The party elected to form the new government has pledged to hire 6,500 new expert teachers via funding raised from adding VAT to private school fees, and to scrap single-word Ofsted grades.
Labour is set to take office after winning a huge majority in a general election that was called unexpectedly by the former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak in May.
Speaking after winning her Houghton and Sunderland South seat, the first to be announced on a historic night for Labour, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said her party would provide a “government of service” which will be “determined to build a Britain where background is no barrier, no matter who your parents are or where you’re born”.
She added that her party were “determined to tear down the barriers to opportunity, which hold back too many of our children”.
Key policies: recruitment, Ofsted and private schools
So, what can schools now expect from a new Labour government, based on their manifesto pledges and on comments made during the election campaign?
At the launch of the Labour Party’s general election manifesto last month, Sir Keir Starmer - who is expected to be sworn in as prime minister later today - said that hiring 6,500 more teachers would ensure that children get the start in life they deserve.
The manifesto reaffirmed the party’s pledge to fund its teacher recruitment drive via the ending of tax breaks for private schools.
Labour also vowed to replace single-word Ofsted judgements with a scorecard system and to introduce an annual safeguarding check that would include looking at attendance and off-rolling.
The party said a Labour government will ensure that school admissions decisions account for the needs of communities, by requiring that all schools cooperate with their local authority on school admissions and the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The Labour Party manifesto: education policies
Here are the party’s education policies in full:
Recruitment and retention
- Recruit 6,500 new expert teachers in key shortage subjects, support areas that face recruitment challenges and tackle retention issues.
- Review the way bursaries are allocated and the structure of retention payments.
- Reinstate the School Support Staff Negotiating Body to address the recruitment and retention crisis in support roles.
- Update the Early Career Framework and ensure any new teacher entering the classroom has, or is working towards, qualified teacher status (QTS).
- Introduce a new teacher training entitlement “to ensure teachers stay up to date on best practice with continuing professional development”.
Ofsted and accountability
Curriculum and school improvement
- Launch an “expert-led review” of the curriculum to ensure it is “rich and broad, inclusive, and innovative”. The manifesto says the reforms will build on the hard work of teachers who have brought their subjects alive with knowledge-rich syllabuses. The review “will consider the balance of assessment methods while protecting the important role of examinations”.
- Create a new Excellence in Leadership Programme, a mentoring framework that expands the capacity of headteachers and leaders to improve their schools.
- New Regional Improvement Teams, which Labour says will “enhance school-to-school support and spread best practice”.
- Support children to study a creative or vocational subject until they are 16, and ensure accountability measures reflect this.
- Launch a new National Music Education Network - a one-stop shop with information on courses and classes for parents, teachers and children.
Private schools
- End the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools and use the funds raised for state-school spending.
SEND and mental health
- The government previously said it “will take a community-wide approach, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs”.
- Ensure school admissions decisions account for the needs of communities and require all schools to cooperate with their local authority on school admissions, SEND inclusion and place planning.
- Provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.
Early years, primaries and family support
- Create 3,000 new primary school-based nurseries through upgrading space in primary schools.
- Fund free breakfast clubs in every primary school, accessible to all children.
- Improve the quality of maths teaching across nurseries and primary schools.
- Limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require to bring down the cost of schooling.
- Fund evidence-based early language interventions in primary schools.
Cost of Labour’s election pledges
The Labour government previously broke down the expected cost of some of its main education policies during the election campaign.
It said that hiring 6,500 new teachers would cost £450 million. The next most expensive area would be increased teacher and headteacher training, costing £270 million.
The planned reform of Ofsted - which would be expected to carry out multi-academy trust inspections - is said to be costed at £45 million, while providing mental health support in schools will cost £175 million, according to the manifesto document.
Labour education policies: how school leaders and experts reacted
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said Labour was right to focus on “the recruitment and retention crisis facing schools” but needs to make sure any plan includes “competitive levels of pay and a manageable workload”.
Commenting after Labour’s victory, he said that areas in need of focus are the “current state of SEND provision”, “the major challenges with recruitment and retention” and the “dilapidated state of school buildings”.
“Alongside this, there is an urgent need to address the broken accountability system and an ongoing funding crisis,” he added.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed Labour’s promise to tackle child poverty via free breakfast clubs in all primary schools and “a renewed focus on early years education” as “important steps towards tackling the disadvantage gap”. But he warned the party’s pledge on VAT on private school fees would not solve the funding crisis on its own.
Both heads’ union leaders said they supported Labour’s plan to replace Ofsted inspection grades with a scorecard system.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU teaching union, welcomed Labour’s recognition of the recruitment and retention crisis but warned its plan to recruit 6,500 new teachers does not go far enough.
He added that a fully funded pay correction is needed “for the educators we rely on to deliver our crucial education service”.
After Labour’s election victory was confirmed, Mr Kebede warned that the party will need to “inject significantly more funding into education than it promised if it is to match the level of ambition needed to achieve a truly outstanding system”.
Professor Becky Francis CBE, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, welcomed the manifesto’s focus on disadvantage, evidenced-based education, early years and child poverty, which are all “critical to ensuring young people experiencing socio-economic disadvantage can fulfil their potential” at a time when the attainment gap is the widest since 2012.
However, Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, said it is “concerning that there are no concrete plans set out to address the glaring inequalities in access to early years education for the poorest children [or to] close the school attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers” - despite the manifesto including “some sensible policies such as recruiting more teachers, universal breakfast clubs and setting up new nurseries in schools”.
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