Ministers have scrapped funding for computing hubs and are scaling back similar support in modern foreign languages, with the “last-minute decision” putting school finances and jobs in jeopardy.
Schools Week revealed before Christmas a government scheme to help state schools teach Latin was to be canned in March, leaving pupils and schools facing “significant disruption”.
As part of the same cost-cutting drive, multi-million pound “hub” schemes to support schools boost the quality of teaching and uptake in two shortage subjects have also been axed.
Language hubs are expected to be “reshaped” following cuts, while computing providers say they’ve been left “in a precarious position because we have no information about what the landscape will be like”.
Just three of the Conservatives’ subject hub programmes will remain as Labour said it is taking “difficult decisions” to cut spending and plug a fiscal blackhole.
‘Don’t abandon schools-led vision’
David Thomas, a DfE policy adviser under the last administration, urged the government not to abandon the “emphasis of schools supporting schools”.
“We’ve got to recognise that’s where the expertise lies – it doesn’t lie in Whitehall or away from the frontline.”
Hubs – the Conservative successor to Labour’s “national strategies” – were set up to allow teachers to help colleagues in other schools by sharing “best practice” and developing expertise.
Six were created: maths, English, computing, science, music and languages.
Launched in 2019, 30 computing hubs aimed to improve the teaching of the subject and increase participation.
They worked with teachers from key stages 1 to 5 through development programmes, certification and peer networking, while also signposting resources and lesson plans.
But the funding for the scheme, which has cost about £27 million since its inception, will end in March. It is run by the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE).
The centre’s subject specialist project will also be axed.
‘Catastrophic cuts’
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.
In an email, seen by Schools Week, the NCCE told schools the government had “asked us to emphasise that this was not an easy decision, and in no way reflects the impact and quality of support”.
“Given 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 – including protecting core funding for schools.”
Since the hubs kicked off, the proportion of pupils receiving A or above in A-level computing has risen by 35 per cent.
Over the same period, the number taking the subject almost doubled, from 10,375 to 19,276 in 2024.
An impact report produced by the NCCE in 2022 said the hubs had helped “over 60,000 teachers and educators” engage in its CPD programmes.
Some schools has been able to “work towards becoming GCSE providers” and support those in “areas of high social disadvantage with computing provision”.
A headteacher, whose school is a computing hub, believes the decision “puts schools’ finances and people who are doing the jobs in jeopardy”, adding the “last-minute withdrawal” could be “catastrophic” for some.
“It leaves schools in a precarious position because we have no information about what the landscape will be like in future.”
The NCCE’s wider computing support will continue, but further details were not provided.
Language hubs set for revamp
A separate government email sent to heads before Christmas, also seen by Schools Week, said funding for language hubs would also be slashed.
The National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE), which manages the scheme, said this meant “there will need to be changes to the current programme”.
It will work with the DfE to explore as a “matter of urgency” how to “reshape 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.”
Almost £5.5 million has been spent on the hubs, which were established in 2023 to spread best practice in language teaching and boost exam entries.
The 25 hubs were expected to work with up to seven secondary schools each to reach a maximum of 175 schools.
Thomas believes that removing this “element of the support… is, on the margin, going to affect the retention of those teachers”, with languages already facing “really big staffing challenges”.
The number of pupils taking A-level French, German and Spanish remains below pre-pandemic levels.
An NCLE spokesperson said the consortium “remains fully committed to supporting modern language teaching and learning in England” and is “working closely” with DfE “on the next steps”.
Science hubs and Latin axed
It was announced in July that science hubs were to end in August amid “changes in funding”. The DfE had spent £106 million on the contract since 2012-13.
A 2015 evaluation by the Isos Partnership found 82 per cent of subject leaders reported a “high or very high” impact on pupils’ learning with increased engagement in science lessons.
The Latin excellence programme (LEP) will be given the chop in February.
The £4 million scheme – which created resources for partner schools and funded teacher salaries and trips to Rome – 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.
Improvement teams to fill the void?
Speaking this week, a DfE spokesperson said the government decided “to end funding for a small number of subject-specific support programmes”. It would continue to help leaders through English, maths and music hubs.
Regional improvement – or “RISE” – teams, which are due to launch this month, will also “encourage and foster improvement across the system, enabling schools and trusts to support each other… and share best practice”.
However, policy expert Loic Menzies warned “these tough decisions need to pave the way for something stronger, more coherent and more strategic that makes the most of existing capacity and expertise”.
A Schools Week investigation last year found nearly £700 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.
Nearly 1,000 schools – about 1 in 25 – have offered support at some point as part of a government-founded hub. Other hubs include behaviour and flexible working.
