New report urges next Prime Minister to put communities at the heart of education reform

The Centre for Young Lives think tank and education charity SHINE are today (Friday 10^th July) publishing a new report, A New Settlement for Education: Why We Need a New Theory of Place-Based Improvement. As Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street in the coming weeks, it makes a direct appeal to the incoming Prime Minister to translate his long-standing commitment to devolution and inclusion into a new era of education reform.

The report, authored by SHINE Trustee, Centre for Young Lives Visiting Fellow, and former MAT leader Jonny Uttley, argues that a new Burnham government should move beyond the 40-year-old education model focused on competition between schools and build a system that judges success by whether communities help every child thrive.

The report says that while reforms since 1988 have helped raise standards and improve many schools, England’s biggest challenges today are no longer primarily school-level problems. Persistent absence, the SEND crisis, youth mental health challenges, child poverty, regional inequality, and rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) are fundamentally place-based challenges requiring collective solutions.

The report warns that England has developed a successful theory of school improvement but no theory of place improvement, leaving schools expected to solve problems that extend far beyond the school gate.

It argues that Andy Burnham’s long-standing support for devolution creates a unique opportunity to reshape education around communities rather than institutions, with schools acting as civic anchors at the heart of local partnerships. It calls for new place-based education partnerships bringing together trusts, schools, colleges, employers, local authorities and health services around shared outcomes for children and young people.

Among its recommendations are:

• Replacing Progress 8 with a more flexible “Progress 5” accountability measure to create greater space for technical, vocational, and employer-linked pathways from age 14.
• Introducing a new local outcomes framework measuring attendance, exclusions, wellbeing, economic participation, employer engagement, and NEET rates alongside attainment.
• Creating statutory local education and skills partnerships with shared responsibility for improving outcomes across an area.
• Reforming accountability so schools and trusts are recognised for their contribution to wider community outcomes, not just individual institutional performance.

The report highlights examples of place-based innovation already emerging across England and points to international evidence from countries such as the Netherlands, where stronger vocational pathways and local coordination are associated with substantially lower NEET rates. It argues that education reform should be viewed not only as a social policy but as a critical driver of economic growth.

Jonny Uttley said:

“The central challenge of the late twentieth century was improving institutions. The central challenge of the twenty-first century is improving places.

“For forty years we have organised education around the question of how institutions compete. The next forty years must be organised around how communities thrive.

“The challenges facing children today cannot be solved by schools acting alone. They require schools, trusts, employers, councils, health services and communities working together around a shared mission for young people.”

Haroon Chowdry, Chief Executive of the Centre for Young Lives, said:

“Andy Burnham has spoken powerfully about the need for a more inclusive education system that works for every child, wherever they live and whatever their aspirations. The opportunity now is to turn that vision into action.

“Too many young people are still being written off by a system that was never designed around their needs. This report shows there is a different way forward.

“Devolution has shown us what is possible when local leaders are trusted to bring together schools, employers, health services and communities around a shared mission. The next Government has both the opportunity and the responsibility to make that a reality across the country.

Fiona Spellman, CEO of SHINE, said:

“If we want every young person to thrive, we need an education system that recognises the realities of the communities they live in and supports the places serving the children who face the greatest barriers.

“This report sets out a compelling vision for the next chapter of education reform. If we’re serious about narrowing the attainment gap, we need to move beyond a system that incentivises competition between schools and instead invest in the partnerships that enable every child to succeed.”