Letter from the Editor: What Does 2026 Have In Store For Schools?

 Andy McHugh

If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that schools rarely get a quiet “business as usual” stretch. There’s always a new priority, a new framework, a new expectation, and (usually) the same finite number of hours in the week to make it all happen.

So here’s what I think the next year will feel like for most schools: not a single dramatic reset, but a series of practical nudges. A tightening of standards in some places, a fresh set of labels in others, and a growing push to do the basics brilliantly. Attendance. Behaviour. SEND. Safeguarding. Curriculum. Assessment. Workload. And, sitting behind all of it, the simple question teachers and leaders ask every day: What will actually make the biggest difference to the children in front of me?

For teachers: clarity, not clutter

For classroom colleagues, the biggest challenge this year won’t be a lack of initiatives. It will be working out what matters most and what can be safely ignored.

Curriculum-wise, we now have the final report of Professor Becky Francis’ Curriculum and Assessment Review (published November 2025, updated December 2025). It is detailed, and it’s more “refine and rebalance” than “tear it up and start again”. Expect the conversation to centre on knowledge richness, curriculum coherence, and how assessment can support learning without becoming the tail that wags the dog.

In practical terms, that means this year will be full of departmental debates that sound small but matter: what we keep, what we cut, what we sequence differently, and how we assess without creating marking mountains. HWRK will focus on what those recommendations look like in real classrooms, particularly for busy teachers who want to improve learning without adding five new data drops.

Workload will remain the elephant in the room. There is some good news on pay, with a 4% award accepted for 2025/26. It won’t fix everything, but it does shape recruitment, retention, and morale.

For school leaders: a new language of accountability

For leaders, the headline change is the accountability landscape feeling both familiar and new at the same time. Ofsted has confirmed changes to education inspection and introduced “report cards” (moving away from the single overall grade). Whether you see this as progress or presentation, it will change how schools talk about themselves, how governors ask questions, and how parents interpret information.

What does that mean on the ground? More emphasis on explaining context and capacity, not just outcomes. More pressure to evidence inclusion and curriculum intent in a way that’s legible to non-specialists. And more communication work for leaders, because a report card format invites a different kind of scrutiny: parents will zoom in on the categories that matter to them most.

Meanwhile, attendance and behaviour are still front and centre. The DfE has been clear that its forthcoming schools white paper will set out plans around behaviour and attendance, and the direction of travel is unmistakable: stronger expectations, more support mechanisms, and continued accountability.

We also have live attendance reporting showing an attendance rate of 93.68% for the 2025/26 year to date (as of the week published 18 December 2025). That’s an improvement for some schools, but it’s not a victory lap. It’s a reminder that absence remains stubbornly high.

So this year, leaders will need two parallel plans: a systems plan (policies, routines, escalation, support) and a relationships plan (families, trust, community, early intervention).

For students: boundaries, belonging, and better support

Students will feel the culture of school more than they feel policy documents. So, from their perspective, 2026 will be about three things:

1) Boundaries that stick.
Expect continued focus on behaviour routines and the calm consistency that makes learning possible. A lot of schools are re-checking phone policies too. The DfE guidance is clear that schools can prohibit phone use during the school day, and many are moving towards tighter restrictions to reduce disruption and protect attention.

2) Belonging as a priority, not a slogan.
This links directly to attendance, exclusion, and wellbeing. The sector is increasingly honest about the fact that “just sanction it” won’t solve everything. The students who are struggling to attend are often the ones who need school the most.

3) A SEND system in motion.
SEND will be one of the biggest and most sensitive stories of 2026. The DfE is running a “SEND reform national conversation” ahead of a Schools White Paper in 2026, with consultation planned alongside that publication.

At the same time, media reporting suggests there is active debate about how EHCP thresholds and entitlements might change over the coming years, which is already raising concern among families and campaigners.

For parents: partnership, not point-scoring

Parents are not a single group, and schools know that better than anyone. Some families want more homework, some want less. Some want stricter sanctions, some want more nurture. Most want the same basic thing: their child to be safe, happy, and learning.

This year, I think parents will feel two tensions:

• Attendance expectations tightening, alongside ongoing realities like anxiety, unmet SEND needs, and family pressure.
• A sharper focus on online safety and safeguarding, with schools expected to keep pace with fast-moving risks.

On safeguarding, the statutory guidance “Keeping children safe in education” has been updated for September 2025. For schools, this means the annual safeguarding cycle remains non-negotiable: training, reporting culture, filtering and monitoring, and clear procedures that actually work on a Tuesday afternoon when things go wrong.

And one more thing: AI will move from novelty to normal

AI is no longer a fringe conversation. The DfE’s position is that generative AI has the potential to reduce workload and support teaching, but it must be approached safely and thoughtfully. GOV.UK+1

This year, more schools will formalise what’s allowed, what’s not, and what “good use” looks like. HWRK will focus on realistic, classroom-friendly uses: planning support, adaptive practice, modelling, feedback scaffolds, and admin reduction, alongside the crucial bit, how we teach students to use it ethically.

If you’re reading this as a teacher, leader, student, or parent: our promise is that we’ll stay practical. We’ll translate policy into what it means on Monday morning. We’ll share what’s working. We’ll be honest about what isn’t. And we’ll keep the tone human, because schools are human places.

Here’s to a year of fewer distractions, better systems, and more time spent on the work that matters.