Is Tes Global up for sale in 2026?

Yes. As of November 14, 2025, owner Onex Corporation had hired Rothschild and Co and Morgan Stanley to explore a sale of Tes Global at a potential valuation up to $2 billion. No transaction had closed as of July 2026, leaving the process unresolved.

Tes Global is owned by Onex Corporation, which acquired it from Providence Equity Partners in a deal agreed December 7, 2021 via the $7.2 billion Onex Partners V fund. Onex began exploring a sale of the company in November 2025.

Could AI replace Tes Global's teaching resources business?

Its core resources marketplace is under direct pressure: 60% of K-12 teachers used AI tools in 2024-25 (up from 25% the prior year) and ChatGPT for Education is free for US K-12 through 2027. Tes has responded by selling AI-prompt resource packs on its own platform as of July 2026.

Has Tes Global had layoffs?

Headcount fell from about 2,466 employees in 2024 to about 2,281 by December 2025, a roughly 7.8% year-over-year decline in the most recent quarter tracked, per Revelio Labs workforce data published June 29, 2026.

Who is Tes Global's biggest competitor?

Twinkl is the fastest-growing named rival, with parent Wild Peak Holdings reporting turnover growth from £79 million (FY to April 2024) to £98.9 million (FY to April 2025), a roughly 25% increase, while Tes cut headcount over the same period.

What is Tes360 and does it work?

Tes360 is a connected data and insights platform launched in April 2026 that stitches together Tes's staff management, safeguarding, timetabling, HR, and SEND tools into one view for school leaders. As of the June 2026 hire of an AI lead, no independent adoption or performance data had been reported.

Education companies · subsidiary of Onex Corporation (via Onex Partners V; acquisition closed Q1 2022) · United Kingdom

Tes Global

tes.com ↗

UK teacher jobs board, CPD training, and teaching-resources marketplace.

Losing its protection

Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from July 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Onex sale process resolution deadline

The call

Tes Global sits mid-sale with shrinking headcount while AI tools and Twinkl erode its core resources business, and its next platform layer is unproven.

Tes Global runs a website where teachers buy and sell lesson plans and worksheets, plus software that helps schools manage compliance and daily operations. The lesson plan part is getting harder to sell because free AI tools like ChatGPT can now write lesson plans for teachers, and a rival company called Twinkl is growing faster. The company is trying to build a new product called Tes360 that would lock schools into using Tes for all their needs, but this product does not exist yet and may or may not work. The one thing that could change everything is if Tes gets bought by the right company that can either make the new product work or find a new way to make money that AI has not copied yet.

Why

AI pressure: ChatGPT for Education / general frontier LLMs. Free ChatGPT Edu through 2027 lets teachers generate lesson plans and worksheets, cutting demand for Tes's paid resources marketplace. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.

Bigger players: Twinkl. Twinkl grew revenue 25% YoY to 98.9 million pounds, pulling share from Tes in the same teaching-resources market. Could a giant copy it? Probably.

What protects it. School-ops workflow lock-in and regulated safeguarding compliance tools that AI generators and Twinkl do not replicate.

What would change this call

Onex's Tes Global sale closes or collapses by July 2026. Shows whether a strategic buyer values Tes enough to commit, or PE exit stalls out.
Twinkl publishes next annual revenue filing. Tests whether Twinkl keeps outgrowing Tes's core resources business.
Tes360 integration platform reports adoption numbers after April 2026 launch. Shows whether the new lock-in layer is real or just roadmap marketing.

Key numbers

Onex sale process valued at up to $2 billion, unresolved (2025-11-14)
Twinkl revenue hit 98.9 million pounds, up 25% YoY (2025-04)
Headcount fell 7.8% YoY to about 2,281 staff (2025-12)

Named risks

Onex sale process unresolved as of July 2026, outcome and buyer type uncertain. Severity: high
Core teaching-resources marketplace exposed to free/cheap AI content generation. Severity: high
Headcount fell 7.8% YoY through Q4 2025, signaling possible pre-sale cost cutting. Severity: medium
Tes Jobs customer sentiment very poor (1.4-2 of 5 on Trustpilot) risking renewal loss. Severity: medium
Twinkl outgrowing Tes in the resources vertical with disclosed 25% revenue growth. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Twinkl	gaining on	Twinkl revenue grew ~25% to £98.9M (FY to Apr 2025) as Tes cut headcount 7.8% YoY
ChatGPT for Education	gaining on	Free for US K-12 through 2027, pressuring Tes's paid resources marketplace
Eteach	contesting	Per-post pricing (£549+VAT) competes directly with Tes Jobs subscription model, 2025
Indeed	contesting	Broader reach than Tes but lacks education-sector targeting, per 2025 review

Questions people ask

Is Tes Global up for sale in 2026?: Yes. As of November 14, 2025, owner Onex Corporation had hired Rothschild and Co and Morgan Stanley to explore a sale of Tes Global at a potential valuation up to $2 billion. No transaction had closed as of July 2026, leaving the process unresolved.
Who owns Tes Global?: Tes Global is owned by Onex Corporation, which acquired it from Providence Equity Partners in a deal agreed December 7, 2021 via the $7.2 billion Onex Partners V fund. Onex began exploring a sale of the company in November 2025.
Could AI replace Tes Global's teaching resources business?: Its core resources marketplace is under direct pressure: 60% of K-12 teachers used AI tools in 2024-25 (up from 25% the prior year) and ChatGPT for Education is free for US K-12 through 2027. Tes has responded by selling AI-prompt resource packs on its own platform as of July 2026.
Has Tes Global had layoffs?: Headcount fell from about 2,466 employees in 2024 to about 2,281 by December 2025, a roughly 7.8% year-over-year decline in the most recent quarter tracked, per Revelio Labs workforce data published June 29, 2026.
Who is Tes Global's biggest competitor?: Twinkl is the fastest-growing named rival, with parent Wild Peak Holdings reporting turnover growth from £79 million (FY to April 2024) to £98.9 million (FY to April 2025), a roughly 25% increase, while Tes cut headcount over the same period.
What is Tes360 and does it work?: Tes360 is a connected data and insights platform launched in April 2026 that stitches together Tes's staff management, safeguarding, timetabling, HR, and SEND tools into one view for school leaders. As of the June 2026 hire of an AI lead, no independent adoption or performance data had been reported.

Timeline

2026-06Tes appoints Wayne Strydom as Head of AI and Innovation to accelerate Tes360
2026-04Tes launches Tes360, a connected data platform integrating its school-ops tools
2025-12Headcount at TES Global Group falls to about 2,281 employees
2025-11-14Onex hires Rothschild and Co and Morgan Stanley to explore Tes Global sale, up to $2B
2025-04Twinkl reports FY2025 turnover of £98.9 million, up from £79 million
2023-03SchoolCloud closes Glasgow office, centralizes roles to Sheffield and Fishguard
2021-12-07Onex Partners agrees to acquire Tes Global from Providence Equity Partners
2018-12-16Providence Equity Partners acquires Tes Global Group Limited from TPG Capital
2013-07TPG Capital acquires TSL Education (Tes Global) for about £400 million

Revision history

22 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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