Jonathan Simons
@jonathansimons.bsky.social
Partner, PF Global and Head of Education Practice. Education strategy + policy advisory. Former civil servant + think tanker. Occasional loud LFC. Centrist Dad, so naturally I also have a Substack.
I often think of a former colleague of mine at PF: late 30s, recently married, left us for a high earning job in the private sector, mortgage, lives in leafy SW Lon. Privately educated, my guess is her kids would be too ideally. Husband and she met at Cam. Used to be rock solid Tory. Now votes Lab.
John Oxley@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · yesterdayI wonder if she has noticed how few of the Tories she (we) knew at university are even voting for the party now.
Vice Chancellors: what shall I do about the coming demographic dip and all this spare real estate on my campus? Prosperity Institute: hold my illicitly made hooch
We’ve had billion pound bottle jobs, now we’ve got billion pound fraudsters
*stretches out* *wiggles toes* *luxuriates in a Sunday that does not involve multiple trains to Liverpool in a suit for Lab party conference*
An organisation? Charging corporates to sponsor and speak at party conference panels alongside politicians? I’ve never *heard* of such a thing……
Look, we say we want HE and academia to be more productive, but god forbid the man comes up wirh a solution…..
Ran Blekhman@blekhman.bsky.social · 2w agoWe have to stop using "paper count" as a useful scientific metric. More writing output no longer means more knowledge gained www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
The complete and total collapse of state function in the face of far right extremists. It is frankly ludicrous that Daniel Thomas continues to be at large given the series of crimes committed which he has literally filmed.
Emma Yeomans@yeomans.bsky.social · 2w agoWorrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
NEW on Wonkhe: Annie Bell and Damayanti Chatterjee present new modelling that explores not just the potential for growth in international student numbers, but also whether that growth would be stable buff.ly/vhm0Vdl
30 week or so scan with child no1. The midwife asks us “what are you going to feed them”. I (wittily) say “McDonalds, probably?” Then my wife hits me and I say “we’re going to do formula from day 1”. Honestly, I think the midwife preferred the McDonalds answer.
Alice Lilly@aliceolilly.bsky.social · 3w agoFew things as guaranteed to send me into absolutely incandescent rage as mean, cruel, and frankly ignorant comments on social media aimed at people who are formula feeding a baby (something for which there can, of course, be a multitude of reasons, none of which are anybody’s business)
Brilliant. Thank goodness HE admissions teams have been alerted to This One Cool Trick
Chris Parr@chrisjparr.bsky.social · 4w agoSome groans in room at UUK 2026 when Jacqui Smith said the UK continues to be welcoming to international students. She responds by saying that universities need to “get out there and argue the case” for the UK as a destination, particularly compared to some other countries.
I mean….what? Telling them to duck and cover? What on earth is the point of this. Wildly unproductive, nanny state tastic, very expensive, will be mostly binned unread, and far cheaper distribution mechanisms exist for genuine public information??
Matilda Martin@matildamartin.bsky.social · 4w agoExclusive: The Tories are developing a policy to distribute pamphlets to every UK household advising how to respond to a civilian emergency The plans are inspired by countries like Denmark, where the government uses literature to instruct the public on what steps to take within the first 72 hours
The whataboutery around these results is quite something. I am sceptical that a lot of the people picking holes in the data methodology, to undermine England’s success, would be doing so had they shown us plummeting. This is a real public policy triumph, built by school reformers of *all* parties
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 4w agoNew PISA data out England is now top ten in all three areas (reading, maths, science) and the second highest performing country outside of east Asia (after Estonia). This is a huge public policy success.
Trump closing the Straits of Hormuz might actually be a winning strategy…..
Donald Trump: I'm an extremely stable genius
ALT: Donald Trump: I'm an extremely stable genius
static.klipy.com
Ketan Joshi@ketanjoshi.co · last mo.The amount of oil use avoided by EVs in China in the first half of 2026 is the same as the amount of oil USED BY THE ENTIRE UK www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...
