Now that Labour has won the election, all those policy promises that looked great on paper or made impressive soundbites will have to be turned into reality - and this is something the party won’t find easy to achieve.
So how soon, realistically, could any of the new government’s grand plans for education come to pass - next month, next year, this Parliament even?
The Tes team picked out seven key proposals and asked a variety of experts for their thoughts on if and when the policies could be implemented.
1. Ofsted report cards and MAT inspections
Labour has said it will replace single-headline Ofsted inspection grades with a new report card system, inspect multi-academy trusts and introduce a new annual review of safeguarding, attendance and off-rolling.
Given that Ofsted is in the middle of its “Big Listen” consultation, which is due to report back in September, it seems unlikely that any major changes will happen immediately on this front.
Also due is the independent review led by former Ofsted chief inspector Dame Christine Gilbert into the inspectorate’s response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. Again, Labour is likely to wait for this before acting.
When the government does push ahead there will be legal hurdles to overcome, too - chiefly changing the current inspection system, with Katie Michelon, partner at Browne Jacobson law firm, noting that the Education Act 2005 will need to be amended if Labour’s changes mean there is a “move away from designating a school as requiring special measures or requiring significant improvement”.
What’s more, as there is no law under which Ofsted can carry out mandatory inspection of multi-academy trusts, Michelon says, Labour will need to create new legislation. This will take time and require the creation of a suitable framework for MAT inspections, which itself is unlikely to happen quickly.
2. A full curriculum review
Labour has pledged to bring in “a broader and richer curriculum”, along with “a full review of how it is assessed”, as part of plans to better prepare young people for their futures.
While changing the curriculum could be seen as relatively low-cost and quick - Labour said it wants the review to be carried out “urgently” - the party would have to address concerns raised by teaching unions over the potential workload implications.
Labour would also need to ensure that schools have sufficient specialist teachers and resources to offer a broad range of subjects.
And, of course, any changes would need to fit with whatever remit Labour decides to give Ofsted.
Finally, unlike now, all state schools - including academies - would have to teach the core national curriculum under Labour’s plan.
This might be opposed as an infringement upon freedoms by some in the sector and could require a legislative amendment. As the Conservatives found out with their Schools BIll, this is not a simple task.
3. End VAT exemptions for private schools
One of Labour’s most high-profile pledges is to end VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools. The party intends to use the funds raised from this for spending on state schools.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated that the tax will not be applied retrospectively and she does not expect the policy to come in until 2025.
For that timeline to happen, tax expert Dan Neidle tells Tes he would expect a consultation paper on the policy to be published some time after the election before draft legislation would be published in January 2025. There would then be a finance bill in March 2025 that would come into effect later that year.
In terms of implementing the policy, Neidle says this will be fairly simple but it is deciding on the details of the policy and their consequences that will be more technically difficult.
Some parents and schools may also try to avoid VAT on fees by pre-paying several years of fees in advance of the policy being introduced, Neidle says. After the election, Labour will likely need to state the date from which this practice is no longer allowed.
4. Free breakfast clubs in every primary school
Costed in at £315 million in Labour’s manifesto, the promise of free breakfast clubs is a policy that Pete Whitehead, senior policy manager at Public First, says he expects Labour to move quickly on because it has been “referenced multiple times by Labour top brass” and has been a policy pitch for over two years.
He says one early decision will be what Labour wants the focus of the policy to be: “[Is it] a hunger-focused provision to address acute need? Or one focused on delivering secondary benefits around childcare?”
Given that the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that £315 million would cover a “food-only” model for all primaries - but only around 60 per cent of schools for a food-and-childcare offering - Whitehead says the former seems more likely.
Free school meals campaigner Andy Jolley suggests Labour could take advantage of the fact that many schools already run breakfast clubs, and therefore have a ”soft rollout” of the provision, “starting with schools in the more disadvantaged areas” to help ease the policy in.
Even if Labour does this, though, Whitehead says “delivery at scale, particularly in rural areas” will be a key issue: “Will [it use] a central provider like the existing National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) or a grant to schools?”
Jolley adds that questions about finance will be just as important as those about logistics. ”Different schools face different challenges, and there will need to be some flexibility when it comes to finances, particularly for smaller schools that lack economies of scale,” he says.
5. Specialist mental health professionals for all schools
Labour has pledged to provide “access to a specialist mental health professional in every school” so that all pupils can get “early support” before difficulties escalate - a policy that has broad support from heads’ and teachers’ unions, which warn that the sector is facing a “tsunami” of pupil mental health issues.
Labour said in its manifesto that it will spend £175 million raised from VAT on private school fees to fund provision, which would be supported by the recruitment of 8,500 more mental health staff, at a further cost of £410 million.
Policymakers will be under pressure to move fast on this, especially as it is an expansion of existing provision in schools rather than a whole new system. As such, it will not require consultation or new legislation.
Anne Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives and a former children’s commissioner, who is understood to be close to Labour policymakers, tells Tes that the government should “rocket boost” support in schools to help bing this policy pledge to life as soon as possible.
6. Recruiting 6,500 more teachers
One of Labour’s six key manifesto pledges is its commitment to recruit 6,500 “new expert teachers” in key shortage subjects.
It has promised £450 million per year to achieve this, but detail on how this money will be used remains unclear - a situation not much changed since last October when shadow education secretary Bridget Phillpson said Labour was still working on the plan.
What Labour has said, though, is that it will review the way bursaries are allocated and the structure of retention payments.
For example, new teachers completing the two-year Early Career Framework induction programme would receive £2,400. When this payment may be implemented is unclear but given the high rate of attrition for new teachers, it is something Labour may want to act on sooner rather than later.
7. Creating 3,000 nurseries in primary schools
Labour has promised to create 3,000 nurseries in primary schools - something it has budgeted at £35 million in its manifesto to help “deliver the extension of government-funded [childcare] hours that families are entitled to”.
James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the NAHT school leaders’ union, tells Tes that adapting primary school space in this way is something “a number of members have been through in the past” so it is a workable plan.
However, it requires a lot of planning in each school, such as ensuring “suitable access to the building, toilets, outdoor learning space and an area for food preparation”. Plans will therefore need to be ”thought through carefully in each specific case”.
Meanwhile, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, says an estimated 40,000 more educators will be needed, meaning that a “comprehensive staffing plan, alongside realistic funding levels, is crucial”.
Simply seconding school staff to these settings may not work, warns Sally Hogg, senior policy fellow at the Play in Education, Development and Learning Research Centre at the University of Cambridge.
“Babies and young children are not just small versions of older pupils; they require distinctive provision that meets their unique needs,” she says.
For the latest education news and analysis delivered directly to your inbox every weekday morning, sign up to the Tes Daily newsletter
