One in five of FE lecturers and leaders is undecided when it comes to which political party has the best policies on education.

In a Tes general election poll of more than 500 FE staff, 58 per cent said they believed Labour had the best policies, 9 per cent believed that the Liberal Democrats did and 8 per cent believed that the Conservatives did. 

Labour election manifesto: EMA and levy reform

Conservative pledges: £1.8bn for college buildings

Liberal dem manifesto: £1bn funding and a wider levy

Julian Gravatt, the deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said it was good news for the sector that all major political parties had raced to announce their policy plans for FE.

He said: “Politicians of all persuasions are waking up to the fact that, if you want to strengthen the economy and boost productivity, improve our communities, and offer people the very best life chances, then colleges have to be a central part of their plans.

“But facts matter, and we need to push all politicians to move from headlines to detail - not least so that we can effectively hold the next government to account once they take power.” 

Tes survey findings

More than half (54 per cent) of respondents to the Tes survey said that they planned to vote for the Labour Party in the upcoming general election on 12 December - a two percentage point drop compared to those who said they voted Labour in 2017 (56 per cent). 

Three per cent said they would be voting for the Green Party, and 2 per cent said they would vote for the Brexit party.

When it came to the factors that influenced them the most, 35 per cent said Brexit was the top factor, while 21 per cent said that education policies were top of their list. 

On Brexit and a potential second referendum on the EU, three quarters said that they would vote again to remain in the EU (78 per cent), and one in six (16 per cent) said that they would vote to leave. This was significantly below the proportion that said they voted to leave in the 2016 referendum (20 per cent). 

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: “College staff will be playing close attention to party commitments in the run up to the general election and we hope all politicians will recognise the importance of education and why it is so vital to invest in staff.  

“While we are pleased that most parties are placing an emphasis on further and adult education at this election we would encourage all politicians to make clear their commitment to the sector and its staff by ensuring the education system is properly funded. Investment in the workforce is key as staff are the cornerstone of a successful education system and we must ensure that careers in further and adult education remain attractive.” 

Earlier this week, Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), told Tes that big-ticket, multi-million or multi-billion pound policy announcements caused confusion among voters.