The Liberal Democrats have pledged to increase per-pupil school funding above the rate of inflation every year in the party’s election manifesto, which was published today.
In its manifesto, For a Fair Deal, the party has also promised to end “the scandal of crumbling school and college buildings” by investing in new buildings and clearing the backlog of repairs.
Key education pledges also include making teacher pay fully funded and independent, cutting the amount schools pay toward education, health and care plans (EHCPs), and scrapping single-word Ofsted grades.
The Liberal Democrats have said previously that increasing the pupil premium and eligibility for free school meals (FSM) are among its priorities for schools.
The party is also proposing that pupil premium funding will be extended to cover the education of 16- to 18-year-olds, and for students eligible for FSM to be automatically enrolled.
It has said it is committed to putting a dedicated qualified mental health professional in every school and says it is interested in a scorecard approach to Ofsted.
The Liberal Democrats have said they will fund their manifesto pledges by “reversing the Conservatives’ tax cuts for the big banks” and “imposing a proper windfall tax on the super-profits of oil and gas companies”.
The party also says it will put a dedicated, qualified mental health professional in every primary and secondary school, funded by increasing the digital services tax on social media firms and other tech giants.
Here are the Liberal Democrats’ education policies in full, including pledges on tackling retention and recruitment, school funding and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND):
The Liberal Democrat manifesto: education policies
Retention and recruitment
- Creating a teacher workforce strategy to ensure that every secondary school child is taught by a specialist teacher in their subject.
- Reforming the School Teachers’ Review Body to make it properly independent of government and able to recommend fair pay rises for teachers - and fully funding those rises every year.
- Funding teacher training “properly” so that all trainee posts in school are paid.
- Introducing a clear and properly funded programme of high-quality professional development for all teachers, including training on effective parental engagement.
Funding
The Lib Dems have previously pledged to introduce a Young People’s Premium, which includes extending pupil premium funding to disadvantaged young people aged 16-18. On funding, the party has also promised to:
- Redirect capital funding for “unnecessary” new free schools to help clear the backlog of school repairs.
- Review further education funding, including the option of exempting colleges from VAT.
- Support the education of children in care, extend pupil premium plus funding to children in kinship care, and guarantee any child taken into care a school place within three weeks if required to move schools.
SEND
The party has previously announced its plans to establish a new national body for SEND to fund support for children with high needs. Other pledges on SEND include:
- Give local authorities extra funding to reduce the amount that schools pay towards the cost of a child’s EHCP.
- Give local authorities with responsibility for education the powers and resources to act as Strategic Education Authorities for their area, including responsibility for place planning, exclusions, administering admissions (including in-year admissions) and SEND functions.
Accountability
- Reform Ofsted inspections and end single-word judgements so that parents get a clear picture of the true strengths and weaknesses of each school - and so that schools get the guidance and support they need to improve.
- Implement a new parental engagement strategy, including a regular, published parent survey and guidance for schools on providing accessible information to parents on what their children are learning.
Curriculum
- Urgently establish a standing commission to build a long-term consensus across parties and teachers to broaden the curriculum and make qualifications at 16 and 18 fit for the 21st century. This would draw on “best practice such as the International Baccalaureate” and ensure children learn core skills such as critical thinking, verbal reasoning and creativity.
- Improve the quality of vocational education, including skills for entrepreneurship and self-employment.
- Strengthen careers advice and links with employers in schools and colleges.
- Include arts subjects in the English Baccalaureate and “give power to Ofsted to monitor the curriculum” so that schools continue to provide a rich curriculum including subjects such as art, music and drama.
- Expand the provision of extracurricular activities, such as sports, music, drama, debating and coding, starting with a new free entitlement for disadvantaged children.
Mental health
The Lib Dems have previously committed to improving early access to mental health services by putting a dedicated, qualified mental health professional in every school. They have also pledged the following policies:
- Establishing mental health hubs for young people in every community.
- Setting up an independent advocacy body for children’s safety online.
- Creating a statutory, independent mental health commissioner to represent patients, their families and carers.
- Addressing the underfunding and neglect of children’s mental health services, youth services and youth justice services.
- Tackle bullying in schools by promoting pastoral leadership in schools and delivering high-quality relationships and sex education.
Disadvantage and absence
One of the party’s key education policies has been to extend free school meals to all children in poverty, with an ambition to extend them to all primary school children when the public finances allow. In addition to this, the Lib Dems are also promising to:
- Introduce a “tutoring guarantee” for every disadvantaged pupil who needs extra support.
- Appoint a cabinet minister for children and young people.
- Tackle persistent absence by setting up a register of children who are not in school, and work to understand and remove underlying barriers to attendance.
- Ensure that all universities work to widen participation by disadvantaged and underrepresented groups across the sector, prioritising their work with students in schools and colleges, and require every university to be transparent about selection criteria.
Early years
- Developing a career strategy for nursery staff, including a training programme with the majority of those working with children aged 2-4 to have a relevant early years qualification or be working towards one.
- Including a specific emphasis on identifying and supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities in the new training programme for early years staff.
- Invest in high-quality early years education and close the attainment gap by giving disadvantaged children aged 3 and 4 an extra five free hours a week and tripling the early years pupil premium to £1,000 a year.
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