AMHIE Newsletter November 2025

Your AMHIE news round up for November 2025

Hello and welcome to our monthly round up of all the news, blogs and information we shared this November 2025. We have been all over the place this month, chatting to our members and sharing our great content. For November 2025 we started a brand new trend of linking our resources to awareness and important sector data and information. We hope you liked the Anti-Bullying Week campaign, but what should we do next? Well watch this space, because for December we will be focusing on a big talking point to help you at your setting.

• AMHIE Conferences: Our early bird tier two tickets are only available until 31st December so if you’re thinking of coming book now! https://community.amhie.com/amhie-conferences/
• AMHIE Membership: Our membership offer covers everything your team need to promote DfE and Ofsted compliance for mental health visit for more info: https://amhie.com/our-offer/membership/
• AMHIE Training: Our training offer includes compliance and policy based options for you and your team visit: https://community.amhie.com/training/

Free webinar?

We are teaming up with the team at LLSE to deliver a webinar from AMHIE Chair Richard Daniel Curtis on 9th December 2025 at 4pm.

Integrating Wellbeing Across a Packed Curriculum: “As part of the curriculum we offer young people, we need to be teaching them to be mentally literate and to have the skills to cope with what they face and be resilient to the future. Author of a forthcoming book on the topic, Richard will lead this workshop aimed at thinking more about the natural opportunities across the curriculum to promote mental health and wellbeing.”

There will be a recording of this session available afterwards, but to join just sign up here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/n93R0f_lRk6_dYZhvYhHlg#/registration

Alerts and Releases November 2025

• The Department for Education (DfE) has unveiled landmark National Curriculum reforms aiming to equip young people to thrive in the modern world of work and life
• Regional Improvement Teams introduced in new standards push for colleges, which will help to break the link between background and success.
• From this month, every school will be issued with AI-powered minimum attendance improvement targets to ensure children are in school and ready to achieve. 
• Applications are now open for the next wave of 500 schools with 40% of pupils on free school meals to benefit from the programme.
• The Teacher Wellbeing Index was released for 2025, revealing a sector in crisis.
• The DfE published their National Behaviour Survey results, and there was some interesting trends.
  

Our Blog November 2025

• For Stress Awareness Week we covered ideas for adopting  strategic, systemic approaches to wellbeing.
• Harnessing the Power for Good: Your Whole-School Blueprint for Anti-Bullying Week and Beyond.
• The SEND assessment crisis and the Budget 2025 – where is the money coming from?
  

Here is a summary of the major talking points for November 2025:

1. 🎓 Higher Education Funding Crisis & Reform

The financial stability of UK universities has been a major focus, driven by:

• Real-Terms Funding Cuts: Analysis (e.g., from Universities UK) highlighted that per-student teaching funding for domestic undergraduates is significantly lower in real terms than a decade ago, leaving many universities struggling with deficits.
• Tuition Fee Changes: The decision to allow the undergraduate tuition fee cap to rise annually with inflation has been confirmed, providing a limited injection of new revenue. The fee cap for the 2025-2026 academic year is £9,535 and is projected to be around £9,900 in the next year.
• International Student Levy: A new charge on international student fees was announced in the Autumn Budget to fund maintenance grants for low-income domestic students (starting in 2028/29). This move is controversial, with university leaders warning that it will remove more revenue than the inflation-linked fee rise adds, worsening financial pressures.
• Student Support Grants: The new, non-repayable maintenance grants for full-time students from low-income families in certain subjects were confirmed to be introduced from the 2028/29 academic year.

2. 📝 Major National Curriculum Reform (K-12)

The government published plans for a comprehensive update to the National Curriculum, responding to a major review. Key reforms include:

• Modernising Core Skills: A strengthened focus on Oracy (speaking and listening) through a new framework, along with a new statutory reading test in Year 8 and improved writing assessment in Year 6.
• Future-Facing Subjects: Introducing new or stronger content in:
  • Digital/Media Literacy: Teaching primary pupils how to spot fake news and disinformation.
  • Data Science & AI: Exploring a new qualification in data science and AI for 16–18-year-olds, and a broader Computing GCSE to replace the narrowly focused Computer Science GCSE.
  • Climate & Nature Education: Embedding environmental sustainability across the curriculum.
• Core Enrichment Entitlement: A new statutory entitlement to extra-curricular activities for every child, covering areas like sport, arts, civic engagement, and nature.

3. 🚨 SEND Funding & Accountability Overhaul

The contentious and rising cost of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision was a major topic in the Autumn Budget:

• Central Government Responsibility: The government announced it will take over full financial responsibility for SEND spending from local councils, starting in April 2028.
• Financial ‘Timebomb’: This move came alongside warnings from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that the accumulated council SEND deficits could reach £14 billion by 2028, sparking debate over how the shortfall will be absorbed and if it will ultimately impact mainstream school budgets.
• Reform Focus: The impending Schools White Paper (due early next year) is expected to detail reforms aimed at improving outcomes, promoting earlier intervention, and ensuring mainstream schools are better resourced to meet ‘common and predictable’ needs.

4. 📉 Teacher Recruitment, Retention & Wellbeing

The ongoing crisis in staffing remains a critical concern, with new data underscoring the severity:

• High Attrition: Data showed that the UK has one of the worst teacher retention rates among developed nations, with over 90% of leavers quitting for reasons other than retirement.
• Plunging Wellbeing: The annual Teacher Wellbeing Index reported that education staff wellbeing scores have dropped to the lowest levels since 2019, with high percentages reporting work-related stress and symptoms of poor mental health.
• Workforce Reductions: Falling pupil numbers in the primary phase, particularly in certain regions, have led to many primary headteachers anticipating staff reductions, while secondary school recruitment activity has also slowed down.

Would you like to be kept up to date on mental health in education? Consider joining us as a Free Member and never miss a thing, receive free resources and get advice and support on mental health guidance and policy from the DfE and Ofsted.

(Resources you could have accessed this month as a free member: Anti-Bullying Toolkit and Wellbeing and Culture Toolkit.)