{"id":35689,"date":"2025-04-20T13:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T13:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/35689\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T13:30:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T13:30:17","slug":"computing-hubs-scrapped-with-languages-scheme-scaled-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/35689\/","title":{"rendered":"Computing hubs scrapped, with languages scheme scaled back"},"content":{"rendered":"

More from this theme<\/p>\n

Recent articles<\/p>\n

Ministers have scrapped funding for computing hubs and are scaling back similar support in modern foreign languages, with the \u201clast-minute decision\u201d putting school finances and jobs in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

Schools Week revealed before Christmas a government scheme to help state schools teach Latin was to be canned in March<\/a>, leaving pupils and schools facing \u201csignificant disruption\u201d.<\/p>\n

As part of the same cost-cutting drive, multi-million pound \u201chub\u201d schemes to support schools boost the quality of teaching and uptake in two shortage subjects have also been axed.<\/p>\n

Language hubs<\/a> are expected to be \u201creshaped\u201d following cuts, while computing providers say they\u2019ve been left \u201cin a precarious position because we have no information about what the landscape will be like\u201d.<\/p>\n

Just three of the Conservatives\u2019 subject hub programmes will remain as Labour said it is taking \u201cdifficult decisions\u201d to cut spending and plug a fiscal blackhole.<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t abandon schools-led vision\u2019<\/p>\n

David Thomas, a DfE policy adviser under the last administration, urged the government not to abandon the \u201cemphasis of schools supporting schools\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Thomas<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to recognise that\u2019s where the expertise lies \u2013 it doesn\u2019t lie in Whitehall or away from the frontline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hubs \u2013 the Conservative successor to Labour\u2019s \u201cnational strategies\u201d \u2013 were set up to allow teachers to help colleagues in other schools by sharing \u201cbest practice\u201d and developing expertise.<\/p>\n

Six were created: maths, English, computing, science, music and languages.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2019, 30 computing hubs aimed to improve the teaching of the subject and increase participation.<\/p>\n

They worked with teachers from key stages 1 to 5 through development programmes, certification and peer networking, while also signposting resources and lesson plans.<\/p>\n

But the funding for the scheme, which has cost about \u00a327 million since its inception, will end in March.\u00a0 It is run by the\u00a0 National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE).<\/p>\n

The centre\u2019s subject specialist project will also be axed.<\/p>\n

\u2018Catastrophic cuts\u2019<\/p>\n

In the latter scheme experts work with schools to formulate action plans for improving computing teaching. More than 1,200 schools a year were supported.<\/p>\n

In an email, seen by Schools Week, the NCCE told schools the government had \u201casked us to emphasise that this was not an easy decision, and in no way reflects the impact and quality of support\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the fiscal situation the government inherited, there are difficult decisions to take on how money is spent right across the public sector to ensure we deliver on our priorities \u2013 including protecting core funding for schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the hubs kicked off, the proportion of pupils receiving A or above in A-level computing has risen by 35 per cent.<\/p>\n

Over the same period, the number taking the subject almost doubled, from 10,375 to 19,276 in 2024.<\/p>\n

An impact report produced by the NCCE in 2022 said the hubs had helped \u201cover 60,000 teachers and educators\u201d engage in its CPD programmes.<\/p>\n

Some schools has been able to \u201cwork towards becoming GCSE providers\u201d and support those in \u201careas of high social disadvantage with computing provision\u201d.<\/p>\n

A headteacher, whose school is a computing hub, believes the decision \u201cputs schools\u2019 finances and people who are doing the jobs in jeopardy\u201d, adding the \u201clast-minute withdrawal\u201d could be \u201ccatastrophic\u201d for some.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt leaves schools in a precarious position because we have no information about what the landscape will be like in future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NCCE\u2019s wider computing support will continue, but further details were not provided.<\/p>\n

Language hubs set for revamp<\/p>\n

A separate government email sent to heads before Christmas, also seen by Schools Week, said funding for language hubs would also be slashed.<\/p>\n

The National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE), which manages the scheme, said this meant \u201cthere will need to be changes to the current programme\u201d.<\/p>\n

It will work with the DfE to explore as a \u201cmatter of urgency\u201d how to \u201creshape the current programme, with the online CPD platform at its heart. The precise structure of the new model is still to be agreed, but the hubs model will not be able to continue in its current form from April 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost \u00a35.5 million has been spent on the hubs, which were established in 2023 to spread best practice in language teaching and boost exam entries.<\/p>\n

The 25 hubs were expected to work with up to seven secondary schools each to reach a maximum of 175 schools.<\/p>\n

Thomas believes that removing this \u201celement of the support\u2026 is, on the margin, going to affect the retention of those teachers\u201d, with languages already facing \u201creally big staffing challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n

The number of pupils taking A-level French, German and Spanish remains below pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n

An NCLE spokesperson said the consortium \u201cremains fully committed to supporting modern language teaching and learning in England\u201d and is \u201cworking closely\u201d with DfE \u201con the next steps\u201d.<\/p>\n

Science hubs and Latin axed<\/p>\n

It was announced in July that science hubs were to end in August amid \u201cchanges in funding\u201d. The DfE had spent \u00a3106 million on the contract since 2012-13.<\/p>\n

A 2015 evaluation by the Isos Partnership found 82 per cent of subject leaders reported a \u201chigh or very high\u201d impact on pupils\u2019 learning with increased engagement in science lessons.<\/p>\n

The Latin excellence programme (LEP) will be given the chop in February.<\/p>\n

The \u00a34 million scheme \u2013 which created resources for partner schools and funded teacher salaries and trips to Rome \u2013 was supposed to run until 2026, but ministers activated a break clause to end it earlier, causing disruption for pupils due to take GCSEs this year.<\/p>\n

Improvement teams to fill the void?<\/p>\n

Speaking this week, a DfE spokesperson said the government decided \u201cto end funding for a small number of subject-specific support programmes\u201d. It would continue to help leaders through English, maths and music hubs.<\/p>\n

\"LoicLoic Menzies<\/p>\n

Regional improvement \u2013 or \u201cRISE\u201d \u2013 teams, which are due to launch this month, will also \u201cencourage and foster improvement across the system, enabling schools and trusts to support each other\u2026 and share best practice\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, policy expert Loic Menzies warned \u201cthese tough decisions need to pave the way for something stronger, more coherent and more strategic that makes the most of existing capacity and expertise\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Schools Week investigation last year found nearly \u00a3700 million had been spent on running 13 hubs. But the former government was criticised after we found only four independent evaluations on their effectiveness had been published.<\/p>\n

Nearly 1,000 schools \u2013 about 1 in 25 \u2013 have offered support at some point as part of a government-founded hub. Other hubs include behaviour and flexible working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More from this theme Recent articles Ministers have scrapped funding for computing hubs and are scaling back similar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3164],"tags":[3284,20637,12,285,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-35689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-computing","9":"tag-education-policy","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114370538953263542","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}