part of the Education Policy Institute’s partnership programme. To discuss running a private roundtable with EPI, please contact Tim Archer (tim.archer@epi.org.uk) or Adam Richards-Gray (adam.richards-gray@epi.org.uk) – or you can find out more about wider partnership opportunities here
