Legislation set to be announced in the Queen’s Speech tomorrow would require schools to publish an attendance policy, strengthen the regulation of academies and give more powers to Ofsted.
At the opening of Parliament tomorrow, the Queen will reveal measures in the new Schools Bill to “raise education standards” and deliver the government’s 2030 Levelling Up targets.
The speech will set out the legislative agenda for the next year.
The Department for Education (DfE) has said its new bill will provide “the legislation necessary” for the government’s “key education reforms”, as well as supporting “its central mission to spread opportunity and level up the country, driving future economic growth”.
Here are the seven key plans set to be announced in the Queen’s Speech tomorrow:
1. A ‘direct national funding formula’
The measures in the Schools Bill will introduce a “direct national funding formula”, which the government has said will ensure “every school is allocated funding on a fair and consistent basis, wherever it is in the country”.
The formula has been beset by successive delays, and the DfE last year admitted that it did not have a fixed date for it being fully in place.
2. Academisation push
Tomorrow’s speech will reveal plans to support more schools to become part of a strong multi-academy trust (MAT).
In the Schools White Paper, published earlier this year, the DfE revealed its ambitions for every school to be in a MAT by 2030.
However, a recent poll by the teaching union NAHT found that three-quarters of headteachers surveyed did not think academisation would improve pupil outcomes.
3. Strengthened regulation of academy trusts
The bill also aims to strengthen the regulatory framework for academy trusts, underpinned by powers to intervene where MATs are “failing” - an ambition announced in the White Paper.
The department has said the government would launch a review this summer, looking at the accountability and regulation of MATs.
4. Focus on attendance policies
The new legislation would require schools to publish an attendance policy as well as establish compulsory registers for children not in school.
Last week, the government set out its plans to improve attendance with the announcement of a new national system for when legal intervention and fines should be issued over pupil absence.
The department also published new data showing that pupils with better attendance achieved higher attainment levels at both key stage 2 Sats and GCSEs in 2019.
The DfE wants to establish compulsory registers for children not in school, “so that the system can identify those who are not receiving a suitable full-time education”.
5. More powers for Ofsted
The Schools Bill would give Ofsted more power to crack down on unregistered schools operating illegally.
6. Tougher teacher misconduct regime
Under the proposed legislation, the Teaching Regulation Agency would gain more power to investigate misconduct.
The DfE previously announced it was consulting on plans to extend its powers to enable it to ban more people from teaching for misconduct.
It also proposed to broaden the scope of teaching work that people can be banned from to include more settings, such as online provision.
7. Home schooling ‘duty’
As part of its levelling-up ambitions, the government has pledged to create legislation to “place a duty” on local authorities to provide support for home-schooling families. It said this was to ensure that “no child falls through the cracks”.
The DfE has said that the new Schools Bill will help to deliver the “Levelling Up mission” for education.
The Levelling Up White Paper, published in February of this year, announced a 90 per cent target of pupils leaving primary school achieving the “expected standard” in reading, writing and maths.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the new Schools Bill would “create a school system that works for every child, parent and family, bringing every school up to our current best standards”.
He said that schools’ approach to attendance is being “overhauled” to ensure that “every child gets the benefit of every possible hour in the classroom”.
“In combination, this work will make sure every child has access to an education that they deserve and helps them fulfil their potential.”
But shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said that, after the disruption of the pandemic, the Conservatives were “obsessing over structures instead of improving children’s experience in the classroom”.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said education was “at the very heart of this government’s agenda” and that it was “determined to raise standards in our schools”.
He added: “By giving every child a good education, we’re giving them the opportunity to thrive so they can reach their full potential and secure the jobs needed. This is absolutely vital to our Levelling Up mission.”
