Ahead of the general election on 4th July, the
Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by the Nuffield
Foundation, has published an analysis of the plans for education
set out in the manifestos of the main political parties in
England.
The report provides an independent, evidence-based assessment of
the extent to which each of the main parties have committed to
addressing the biggest challenges facing education in England.
Overall, our analysis finds that:
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There have been proposals put forward by all the main
parties that address some of the challenges facing the
education system. In particular, pledges by Labour and the
Liberal Democrats to reform school accountability and
tackle the rising issue of children's mental health are
welcome, as are pledges by the Liberal Democrats to target
funding to disadvantaged children in the early years and
between the ages of 16-19. A greater focus from all parties on
boosting vocational education and skills is also a positive
step.
- However, there is a striking lack of clear
commitments to school and college funding, with neither
of the two main parties committing to increasing school funding
over the next Parliament. Coupled with an absence of specific
pledges to better target funding towards disadvantaged children
and young people, this could lead to rising inequalities.
-
Commitments in the early years and in post-16 education
also lack a focus on improving quality and targeting support to
the most disadvantaged children and young people. All
parties have committed to rolling out free early years
entitlements (and Labour's pledge to create over 3,000
nurseries in schools could help to raise quality), but there is
little focus on improving access for the most disadvantaged and
rebuilding early intervention services.
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Overall, the manifesto commitments do not go far enough
towards addressing the key challenges facing the education
system. All parties should have been clearer on how they
would: tackle the soaring costs of provision for
children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
(SEND), recruit and retain the education workforce our system
needs (beyond headline pledges of commitments to new teachers)
and address the widening disadvantage gaps across all phases,
through targeted interventions and funding.
We have considered each party's offer as a whole. We
conclude that:
-
The Conservative party have few commitments
that seek to address the key challenges facing education and
have included a number of commitments that are largely
unnecessary distractions and unlikely to have any real impact
on improving outcomes or tackling inequalities.
-
The Labour manifesto seeks to tackle more of
the immediate challenges facing the system, including through a
more whole-child approach by introducing a child poverty
strategy and new Young Futures Hubs. But there are still key
omissions from Labour, particularly around school and college
funding.
-
The Liberal Democrats have the most number of
commitments that are rooted in evidence, but lack detailed
plans on how these commitments will be funded and delivered.
-
The Green Party have made substantial
commitments to additional school funding, but their proposals
for ending formal assessments and abolishing Ofsted are not
supported by research evidence and may lead to falling
standards overall and widening attainment gaps.
- The education related commitments from
Reform are somewhat limited in nature. They do
not address the challenges in the education system today in any
substantial way.
Jon Andrews, Head of Analysis at the Education Policy
Institute (EPI), said:
“Following the pandemic's disruption and over a decade of
austerity, the education system in England faces significant
challenges in the years ahead, which will have to be addressed by
any incoming government.
“Positive proposals have been made to reform school
accountability and improve absence and pupil wellbeing, as well
as a welcome emphasis on improving vocational education and
boosting apprenticeships.
“However, some of the proposed measures lack an evidence-based
focus on improving the quality of provision, with a lack of
clarity on how they will be funded or how support will be
targeted to the most disadvantaged.
“Our analysis raises serious questions about whether the plans
set out in the manifestos of the main parties will deliver the
action that is required to support our education system. With a
lack of clear funding commitments made by the two main parties,
there is a genuine risk that policies will fall short in key
areas of need.”
Natalie Perera, Chief Executive of the Education Policy
Institute (EPI), said:
“An evidence-based education reform and investment strategy must
be a top priority for any incoming government. The gap between
disadvantaged pupils and their peers continues to widen, whilst
schools and colleges across the country face a shortage of
teachers and increasing funding pressures.
“There remains a genuine risk that the most important challenges
facing education will not be addressed with sufficient urgency,
given the wider economic issues and demands on public services
that an incoming government will face.
“Our independent and evidence-based assessment of the party
manifestos provides an opportunity for policymakers to reflect,
in the run-up to the general election and beyond, on how they can
best work with the sector to implement their priorities and
create a world-class education system, which delivers the best
possible outcomes for children and young people.”
Josh Hillman, Director of Education at the Nuffield
Foundation, said:
“This comprehensive manifesto analysis provides an important
overview of pledges – and gaps - from all the main parties across
key education policy areas in England, helping to inform voters
in the run-up to the general election. There are some significant
differences but overall, there is disappointment that none of the
parties have pledged the necessary funding to address the
overwhelming educational challenges awaiting the next
government.”
Detailed findings
The report examines the pledges made in the manifestos of the
main political parties in England across five key priority areas:
the early years; school organisation and outcomes; post-16 and
higher education; school and college funding; and education
workforce.
The early years
- The issues of retention and recruitment of the early years
workforce have been poorly addressed by all parties.
- All parties have committed to matching or extending the
extension of funded childcare entitlements to 30 hours a week,
but set out limited details on how they will deliver this through
expanded capacity and improving the availability of early
childhood education and care (ECEC).
- Labour's proposal to create 3,000 new school-based nurseries
by utilising capacity from falling rolls in primary schools is a
positive move towards tackling the shortage of affordable
high-quality ECEC in areas currently underserved by provision.
However, it is not clear how the party will ensure these new
nurseries are staffed by qualified early years professionals
given the declining size of the early years workforce.
