There is a growing sense across education that the system is struggling to keep pace with the world around it. This is not simply about standards rising or falling, or about schools doing more with less. It is a deeper issue of alignment. The Times Education Commission captured this clearly in its 2022 report. Its conclusion was not that teachers or schools are failing, but that the education system itself is no longer well designed for the realities young people face – in work, or in society at large.
That distinction matters. It shifts the conversation away from blame and incremental reform, and towards a more fundamental question: what should education now be for?
A system shaped by what is measurable, not what matters
One of the Commission’s central arguments is that assessment and accountability now dominate educational decision making. What is tested becomes what is taught; what is inspected becomes what is prioritised.
The Commission argues that this has produced a system that rewards performance in a narrow range of academic tasks, while sidelining broader capabilities. The result is an education experience that can feel disconnected from life beyond school – and increasingly fragile in the face of change.
One of the report’s most compelling observations is that assessment drives behaviour. When success is defined almost entirely by high-stakes exams at 16 and 18, schools understandably focus on exam performance – often at the expense of breadth, creativity and wellbeing. This is a particularly poignant question for exams at 16, please see our blog on the questionable value of GCSEs here.
This is not a failure of schools; it is a predictable outcome of system design.
Evidence that the skills gap is real – and human
UK research supports this diagnosis. High-stakes accountability has been shown to narrow curriculum, encourage risk-averse teaching, and marginalise subjects and experiences that are harder to assess. Creativity, practical learning and enrichment are often valued rhetorically but squeezed in practice.
Concerns about relevance are not abstract. Evidence points to a persistent gap between what the system prioritises and what young people later need.
Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research shows that young people in England demonstrate weaker socio-emotional skills than peers in many comparable countries – including resilience, cooperation, curiosity and emotional regulation. These skills are closely linked to communication, problem-solving and adaptability in adult life.
Employer data in the UK reinforces this picture. Skills shortages are not confined to technical expertise; they include judgement, collaboration and the ability to learn and adapt over time. In other words, many of the most valued capabilities are also those least visible in traditional assessment systems.
The implication is uncomfortable but important: the issue is not a lack of rigour, but a definition of rigour that is too narrow.
Automation sharpens the problem
Although the Times Education Commission does not frame its argument around artificial intelligence, its conclusions are highly relevant to a world in which technology is hugely reshaping work.
Research on automation consistently shows that routine cognitive tasks – based on recall, repetition and rule-following – are most vulnerable to technological substitution. Yet these are precisely the tasks most heavily rewarded by exam-dominated systems.
By contrast, interpretation, creativity, ethical judgement, collaboration and emotional intelligence remain far harder to replicate technologically. UK government analysis already acknowledges that automation and AI will require a more adaptable and flexible workforce.
The Commission’s call for broader learning, delayed specialisation and lifelong education aligns closely with this evidence. Without making speculative claims about specific jobs, it points towards a system better suited to uncertainty.
Wellbeing and learning are not in competition
Another area where research and the Commission strongly align is wellbeing.
Rising anxiety, disengagement and teacher burnout are often treated as separate from attainment. In reality, they are closely connected. Research increasingly links high stress to weaker learning retention, reduced motivation and poorer long-term outcomes.
The Commission is clear that education systems which sideline wellbeing undermine their own goals. When success is defined narrowly and pressure is constant, both learners and teachers become risk averse. Curiosity, creativity and deep learning suffer.
This is why the report’s emphasis on arts, sport and enrichment is not nostalgic. These experiences support confidence, identity and belonging; foundations for learning rather than distractions from it.
Why reform has to be structural
Perhaps the most important contribution of the Times Education Commission is its insistence that these challenges cannot be solved through minor adjustment. New specifications or revised inspection frameworks will have limited impact if the underlying incentives remain unchanged.
The report therefore argues for structural reform:
· fewer high-stakes exams
· broader post-16 pathways
· accountability systems that support improvement rather than compliance
· greater coherence across early years, schools, further and higher education
· a long-term vision that outlasts political cycles
UK policy history shows that frequent, reactive reform undermines stability and progress. The Commission’s call for a long-term, cross party national strategy reflects evidence that systems improve when goals are clear, consistent and sustained.
Redrafting the education system for the world we actually live in
Taken together, the evidence points in the same direction. The education system is not short of effort, expertise or commitment. What it lacks is alignment.
Research shows that:
· narrow assessment distorts learning
· human skills matter for long-term outcomes
· wellbeing supports attainment rather than competing with it
· automation increases the value of non-routine, human capabilities
· stability enables improvement
The Times Education Commission brings these strands together into a coherent argument: education must move beyond credential production and reconnect with its deeper purpose: developing capable, adaptable, resilient people.
This is not a call for radical experimentation for its own sake. It is a call to redesign the education system deliberately, drawing on evidence rather than habit, and on long-term need rather than short-term pressure.
The question is no longer whether reform is necessary. It is whether we are willing to rethink the foundations of a system that no longer reflects the world young people are growing up in and will inherit.
We support relocating families in navigating the complexity of UK education — from early years through to sixth form — with a focus on fit, not prestige alone. Our work helps families look beyond league tables to understand how different schools support learning, wellbeing and adaptability over time.
If you are moving to the UK and would like expert support in choosing the right educational path for your child, please do contact us.
