Issue 13: The Business of Independent Education and Creative Thinking
New group, new updates and the Conspiracies exhibition
UPDATE / Briefings
There’s a slightly different feel to this week’s Briefing. As well as the usual overview of activity across independent education, I’m trying a new AI slot focused on key developments in artificial intelligence.
The Class Futures app has also been updated. Sector activity is now displayed on the homepage, with further detail available by creating an education or professional services account. These updates also introduce early sentiment analysis, helping to link related events and indicate whether activity is broadly positive, negative or neutral. Over time, this should help build a detailed picture of how the sector is evolving. If you work in marketing or admissions, please do send me any updates to be included.
This week’s cultural spot is Conspiracies which is about to show at the Warburg Institute in London.
Jonathan
INDEPENDENT EDUCATION / Updates
QED Schools Group launches under CEO Anita Gleave, promoting values led approach to consolidation and long term sustainability.
Wycliffe College joins the newly launched QED Schools Group as its founding school, maintaining leadership continuity while gaining access to additional resources and international opportunities.
Alleyn’s Hampstead has appointed Aidan Sproat-Clements as Founding Head, bringing leadership and innovation experience from Alleyn’s School in Dulwich.
Forres Sandle Manor opens a £3.5m STEAM building, strengthening science, art and technology provision and creating capacity for future growth.
Monkton School appoints former pupil Bradley Salisbury as Principal.
Rendcomb College confirms it will close at the end of the academic year, citing pupil numbers and financial pressures.
Repton Group appoints Ian McIntyre as Managing Director to support UK growth and international development.
Royal High Bath Prep School will close its separate Prep site, with Years 5–6 moving to the Senior School from September 2026.
Farleigh School launches a new on-site nursery from age two, with phased expansion planned from 2027.
AI / LinkedIn
One of the quieter but more significant changes in the AI jobs market is how skills are evidenced. Today, LinkedIn has announced a new product aimed at helping professionals show AI skills in practice. A few points worth noting:
Many employers are now actively recruiting for AI fluency.
LinkedIn is partnering with AI companies including Descript, Lovable, Relay.app and Replit, enabling professionals to show proficiency directly on their LinkedIn profiles.
However at the moment these AI partners are validating skills through usage rather than efficacy so some work still to do yet.
Further partners are expected in the coming months, including Gamma, GitHub and Zapier.
AI / Developments
Lovable launches “Leaders”, a global programme offering three universities per year free access to its platform available to all students and staff.
Dario Amodei (Anthropic) publishes a 20,000-word essay warning of potentially catastrophic risks from increasingly powerful AI systems in the years ahead.
Class Futures – January 2026 Briefing is now live, providing an introduction to AI for beginner and intermediate readers. It draws on Mustafa Suleyman’s BBC Radio 4 Today guest editorship in December, alongside analysis and AI education insight.
CULTURE / Conspiracies
At the Warburg Institute in London, a new exhibition brings together work by four artists to explore how conspiracy has changed across cultural and political history, and how it continues to influence ideas of power, knowledge and uncertainty today.
Curated by Larne Abse Gogarty, Associate Professor and Head of History and Theory of Art at the Slade School of Fine Art, the exhibition reflects the Warburg’s interest in the exchange of ideas and symbols over time.
The exhibition runs from 13 February to 2 May 2026. Free admission, no booking required.