Today, Sir Keir Starmer delivered his crunch speech at the party’s annual conference, aiming to present himself as a serious alternative to Boris Johnson.

Sir Keir claimed “Labour will be back in business”, able to grapple with the big issues facing the country, including recovering from the pandemic and tackling climate change.

But what is the party’s plan for education? And what would this mean in practice for teachers and school leaders?

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Over the course of its annual conference in Brighton, Labour has made a series of education pledges - some of which are more detailed than others.

Leading the news agenda has been the party’s plan to axe tax exemptions for private schools, which has sparked fears from school leaders that “displaced pupils” will inflate class sizes in the state sector.

Labour is also keen to reform Ofsted and invest in thousands of new teachers, but it is not clear in each case how exactly the party intends to achieve this.

Here’s everything teachers and school leaders need to know about the proposals.

1. No more tax exemptions for private schools

Labour has said it would end the charitable status of England’s private schools, raising an estimated £1.6 billion from VAT and £100 million from business rates.

Sir Keir told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “This is a political choice to take that money and switch it to our state schools so that children and young people in our state schools have the best chance they can have to come out of schools ready for life, ready for work.”

But the plan has sparked a backlash from school leaders, who warn it would result in “displaced pupils” moving to state schools, boosting class sizes.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We are happy to explore this proposal in more detail but our concern is that it would result in many small independent schools having to close.

“This would be disruptive to the pupils and staff involved, and would most likely end up with many displaced pupils moving into the state system with a consequent increased cost on public funds that would erode the extra income that the policy is aimed at raising.”

Meanwhile, private schools are warning the policy would end up “costing the taxpayer significant sums of money”.

Labour said scrapping private school tax exemptions would fund its other education pledges.

2. Reform Ofsted to help ‘struggling schools’

Labour has said it wants to reform Ofsted “to focus on supporting struggling schools”.

But it hasn’t provided further detail on how it will do this.

In a statement sent to the press today, ahead of Sir Keir’s conference speech, Labour said: “Even before the pandemic, 200,000 primary-age children in England were growing up in areas with not a single primary school rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. 

“Starmer’s speech will set out the short-term failures of the Conservative government and emphasise the problems that are worsening because of their long-term neglect.

“He will warn that Britain risks being left behind if it does not open up opportunities for young people in every part of the country.”

Sir Keir did not specify say how the watchdog would be reformed.

The party has said: “Labour would enable Ofsted to enhance its focus on schools which are under-performing and to support schools to put in place plans to deliver sustained changes.”

3. Thousands of extra teachers

Labour said today that, if elected, it would recruit thousands of new teachers.

With an investment of £347 million, the party said it would fill more than 6,500 vacancies and skills gaps across the country’s schools.

This, it said, would make sure every child could be taught by “highly skilled, expert teachers”.

4. More cash for teacher development

Labour said its plan for education would also involve “providing teachers and headteachers with continuing professional development and leadership skills training”.

The party pledged to invest £210 million through a teacher development drive, which it said would support new headteachers with an “excellence in leadership programme”, to ensure they are “equipped with the skills they need to lead outstanding schools”.

5. Mental health staff for every school

Labour has proposed to give every school access to a professional mental health counsellor - full-time for secondaries, and part-time for primaries.

This would help “support pupils and resolve problems before they escalate”, it said.

The party would also put an open-access mental health hub for children and young people in every community, providing early intervention and drop-in services.

6. Focus on digital skills

Sir Keir said Labour wants to “write a curriculum for tomorrow” - with digital skills made the fourth pillar of education, along with reading, writing and maths.

He said: “We need to ensure that every child emerges from school ready for work, and ready for life.

“As in health, so, too, in education - we can work by the light of new technology. Machine learning can cater for individual work styles.

“Artificial intelligence can help tuition, especially for students with special needs.”

He said there is a need to adapt, before adding: “What is the small Tory idea to respond to this change? They want to reintroduce Latin in state schools.

“So, let me put this crisis in the only language that Boris Johnson will understand: Carpe diem. Seize the day.”