Reflections from the Reimagining Secondary Education Conference, January 2026

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I've been building online schools since 2020. For years, it felt like digging ditches alone in the dark—building pathways for families who desperately needed them whilst the sector looked the other way.

This week, speaking at the Reimagining Secondary Education Conference in London, I realised something profound: I'm not alone with the shovel anymore.

Incredible school leaders, local authority partners, sports academies, and education pioneers are picking up shovels too. We're building what I've started calling the Underground Railroad for education—a network of pathways helping families escape a system that no longer serves them.

Not literally underground. Not actually a railroad. But a secret network of people, routes, and safe houses helping families find freedom from one-size-fits-none education.

This isn't hyperbole. This is what's happening right now in UK secondary education.

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Why the System No Longer Works

Here's what I've been reflecting on since the conference:

Time-based progression, age-based grouping, and seat-time as a proxy for mastery made sense when personalisation was impossible.

When you had 30 children in a room with one teacher, you needed:

• Everyone moving at the same pace
• Everyone grouped by birth year
• Hours in seat = proof of learning

It was the only way to make mass education work in the 20th century.

But those constraints don't exist anymore.

We can adapt pace now. Surface gaps early. Support mastery in real time.

Yet most secondary schools still operate like it's 1950:

• Sit for X hours = you learnt it
• Born in September = you're Year 7
• Everyone moves together regardless of readiness

This isn't serving students. It's serving an outdated system.

The factory model of education was brilliant for its time. It scaled learning to millions of children who previously had no access to education at all.

But we're no longer constrained by the factory model's limitations. And families know it.

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What Families Are Actually Escaping

At the conference, the conversations in the corridors were more revealing than the panels themselves.

Parents aren't leaving schools because they're anti-education. They're leaving because:

The anxiety epidemic is real. School refusal, social anxiety, overwhelm—these aren't rare cases anymore. They're becoming the norm. Traditional schools, with their rigid structures and one-size-fits-all approach, aren't equipped to handle this.

Elite athletes face impossible choices. Train for your dreams or attend school. Sports academies charge £40K+ annually but still can't deliver proper education alongside elite training. Families are told to choose: athletic excellence OR academic achievement.

Neurodivergent students are failed systematically. ADHD, autism, dyslexia—these students aren't failing. The system is failing them. They need different approaches, different pacing, different support. Traditional schools can't provide this at scale.

Geographic mobility is normal now. Families move for work. Athletes travel for tournaments. Global careers require flexibility. Yet education remains tied to geographic catchments and rigid timetables.

The pandemic proved flexibility works. Families experienced what was possible. Now they can't unsee it. The friction of returning to rigid structures feels unbearable.

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What Hybrid Education Actually Means

Here's where the conference got interesting—and where I saw genuine disagreement.

Hybrid education is NOT:

• Recorded content students watch alone
• Occasional live sessions with 50+ students cameras off
• "Flexibility" that actually means isolation
• Traditional school delivered badly online

Hybrid education IS:

• Live teaching with expert educators who know every student by name
• Small classes (6-8 students) where cameras are on and engagement is expected
• Real-time feedback loops that surface gaps early and support mastery
• Physical experiences reserved for what matters: transformational moments, human connection, embodied learning
• Digital delivery for everything else: daily live lessons, expert instruction, borderless access

The magic is in the architecture.

Physical buildings for what requires presence. Digital delivery for what works better remotely. Not either/or. Both/and.

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The Underground Railroad Metaphor

Why does the Underground Railroad metaphor resonate so deeply?

Because we're not just helping families escape. We're building stations where something better exists.

The original Underground Railroad used railway terms as code:

• "Stations" = safe houses where people found refuge
• "Conductors" = guides who knew the routes
• "Passengers" = those seeking freedom

Our version:

• "Stations" = hybrid schools proving the model works—places where learning is redesigned around how people actually learn, not how it was convenient to deliver in 1950
• "Conductors" = educators building infrastructure with pedagogy that works, regulatory approval, and quality mandates
• "Passengers" = families escaping systems that force impossible choices

And here's what we've learnt: the network is growing rapidly.

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Who's Picking Up Shovels

The conversations at the conference revealed something powerful: this isn't fringe anymore.

Traditional independent schools are calling. "Our families are demanding hybrid capability. Can you help us build it?"

Local authorities are waking up. "Alternative provision needs this. Permanently excluded students need pathways that work."

Sports academies are realising. "Elite athletes shouldn't choose between dreams and education. How do we deliver both?"