- The Liberal Democrats have proposed to increase the early
years pupil premium to £1,000, almost triple its current value, a
welcome step towards targeting funding towards the most
disadvantaged children.
School organisation and outcomes
- Positive steps have been proposed to reform school
accountability, such as plans by Labour and the Liberal Democrats
to introduce report cards which focus on a wider set of
performance measures. These changes could help to reset the
relationship with the profession and provide a broader view of
school performance.
- Pledges made to expand mental health provision in schools,
through dedicated mental health professionals and the continued
roll-out of mental health support teams are welcome, but this
support must be accompanied by a focus on the drivers of
worsening mental health.
- Plans to introduce VAT on independent school fees could
result in up to 40,000 pupils moving to the state-funded sector.
But this represents just 0.5 per cent of the school population
and is dwarfed by the expected fall in pupil rolls over the next
parliament.
- The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have pledged to
tackle the issue of persistent school absence by legislating to
create a register of children not in school. This would be a
welcome step, which has previously been recommended by EPI.
Labour has also pledged to improve data sharing across services,
with a single unique identifier, prevent children and families
falling through the cracks in the system.
- The Liberal Democrats have proposed a Tutoring Guarantee for
disadvantaged pupils who need further support. One-to-one and
small-group tuition can be highly effective in supporting
learning and targeting disadvantaged pupils, but there is little
detail about the form that the guarantee will take and how it
will be delivered or funded.
Post-16 and higher education
- Manifestos have a significant focus on increasing technical
and vocational education, falling apprenticeship starts, and
employer investment in training. The emphasis placed by major
parties on boosting apprenticeships and improving technical
education to re-skill the economy, is welcome.
- Parties have offered various plans to reform apprenticeships.
The Conservatives have proposed diverting funding away from
higher education, while Labour and the Liberal Democrats have
proposed increasing the flexibility of the apprenticeship levy
and using it more widely for skills and training. Increasing
flexibility however is unlikely to reverse the trend of falling
starts, and underscores the need for a more targeted intervention
for apprentices aged under 19.
- Parties have paid little attention to the growing
disadvantage gap in the 16-19 phase, with the exception of the
Liberal Democrats, who have proposed the introduction of a 16-19
version of the pupil premium, previously recommended by EPI.
- The Conservatives' plans for an ‘Advanced British Standard'
and to extend compulsory English and Maths to 18 are a welcome
strategy to combat narrowing post-16 choices. The Liberal
Democrats have also pledged a review of post-16 education. Labour
has committed to keeping T-Levels, but has not proposed specific
plans to address falling basic literacy and numeracy skills
amongst young people.
- Labour has pledged to tackle the increasing NEET rate amongst
16-24 year-olds. The party plans to hire 1,000 new careers
advisers, guarantee two weeks of work experience, and ensure that
every young person between 18 and 21 is in an apprenticeship,
training, or employment.
- The main parties, in particular Labour and the Conservatives,
have committed relatively little to addressing issues in higher
education. Neither party has plans to try to sort out the
unstable higher education finances, nor any detailed plans to
widen participation at a time when the gap in progression to HE
between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students is widening.
School and college funding
- The wider situation of government finances, and a position
from the main parties not to increase some of the main taxes has
resulted in policies that do not address the scale of funding
challenges that schools and colleges are facing. Labour have made
no commitment on school funding. The Conservatives and Liberal
Democrats make pledges on a per pupil basis, but with pupil
numbers set to fall, these still leave the possibility of cuts to
school budgets.
- The main parties have made limited commitments on changes to
high needs funding, despite this being a pressing issue. The
current system is unsustainable, failing to reflect the level of
need or the true cost of provision to address those needs.
Schools, local authorities and some of our most vulnerable
children are at risk if the current situation is not
addressed.
- There has been a lack of specific commitments made by parties
to change how funding is allocated, apart from a pledge by the
Liberal Democrats to introduce a post-16 variant of the pupil
premium. Research suggests that commitments to expand the
provision of breakfast clubs and free school meals could also
help, but the benefits of universal roll-out are less clear. If
funding for schools and colleges remains tight, an incoming
government must consider how resources can be better targeted
towards disadvantaged young people.
The education workforce
- None of the parties have made any firm commitments on school
teacher pay. This is a concern given how pay is particularly
uncompetitive in shortage subjects and is likely to be a factor
in addressing recruitment challenges.
- The Conservatives' offering of a £30,000 tax-free bonus
spread over five years to new teachers in key areas and shortage
subjects is welcome, given evidence that such incentives are an
effective way to improve recruitment. However, clear funding will
be crucial to enable this policy to be implemented.
- Labour's pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, costing £450
million, is achievable but falls well short of the number of
teachers required to meet demand.
- Labour and the Liberal Democrats have proposed further
funding towards continuous professional development (CPD) for
teachers, a welcome step towards increasing the quality of the
workforce, which research suggests has positive effects on both
pupil outcomes and staff retention.
- Pledges made by Labour and the Liberal Democrats for a
specialist mental health officer in every school are welcome,
given the increasing demand for children's mental health services
since the pandemic.
This is the second report published by EPI on education in the
general election, following our report last July in which we
set out the challenges facing the education system in England and
made a number of calls on any incoming government.
