Gen Evolve Education: Power Skills Over Test Scores in UK Schools
Monday 02 February 2026 8:40 am
By: City AM reporter
A groundbreaking new initiative is fundamentally reimagining what school can and should be in the United Kingdom. Gen Evolve Education represents a bold departure from traditional educational models, placing whole-child development at the very heart of the learning experience.
The Outdated Victorian Model
We are living through an era of dramatic and accelerating transformation. Artificial intelligence, global interconnectivity, and rapid technological disruption are reshaping the employment landscape, the economy, and our daily lives. Yet, the UK education system, mirroring much of the developed world, remains stubbornly anchored in the past. It clings to a Victorian-era model that prizes rote learning, standardised testing, and conformity over genuine creativity and critical thinking.
This antiquated approach is not merely inefficient; it is actively holding our children back from reaching their full potential in a modern world.
A Personal Perspective from a Neurodiverse Father
For Olly Tress, founder of Oliver Bonas, this issue is deeply personal. As a neurodiverse father of three, he observes firsthand how the current system impacts different children.
"We all know children who thrive in the current system, scoring highly in exams and navigating academic structures with ease," says Tress. "But we also know of children, equally talented in different ways, who find the system demoralising. They feel belittled by a model that highlights their weaknesses instead of recognising their unique strengths."
Like countless parents, Tress wants his children to feel seen, valued, and empowered by their education, not reduced to a mere grade on a paper. While he managed to navigate traditional "O" levels, "A" levels, and a degree, his hope is for a system that uncovers and develops the full spectrum of his children's abilities, far beyond their capacity to perform in examinations.
Introducing Gen Evolve Education
This vision is the driving force behind Gen Evolve Education. This innovative initiative is redefining the purpose of schooling. Its mission is to centre learning around whole-child development. Gen Evolve's personalised curriculum is designed not just to impart knowledge, but to unlock individual potential, systematically building self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and a sense of purpose alongside core academic achievement.
Rather than treating essential life skills as peripheral extras, Gen Evolve teaches them intentionally and integrally. The curriculum includes focused development in:
- Effective communication
- Strategic decision-making
- Collaborative teamwork
- Constructive dispute resolution
- Personal self-management
These competencies form the foundational bedrock of resilience, leadership, and meaningful contribution. They are precisely the traits that will define success in a future increasingly shaped by AI, automation, and global complexity.
Why "Power Skills" Matter Now More Than Ever
Historically marginalised as "soft skills," these capabilities are better termed power skills, reflecting their critical importance. These are the essential human abilities that underpin success in both life and work: empathy, communication, adaptability, collaboration, resilience, and creativity.
They enable us to build strong relationships, handle setbacks gracefully, manage our emotions and actions, and contribute meaningfully to our communities. In an age where machines are becoming increasingly capable of analysis, prediction, and even creative tasks, it is our humanness that emerges as our definitive superpower.
Despite their importance, these skills remain largely marginalised in mainstream schools, if they are taught at all. There is often an assumption that children will simply "pick them up" along the way. Yet, we would never dream of leaving literacy or numeracy to such chance. Why should we treat the skills that shape emotional intelligence, social contribution, and personal fulfilment any differently?
The Employer Demand for Power Skills
Across all industries, employers are echoing the same urgent message: the world of work is changing, and young people must be prepared accordingly.
A 2023 World Economic Forum report highlighted that the most in-demand skills now include critical thinking, emotional intelligence, leadership, resilience, and creativity. Similarly, McKinsey's Future of Work research places interpersonal skills and cognitive flexibility at the very centre of employability in an AI-transformed economy.
Yet, our schools persistently focus on memorisation and exam technique—skills that, while useful, are no longer sufficient on their own. As more cognitive and analytical tasks are assumed by machines, the uniquely human power skills will become exponentially more valuable.
Employers should ask themselves: Would they value a candidate specifically taught how to give and receive feedback effectively? One who could manage conflict, remain calm under pressure, and communicate with clarity and empathy? These are not optional extras; they are hardwired to professional and personal success.
Technology as an Educational Enabler
Artificial intelligence is frequently portrayed as a threat to traditional learning. However, it could be the very catalyst that unlocks a more human-centric and personalised form of education. Intelligent adaptive systems can tailor lessons to a child's individual pace and needs, identify specific learning gaps in real-time, and provide immediate, constructive feedback.
For students who struggle with conventional teaching methods, AI offers a transformative chance to progress in a manner that truly suits them. Research consistently shows that AI-powered tutoring systems can significantly improve educational outcomes, particularly for students who underperform in traditional, one-size-fits-all models.
Far from replacing teachers, this technology can liberate them to focus on what they do best: guiding, mentoring, and nurturing the kinds of human skills and connections that machines cannot possibly replicate. We stand at the dawn of a profound educational transformation, if we choose to embrace it.
Beyond Employment: Addressing the Fulfilment Gap
Education must be about more than just producing efficient workers; it is about developing fulfilled, well-rounded people. Humans are inherently social, creative, and emotional beings. We seek meaning, belonging, and purpose. Education should help us discover who we are and how we can contribute to society, not merely how to pass standardised tests.
Educationalist Guy Claxton captured this sentiment perfectly: "Traditional secondary education is an apprenticeship in the craft of scholarship and the identity of being an intellectual. Neither of these have anything to do with being real-world intelligent, nor with having a secure, satisfying and successful life."
Children often disengage not due to laziness or distraction, but because the system frequently fails to connect meaningfully to their lived experiences or personal aspirations. When young people do not feel seen, understood, or supported, they emotionally switch off—a response not of their failure, but of a system that fails to nurture.
From Industrial Factory to Future-Ready Model
Our current school model—with its age-based cohorts, rigid curricula, and reliance on standardised testing—is a relic of the industrial age. It was never designed to develop whole, complex individuals; it was engineered to sort, rank, and certify for a factory-based economy.
We no longer inhabit that world. We live in an age defined by AI, unprecedented complexity, and global unpredictability. The skills that matter most—adaptability, empathy, creativity, resilience—are the very ones being consistently pushed to the margins of our educational priorities. It is time to bring them decisively to the centre.
Envisioning a Transformed System
Imagine a school system where every child's unique strengths are actively recognised and cultivated. Where emotional wellbeing and mental health are taken as seriously as academic results. Where young people graduate not only literate and numerate, but also confident, capable, compassionate, and kind.
This is not a utopian fantasy. Pioneering models like Gen Evolve Education demonstrate that this future is possible right now. The benefits would extend far beyond the individual. A population equipped with robust power skills would:
- Strengthen economic productivity and innovation
- Reinforce the social fabric and community resilience
- Help reduce the escalating crisis in youth mental health
The UK could realise a multi-billion-pound economic boost by fundamentally redesigning education—not as mere instruction, but as the comprehensive empowerment of human potential.
A Call to Action for London Parents
To parents across London and beyond: if you have ever watched your child struggle with confidence, feel excluded by test-driven classrooms, or question their own intelligence because they do not fit the conventional mould, you are not alone.
There is another way. A pathway that sees your child as an individual, champions their uniqueness, and proactively prepares them for the complex future they will inherit. If this vision resonates with you, it is time to join the conversation and advocate for an education system that does more than test our children—one that truly equips them to lead, to thrive, and to flourish in every aspect of their lives.
