WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY.... WHY SPECIALIST RECRUITMENT


MATTERS MORE THAN EVER Comment by NICK ORDE-POWLETT, Managing Director, TIB Services


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here has been a significant shift in the way educational establishments think about their estates teams. The traditional perception of the caretaker is disappearing. Today, the


people responsible for our educational estates can be managing contractors, compliance, health and safety, security, building systems, maintenance programmes and emergency situations, whilst working every day in an environment where safeguarding learners must remain paramount.


These are increasingly complex roles. Yet when vacancies arise, the recruitment process does not always reflect that complexity. There is an important distinction between finding someone who can maintain a building and finding someone who can successfully manage an educational environment.


A candidate may have excellent facilities management or technical experience from a commercial setting. That does not automatically mean they will be comfortable working around learners, communicating with teaching staff, responding appropriately to safeguarding concerns or understanding the particular rhythms and pressures of an educational environment. That is where specialist recruitment has real value. Safeguarding changes the recruitment equation For any role within education, recruitment cannot simply be about filling a vacancy quickly. Educational leaders need confidence in the person arriving at their gates.


For estates roles in particular, employees can have considerable freedom of movement around a site, access to buildings and keys, and regular


contact with staff and learners. Robust recruitment and vetting therefore matter enormously.


Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) has rightly created high expectations around safer recruitment. Recruitment partners operating within education should understand those requirements and build them into their processes rather than treating compliance as an administrative exercise at the end.


Procurement should make recruitment easier, not harder The introduction of the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) RM6376 Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Services Framework is another important development.


For schools and multi-academy trusts, procurement frameworks can sometimes appear to introduce another layer of complexity. Used properly, however, they should do the opposite.


Frameworks give educational organisations a route to suppliers that have already been assessed against defined requirements. That can provide valuable reassurance around areas such as governance, financial standing, recruitment capability and compliance.


As an approved supplier on the GCA RM6376 framework, we have seen first-hand the level of scrutiny involved, but being on a framework should be the starting point when selecting a recruitment partner, rather than the only consideration.


Perhaps the biggest opportunity is to stop thinking about estates recruitment only when somebody leaves. Schools and trusts should be considering where future skills gaps may emerge, whether knowledge is concentrated in individual members of staff and how temporary recruitment can provide resilience without becoming a permanent substitute for workforce planning.


THE UK’S SOCIAL MEDIA BAN RISKS WIDENING


BRITAIN’S LEARNING DIVIDE Comment by GUY RIESE, CEO and Founder of Up Learn


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t’s hard to overstate how much online learning has democratised access to educational support. Students today have more knowledge, teaching and resources than any generation before and – while the playing field is not level – educational content has opened up access to experts for groups once cut out by cost or circumstance. The benefits of limiting social media for under-16 may be significant, but a blanket ban risks undoing some of this


progress. The Government has been clear it doesn’t want to restrict online learning, and dedicated educational services are expected to be exempt. But it hasn’t fully acknowledged how much learning happens outside of those services.


Students are accessing ecosystems of experts explaining algebra, walking through past papers, and bringing difficult concepts to life on YouTube, Tiktok and other platforms that sit squarely within the social media debate and thus will be struck by the sweeping restrictions. We can already see how important online support has become in the


October 2026


way students learn. Designed well, digital tools and resources can transform students’ learning, understanding and exam results. Our research at Up Learn, involving more than 2,500 UK students, found seven in 10 use general purpose AI for schoolwork. 80% of those use it to explain difficult concepts. Students aren’t just going online for quick answers – they’re relying on it for understanding.


The need for help isn’t determined by income, but sadly, the options often are. One student revising at home might be able to ask a parent or tutor, or use a paid-for learning platform. Another may find YouTube their most accessible source of support.


That doesn’t mean all online learning is equal, of course. The answer isn’t to preserve everything online any more than it is to ban everything. It’s to get better at separating social media from the learning that happens on social platforms, and content that puts people at risk from content that gives them meaningful access to learning.


Our scholarship programme and partnerships with the Sutton Trust, The Access Project and IntoUniversity, aim to give students without access to private tuition the support of high-quality help when they need it. According to our latest impact report, 68% of Up Learn students eligible for free school meals secured places at Russell Group universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, and LSE – compared with a quarter of students nationally. But no single platform or programme can close the gap alone. As the rules are worked through, it’s our responsibility as teachers, parents and industry to make sure progress on one side doesn’t come at the expense of the other. Online learning may not have levelled the playing field entirely, but it has put support once reserved for the few within the reach of many.


www.education-today.co.uk 25


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