Schools and Academies Show 2025 – what were the hot topics?

That’s a wrap on the Schools and Academies Show (SAAS) for another year!

The annual conference gathers the education sector’s thought leaders, tech vendors and general enthusiasts all under the one roof in London’s ExCel. Including team iplicit for Education, who had a great time exhibiting this year at stand H4.

Events like this are a great opportunity for us to connect with the education community, and meet with our (ever-growing) network of partners, prospects, and customers (lots of new faces, and some familiar…)

And each year, they also spark creativity and open new discussions within our team about the big trends, upcoming disruptions, and key issues decision-makers in education will be navigating in the months and years to come.

The Schools and Academies Show demonstrated a clear theme this year, and that was the urgent need to address the uncertainty and challenges faced by the education sector – be it through funding, tech, or knowledge of what legislative changes are coming down the line.

Whether you attended SAAS this year and fancy a refresh, or didn’t get to make it and want the inside scoop, here’s our key takeaways from this year’s event.

The VUCA effect

Attendees at SAAS this year are viewing the sector through a VUCA lens. That’s Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

In one discussion, Jim Nicholson, CEO at Honeycomb Education Trust spoke about the challenges the sector is currently facing with budget planning for school improvement. As we know, and according to Jim, there is often not a lot of notice when it comes to financial changes or legislation updates.

Funding is also a key challenge. It emerged as one of the most pressing issues throughout the day, with speaker after speaker highlighted how budgetary constraints continue to hinder schools’ and MATs’ ability to recruit staff, manage operations, and carry on with essential educational services.

Perhaps one of the most significant points (or concerns) raised was government messaging around “financial headroom” and “efficiencies.” Education leaders voiced their worries around how efficiency improvements are being pushed as the solution to fund initiatives like the (now announced) 4% teacher pay rise, 1% of which will be part-funded by schools’ and trusts’ existing budgets. However, these efficiencies are taking a toll on critical areas in schools, and concerns are now mounting about how staff cuts will impact the future health of the sector.

The need for tech

Uncertainty and funding aside, technology took the spotlight as a promising solution to some of the ongoing struggles facing schools and MATs. With limited resources on the rise, panellists advocated throughout the day for the adoption of modern, robust systems, that can connect finance with other teams within the business and empower them with the insights needed to make better decisions. And at the stands, a variety of innovative tech vendors (cough! Including iplicit…) continued these conversations with hopeful education finance leaders.

One speaker highlighted how real-time analytics has helped identify and address tens of thousands in unnecessary spending on overtime costs for support staff within their organisations, which was having a real impact on their budget. This became a central theme: how having the right systems in place, that provide insight into the details, can help to spot larger inefficiencies within schools and MATs, and inform better decisions around staffing, schedules and budgets.

Workforce changes ahead

And finally, employment legislation and workforce management were top of mind throughout the day. Several discussions explored the HR challenges and new regulatory changes that will impact education staffing in months to come.

We attended a conversation with Jean Boyle (Head of Education Sector at Stone King), Craig Vincent (Head of Employment and HR Consultancy at Stone King) and Kate Ivackovic (Director of People at Greenshaw Learning Trust). Here, we learned about the impact the introduction of unfair dismissal protection from day one will bring, as part of the new Workers Rights Bill. This change will likely see schools and MATs tighten up their recruitment processes and how they manage performance, with clearer feedback, expectations and applicant sifting needed.

The restoration of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) and the latest changes being brought by the NJC were also discussed. We came away with a clearer view of what workforce disruptions we can expect in the coming months – and how education leaders will need to revise how they currently employ and manage their staff.

If you didn’t have a chance to meet with us at SAAS, or are interested in how iplicit can help you overcome any of the challenges you’re expecting ahead, please get in touch! Or read more about how we help schools and trusts up and down the country, here.