Interesting and disturbing thread. Makes the point that, with this level of coordination and planning, supposedly all in secret, if this group had been armed they would have completely overwhelmed police (inc special branch) and security services; only army and special forces could have engaged.
Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · last mo.Another compilation video from yesterday's fascist paramilitary 'storm' action in #Dover town and at the Port of Dover. #FarRight Some national security-related observations below.
I love these. A man with no mortgage at all, that has to borrow money for the basics, who voted Starmer and thinks the economy has improved massively, but would now vote Tory. Wild.
British Voter@britishvoter.bsky.social · last mo.I'm a Black African Anglican man from Thirsk and Malton, aged 28. My top issue is the cost of living. In 2024 I voted Labour. Today I'd vote Conservative.
PM was unbelievably nervous there and it showed. He needs a far less staccato delivery and to know his attack lines off the top of his head, rather than looking down to read them every few words. Turns out PMQs is hard and you can’t vibe it.
This must be true. Because we had stellar growth throughout the 70s, and terrible growth in the 90s and 00s until the global financial crisis.
Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · last mo.EXC - Andy Burnham will drive home his pledge to bring more essential services back into public control, telling MPs that it will be the only way to grow the economy. Burnham will finally address the house tomorrow - six weeks since he became PM. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I can’t believe people are talking smack on the skills wallet, a terribly named policy admittedly but one that has got literal four party approval (the Tories and Lab both introduced the LLE, and it’s more or less what Reform have proposed in their new paper on apprenticeships and training)
Chris Terry-Enescu@cjterry.bsky.social · last mo.Before long, the people of Surrey will talk of little else but which counting system is best for STV and how they'd use their skill wallets
This is a mind blowing paragraph: “Box office blockbusters like “The Odyssey” take weeks to hit $1 billion. “GTA V” famously did it in three days. Analyst firm Newzoo projects the new game could generate between $3.3 billion and $5.2 billion by the end of *its launch week* in November.”
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last mo.“Grand Theft Auto VI” is about to be the biggest pop media event of the year, if not the decade. The data backs this up. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower estimates “GTA VI” has already received about 4.6 million preorders.
I hope Rachel Reeves makes an excoriating speech from the backbenches telling him that he’s threatening his country’s safety and that the first duty of any government is defence of the realm
Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social · last mo.Chancellor John Healey will shelve his own target of spending 3 per cent of Britain’s GDP on defence by 2030 when he presents his first Budget in October, with tough decisions on how to fund the military pushed down the track. www.ft.com/content/fc92...
This explainer out of Australia is genuinely useful background and analysis of what happened with the Canada-US trade deal last night. Note that it is extremely and delightfully sweary. Also there’s an appended glossary of Australian slang. ifloz.substack.com/p/king-carne...
KING CARNEY ACTIVATES KONG MODE WITH ZERO FUCKS
Carney Reads the Clock Like a Pro Wrestler
ifloz.substack.com
The fully funding additional college places (last RT) sounds niche but really isn’t. Up until now, colleges taking extra kids couldn’t be sure they’d be funded for them - and often weren’t fully. Imagine if we applied that to schools or NHS (sorry you’re busy / popular, no more £ for you tho)
🚨Every young person will have a fully funded college place if they want one. In the past, colleges couldn’t be certain they’d receive funding if more students turned up. We are changing that. This is a major step in our mission to get more young people into education, work or training.
Teens' college places will be fully funded to help youth crisis, Ministers say
ALL college places will be fully-funded for 16-19 year-olds to help reduce youth inactivity numbers. Education Secretary Lucy Powell says the cash will be guaranteed for all courses following GCSE …
thesun.co.uk
Oh no, some of the French won’t pay tax, this will be so different, how on earth will the country cope
Techmeme@techmeme.com · 2mo agoFrench PM Lecornu will hold a crisis meeting Monday over a June-July cyberattack on France's tax agency that compromised 678K individual and business accounts (Phil Serafino/Bloomberg) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Of course under the Burnham premiership, the Manchester team wins The Hundred
Telegraph website reporting that Jason Arday has been found dead.