International schools are exploring. "Globally mobile families need borderless education. How do we maintain quality standards?"

MATs (Multi-Academy Trusts) are noticing. "School refusal is epidemic. Anxiety is rising. We need different models."

They're all picking up shovels.

Not because hybrid is trendy. Because the system is broken and families are voting with their feet.

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What Learning Redesigned Actually Looks Like

This is where Sophia High School's five years of operational experience matters.

We've learnt what works (and what doesn't) when you redesign learning around how people actually learn:

1. Mastery Over Seat-Time

Students progress when they've demonstrated mastery, not when the calendar says it's time to move on.

This doesn't mean everyone moves at their own pace chaotically. It means:

• Clear learning objectives for every unit
• Real-time formative assessment showing gaps early
• Intervention before students fall behind
• Extension when students are ready to move faster

The result: Students aren't sitting through content they already know or moving forward before they're ready.

2. Feedback Loops, Not Termly Reports

Parents see what their child is learning every single day. Not through a report card three times a year. Through:

• Real-time dashboards showing attendance, engagement, progress
• Weekly 1:1 teacher meetings discussing what's working and what needs support
• Full access to lesson recordings so parents can see teaching quality
• Direct communication with teachers, not gatekept through admin

The result: Parents are partners, not spectators. Trust builds through transparency, not marketing promises.

3. Small Classes Where Teachers Know Every Child

6-8 students per class in core subjects. Not 30. Not 50.

This isn't a luxury. It's the architecture that makes everything else work.

Teachers know:

• Each student's strengths and struggles
• When someone's having a bad day (and can intervene)
• When someone's ready for extension (and can challenge)
• Which students work well together (and can facilitate collaboration)

The result: Students can't hide. Teachers can't miss things. Learning becomes visible.

4. Cameras On, Engagement Expected

This was contentious at the conference. Many online schools allow cameras off "for flexibility."

We've learnt: cameras off = invisible students = isolation dressed as flexibility.

At Sophia:

• Cameras on is the expectation (with clear rationale: you can't hide, teachers see you, you're part of a community)
• Small classes make this comfortable, not performative
• Students who resist at first come to appreciate being seen

The result: Students are known. Community forms. Isolation doesn't masquerade as "personalised learning."

5. Physical Experiences for Transformational Moments

Hybrid doesn't mean "never in person." It means intentional about when physical presence matters.

At Sophia:

• Friday enrichment and leadership programmes at Under Armour Next, Battersea Power Station
• BTEC Business students building real projects in physical spaces
• Sophia365 athletes training together whilst learning together
• Community moments where human connection requires bodies in space

The result: Physical experiences are reserved for what they do best—transformation, connection, embodied learning. Not for sitting in rows being lectured at.

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Why Traditional Schools Will Need Hybrid

This isn't about online schools vs traditional schools anymore.

By 2030, every school will need hybrid capability.

Not as alternative provision. As standard infrastructure.

Here's why:

1. Teacher Recruitment Crisis

There's a global teacher shortage. Exceptional educators are rare and geographically constrained.

Hybrid capability means:

• The best biology teacher in the UK can teach students across multiple schools
• Small schools in rural areas can access specialist teachers
• Schools can hire the best, not just who's available locally

2. Student Mental Health Crisis

Anxiety, school refusal, overwhelm—these aren't edge cases. They're becoming normal.

Hybrid capability means:

• Students who can't be in buildings daily can still access live teaching
• Flexibility without isolation
• Support that meets students where they are

3. Elite Performance Pathways

Sport, music, arts—elite pathways require intensive training incompatible with traditional school timetables.

Hybrid capability means:

• Elite athletes don't choose between dreams and education
• Training schedules integrate with live learning
• Excellence in both, not one or the other

4. Globally Mobile Families

Careers are global. Families move. Traditional schools tie education to geographic catchments.

Hybrid capability means:

• Continuity of education regardless of location
• British curriculum accessible anywhere
• Community that travels with you

5. Families Won't Unsee What's Possible

The pandemic showed families what education could be. They can't unsee it.

The friction of returning to rigid structures, inflexible timetables, and one-size-fits-all approaches feels unbearable now.

Hybrid capability means:

• Meeting families where they've evolved to, not where schools wish they still were
• Flexibility that works for modern life
• Education that fits family, not family that contorts for education

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The Uncomfortable Truth About Quality

Here's where the conference conversations got spicy.

Not all "hybrid" or "online" schools are equal. Not even close.

