Beyond grades: why the education sector needs a reality check 

There’s a quiet shift happening in education globally, and not enough people are talking about it. Markets are moving. Demand is softening. Pricing models that made sense a few years ago are no longer fit for purpose. Traditional sales channels are moving.

I’ve worked in and around these spaces for a long time. I’ve built businesses, turned them around, and had to rethink offers when the market changed underneath us. What I’ve learned is this: if you don’t adapt, you don’t survive. It’s that simple.

At ALG, we’ve got long-term relationships with schools, but the context has changed, and it’s changed fast. We’ve seen VAT on private school fees on the horizon for a while, now it’s a reality and is having a profound effect. Demand is shifting. Parents are more cost-sensitive, cost of staff, utilities and transport are rocketing. Hire contracts are stuck in the past with onerous minimum guarantees and no real risk sharing or partnership for growth. They don’t reflect current reality. And they’re hard to unpick.

That’s not a criticism. It’s just the truth. The sectors we operate in face pressure from all sides, and pretending otherwise won’t help anyone. UK schools are under extreme financial pressure but won’t take a risk and work in partnership to build lasting revenue streams for their schools.

We’re still acting like outdoor learning is an add-on, a rainy-day extra that’s nice if you can afford it. But I’ve seen first-hand what happens when young people are taken out of a classroom and into the challenge. They arrive unsure of themselves and leave as confident, capable young adults.

We’ve built sixth form programmes that start with sailing and end in Borneo. Not because it looks good on a brochure, but because it works. It gives students something they don’t get from grades alone: leadership, teamwork, and resilience. We can’t keep pretending exams are enough.

This isn’t a call for chaos. It’s a call for a wake-up.

At ALG, we’re adapting. We’re trimming what doesn’t serve. We’re shaping new programmes based on what schools actually need now, not what made sense in 2018. We are seeking true partnerships with our agents and our venues across our holiday camp and language business.
We’re not perfect. But we’re willing to say out loud what others are whispering behind closed doors.

The sectors we operate in matter. What we offer children and young people outside of the classroom isn’t a bonus. It’s essential.

If we want to keep delivering that, if we want to see learning beyond the classroom thrive, not shrink, we need to start being honest about the numbers, the demand, and the future.

Because the old ways aren’t coming back, and that’s not a crisis. It’s an opportunity to build something better. Something that fits the world young people are walking into. Not the one we grew up in. And that’s the bit I’m here for.

It’s not about sticking rigidly to the plan. It’s about holding onto the mindset. Believing we can. Staying ahead. Growing. Going together.

That’s the future. And we’re up for it.