The new Labour Government’s Plans for Education

The first Labour government for 14 years has taken up office with a mission to present to the English nation many changes to our education system. In one way or another these policies will impact upon how businesses relate to the education system as suppliers. Here we identify the key Labour party ideas to watch for as implementation moves forward.

Free Breakfast Clubs: Every primary school will offer free breakfast clubs to improve attendance and learning outcomes - confirmed as a commitment in the King’s speech to Parliament.

Teacher Recruitment and Training: Labour plans to recruit 6,500 more teachers and ensure all new teachers are qualified. They also aim to provide a Teacher Training Entitlement for ongoing professional development. Funded primarily from the implementation of VAT and Business Rates tax on private schools, a start has been made through an HMRC statement ensuring that there is no avoidance of the January 1 implementation date through fee pre-payments.

Curriculum and Assessment: There will be a review of the national curriculum and assessment methods to ensure a balanced education that includes sports and arts alongside core subjects like literacy and numeracy. DfE has announced the review leader Professor Becky Francis and following that, has identified a group of experts to support the review.

Mental Health Support: Schools will have enhanced mental health support for students, including better data sharing to identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) earlier. Various references have been made in Ministerial speeches to date but detail of this initiative is largely awaited.

School Inspections: Labour plans to reform the school inspection system, ending single-word Ofsted judgements and introducing report cards with annual checks on safeguarding and attendance. Multi-academy trusts will also be inspected. DfE has confirmed the abolition of one word conclusions and Ofsted has begun the implementation of the reforms which it intends to implement.

Support Staff: The education system will, of course, be affected by the general employment law reforms proposed (see Rob Smedley’s article on this) but, more specifically, the School Support Staff Negotiating Body will be reinstated to establish national terms and conditions, career progression routes, and fair pay rates for support staff.

And what about plans for further education and skills?

Whilst less has been reported in the press about post school education and skills, Labour's plans for further education and skills focus have been made very clear and focus upon creating a more integrated, accessible, and high-quality system. Key initiatives are as follows:

Integration of Further and Higher Education: Labour to better integrate further and higher education by clearly defining the roles of different training providers and facilitating smoother transitions for students between institutions.

Stronger regulation is envisaged with a view to ensuring high standards are achieved across all educational entry points for young people and adults looking to retrain or reskill.

Skills England: Skills England is to be created to coordinate efforts between businesses, training providers, unions, and the government. It will absorb the functions of several individual bodies. This requires legislation but efforts are being made within the DfE to achieve as much of the plan as possibly at an early point through the organisation working in shadow form within the Department.

Apprenticeships and Training: Notwithstanding the efforts of the previous government to attract young people into apprenticeships further efforts are recognised by the Labour government as necessary. Significantly, there will be reform of the apprenticeship levy system to allow employers to fund non-apprenticeship courses deemed eligible by Skills England. Ambitions include guaranteeing training, an apprenticeship, or help to find work for all 18- to 21-year-olds.

Technical Excellence Colleges: Specialist technical excellence colleges will be identified and able to promote themselves as providers of high-quality vocational education.

Local Community Empowerment: Local communities are to be empowered to develop the skills people need, ensuring training and employment paths are relevant to local economic needs.

Reducing Dependency on Overseas Workers: Further focussed efforts can be expected to ensure that workforce and training plans in key sectors are developed to reduce dependency on overseas workers – achieved by upskilling domestic workers, particularly in sectors like health, social care, and construction.