I read a UK government consultation recently where an online school stated 60% of their students have an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan for special educational needs).

Let me be clear: specialist SEND provision is vital. Those providers do incredible work.

But if 60% of your students have an EHCP, are you a mainstream school or specialist SEND provision?

In traditional education, those numbers would require specialist designation. Different funding. Different staffing ratios. Different Ofsted framework.

Yet in online education, we're all just "online schools."

Families deserve clarity.

If you're specialist SEND provision, be proud of that. Own it. Staff for it. Fund for it properly.

If you're mainstream provision with high expectations, state that clearly too.

At Sophia, we're unapologetically mainstream:

• Cameras on (clear rationale)
• Daily live lessons in all subjects
• Attendance expected in every lesson
• Full participation in Friday enrichment and leadership programmes
• DfE accredited, COBIS member, ISA accredited
• Premium positioning because excellence isn't negotiable

And here's what we've learnt: this model works for neurodivergent students, anxious students, school refusers.

Not because we lower expectations. Because we raise support.

Small classes mean teachers know every child's needs. Structure creates safety. High expectations build confidence.

We don't race to the bottom. We help students climb to the top.

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What "The Platform" Actually Means

The most interesting conversations at the conference weren't about curriculum or pedagogy.

They were about infrastructure.

Traditional schools are waking up to a reality: they need hybrid capability but have no idea how to build it.

Building hybrid education in-house means:

• 3-5 years developing pedagogy from scratch
• £500K-2M in failed experiments
• Teachers quitting after trying to figure out digital pedagogy alone
• Parents complaining about quality
• No regulatory approval
• No proven model to follow

Most schools will fail if they try to build this themselves.

Which is why we're seeing platform economics emerge in education.

Just like:

• AWS built cloud infrastructure for Amazon, then licensed it to everyone
• Shopify built e-commerce infrastructure for themselves, then enabled millions to sell online
• Stripe built payments infrastructure, then became the backbone for internet commerce

Sophia is building hybrid education infrastructure for our students—then licensing it to schools who need it.

Not just technology. The full stack:

• Pedagogy (how to teach live online effectively)
• Teacher training programmes (digital pedagogy that works)
• Quality assurance frameworks (maintaining independent school standards remotely)
• Technology infrastructure (built in-house, not cobbled together)
• Regulatory approval (DfE accredited, COBIS, ISA)
• Safeguarding frameworks (that pass inspection)

You can copy the website in a weekend. You can't copy 100+ years of collective education expertise in a weekend.

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Why 2026 Feels Like a Turning Point

The conference made something clear: we're at an inflection point.

M&A activity in online education is heating up. Private equity is circling. Investors want ownership in the space.

But here's what most don't understand yet:

The market makers in hybrid education won't be decided by current student numbers or ARR.

They'll be decided by who built the infrastructure everyone needs.

By 2030:

• Hybrid capability will be standard infrastructure (like WiFi, like cloud, like payments)
• Every school will need it or they'll be irrelevant
• The question won't be "Do we need hybrid?" but "Which platform do we license?"

The schools getting acquired in 2026 for their student numbers are being bought for the wrong reasons.

Student lists depreciate. Infrastructure appreciates.

The real question investors should ask: "Who's building what every school will license by 2030?"

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What the Underground Railroad Is Building Toward

Here's what became clear at the conference:

We're not just building escape routes. We're building stations where something better exists.

Learning redesigned around how people actually learn:

• Feedback loops that work in real time
• Flexibility that doesn't mean isolation
• Mastery that matters more than seat-time
• Progression based on readiness, not calendar
• Teachers who know every child by name
• Community that forms through cameras-on connection
• Physical experiences reserved for transformation
• Excellence that's accessible, not exclusive

This is what hybrid education can be.

Not the factory model delivered digitally.

Not recorded content with "flexibility" that means alone.

Not cameras-off cohorts of 50+ students.

Learning that actually works for how humans learn.

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The Invitation

If you're a school leader exploring hybrid, pick up a shovel.

If you're a local authority needing alternative provision, the pathways exist.

If you're a sports academy realising athletes need both, the infrastructure is being built.

If you're a family who's escaped one-size-fits-none, you're proof the network works.

The Underground Railroad for education is growing.

The ditches are becoming pathways.

The pathways are becoming networks.

The networks are becoming infrastructure.

And families are finding freedom.

The future of education won't be built by those waiting for permission from a system designed for 1950.

It'll be built by those willing to dig.

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