Top exam grades will not transform children into happy and healthy adults, the education secretary will say, calling on schools in England to replace a “tunnel vision” on academic success with wellbeing.
Speaking to school leaders in Birmingham on Thursday, Bridget Phillipson will say that schools can respond to declining attendance and an increasing number of pupils with special needs by improving the sense of belonging.
“Exam results open important doors to opportunity for young people; they show what pupils know and can do; they are and will continue to be the anchor of our education system,” Phillipson will say.
“But A*s alone do not set young people up for a healthy and happy life. And where previous governments have had tunnel vision, we will widen our ambition.”
The speech to the Confederation of School Trusts is Phillipson’s first attempt as education secretary to set out her vision for England’s schools, aligning with calls for more of subjects such as music and sport.
Phillipson’s speech comes in the context of the wide-ranging curriculum and assessment review, chaired by Prof Becky Francis, launched this summer, as well as the government’s plans for a children’s wellbeing bill to be published next year.
Phillipson will tell the 1,500 school and academy trust leaders that “wellbeing and belonging hold the key” for improving the lives of young people, saying: “If we want to tackle the epidemic of school absence, children need to feel like they belong in school.
“If we want to transform the outcomes of all young people with special educational needs and disabilities [Send], children need to feel like they belong in school. And if we want young people to leave our school system, not just with A*s in their pocket but with a sense of power and purpose, children need to feel like they belong.”
Arguing that a “sole focus on achieving is doomed to fail”, Phillipson will add: “This government will always be strong on standards. But those standards will forever be in the pursuit of what is best for children.
“Because if we fall into that trap of chasing a narrow shade of standards, structures-driven rather than child-focused, then children with Send get swept to the side and attendance crashes.”
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The review announced in July is expected to encourage a broader curriculum to be taught in schools, including music, art, sport and drama, as well as vocational subjects, alongside the core subjects of literacy and maths.
On Monday, Phillipson announced that tuition fees for undergraduates in England would rise in 2025-26, from £9,250 to £9,535, and promised further measures to improve access to university for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Figures published by the Ucas admissions service – compiled before the tuition fee announcement – show a slight fall in UK 18-year-olds applying for places with October deadlines, including Oxbridge and medical schools.
Anne Murdoch of the Association of School and College Leaders said it was “disappointing” that applications to selective institutions from disadvantaged students remained static.
“Increased tuition fees are hardly conducive to improving this situation, particularly while the level of maintenance loans remains so low as to not sufficiently cover living costs in many cases,” she said. “This effectively puts these prestigious courses out of the reach of many disadvantaged families.”