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| Institute for the Study of Civil Society |
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As a precursor to the election, this briefing sets out the state of education today, and the Labour government's performance over the past decade. It also explains what the Conservatives are proposing.
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England 2008/09 unless otherwise stated
- Education spending, UK [1] - 6.1% of GDP
Expenditure per pupil, UK [2]- £5,140
- Average school size, UK [3]
- Primary school - 226 pupils
- Secondary school -939 pupils
- Number of schools, UK [4]
- Primary - 21, 568
- Comprehensive - 3247
- Academies [5] - 203
- Independent sector [6] - 7.2% of total pupils in schools
- Average class size [7]
- Primary schools - 26.2
- Secondary schools - 20.6
- No. of teachers [8] - 520, 600
- Number of pupils to a computer (secondary school) [9] - 2.5
- Vacancy rate in local authority-maintained schools [10] - 0.6%
- Truancy [2007/08] [11]
- Secondary schools - 1.49%
- Primary schools - 0.57%
- Results [12]
Reaching expected level (Level 4 plus) at Key Stage 2
- English - 80%
- Maths - 79%
- Science - 88%
GCSEs [13]
% Achieving 5+ Grade A*-C or equivalent (VRQ, NVQ, BTEC) - 70%
% 5+ Grade A*-C (incl. Maths & English GCSE) - 49.8%
A-level [14]
% of entries achieving A - C grade -75.1%
Average points score per candidate - 739.1 (approx. ABB)
- Higher and Further Education [15]
- % Aged 16 - 18, still in education - 64.1%
- In work based/funded learning- 15.8%
- In employment - 10%
- NEET - 10.3%
- Participation in Higher Education [2007/08] [16] - 43.3%
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| Policy Area |
Labour |
Conservative |
Liberal Democrats |
| Structure |
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-Since 1999, 203 academies have been created in England; 100 are planned for the next academic year. Academies operate within national curriculum requirements but are taken out of local authority (LEA) control and have greater freedoms as to how they spend state funds.
-From September 2011, sponsors no longer have to pledge £2 million to the academy. Sponsorship will be allocated according to the sponsor's record and expertise. |
-Groups of parents, teachers, charities and churches would be able to open their own schools and receive state funding to set up and run the school.
-Local authorities' power to veto a school turning into an academy would be scrapped, as would parents' right to ballot. Academies would not need sponsors or to change the existing governing body.
-Technical academies, focusing on science and engineering, would be built in Britain's major cities. |
-Sponsor Managed Schools would build on the academies model but local rather than central government would commission them. All schools would be accountable to their local education authority.
-Expansion of selective schools would be restricted. |
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-Independent schools have been encouraged to sponsor and build partnerships with academies.
-Home schooling: a new bill requires local authorities to create a database of home educating families and monitor standards. |
-Independent schools would be offered the chance to become academies with state funds if they become non-selective. There have been no further mention of earlier Conservative plans to create a voucher system which parents could use to access existing private education.
-Home schooling: Labour legislation to register all home educators would be repealed. |
-An independent body - the Education Standards Authority and an Education Freedom Act would limit the scope of political intervention within schools. |
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-94% of schools now offer extended services which cater for children or young people outside school hours.[17] Schools are encouraged to offer services such as 'Breakfast clubs', childcare and community/adult learning outside school time. |
-Expand state provision of boarding school places and residential academies, especially for children in care. |
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| Standards |
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- Ofsted reform in 2009: inspections are given at 48 hours notice and last only two days. Schools are judged predominantly on performance data and self-evaluation forms. Lower rated schools can expect visits more often.
-Each school will produce a 'school report card' by 2011. These will document school progress in a wide range of areas such as 'adding value' to pupils, bullying and discipline records alongside attainment data. |
-Ofsted: More inspections and unannounced. 18 categories of investigation reduced to 4: quality of teaching, standard of leadership, behaviour and safety of pupils, and academic results. Outstanding schools would not face re-inspection.
-Academies would be asked to take over local and failing primary schools. Secondary schools in special measures for over 12 months would close and reopen as academies under existing providers. 100 schools are already on a list to be closed and reopened by 2011.
-Heads of schools in special measures for over a year would be sacked.
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-Support for Labour's 'school report card'. |
| Expenditure |
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-Investment in education has more than doubled since 1995/6, to £79.9 billion in 2008/09.[18]
-Expenditure per pupil has risen from £2,900 in 1997/98 to £5,140 in 2008/09.[19]
-Investment in school buildings has gone from under £700 million in 1996/97 to over £8 billion in 2010/11.[20] Labour has refurbished or rebuilt 4,000 schools since coming into power.
-Labour will refurbish or rebuild every secondary school and half of primary schools in the coming years.
CUTS
-£500 million of savings to be made within the education budget by 2013. The first £300 million includes £135 million from quangos; £100 million from after school clubs; £50 million from bursaries for teacher training; £5 million in communications and £8 million in administration costs.
-£5 million will be spent on 250 school bursars next year and 250 more in the following three years to help schools better manage their financial affairs. Protecting frontline services will remain the priority.
-Schools will be encouraged to federate and share a senior management team.
-£300million of cuts to the Higher Education budget before 2011 and a further £600 million made in Higher Education, science and research budgets by 2013. |
-'Free schools' would be funded using savings of £4.5bn over nine years from the £55bn budget for Building Schools for the Future.
CUTS
-Education is now no longer protected from cuts despite initial promises. But there is little detail of planned cuts - although post 2011, a public sector pay freeze would apply to all but the lowest paid workers.
-There is likely to be less emphasis on buildings and structural renewal. |
-A promise to ring fence education spending.
-Premium for poorer children - worth around £2,500 extra per child for 1 million children
-Cut class sizes to 15 for five to seven-year-olds.
CUTS
-Scrap Contactpoint database.
-Retain key stage 2 but produce a slimmer version of national testing
-Reject arbitrary targets for university entrance and over expansion. Emphasise alternatives incl. vocational training in FE colleges - these are cheaper and leave students more employable.
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| Achievement Gap |
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-In 2002, the gap between the pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE (not incl. English and Maths) who were eligible for Free School Meals and those not stood at 30.7%. By 2008, the gap was 27%.[21]
-The Education Maintenance Allowance gives pupils £30/week to stay in education and has encouraged ongoing participation in education, particularly among ethnic minority pupils.[22]
-Free school lunch 'eligibility' will be phased out from September. Labour will pilot free school meals for all children in primary school.
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-Pupil premiums to incentivise schools to seek an intake which includes children of more deprived backgrounds.
-220,000 new school places in the most deprived communities. |
-Around £90,000 per primary school of pupil premiums - to cut class sizes, recruit better teachers and provide more one-on-one tuition. |
| Curriculum |
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-The National Strategies - centralised teaching methods in primary and secondary schools dictate what is taught. A focus on the three Rs mean a daily literacy and numeracy hour in primary schools.
-The Strategies will be scrapped next year in favour of greater school control.
-A 14-19 Diploma was created allowing students to specialise in a vocational area.
-The curricula freedoms of academies have been reigned in- they must follow the 'core' subjects of the National Curriculum: English, Maths, ICT and Science.
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-Overhaul of the curriculum in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science.
-Changes, to be implemented from September 2011, would make the curriculum more rigorous and clearly define subject knowledge to be covered at each stage. Pupils would be set by ability and all have an entitlement to study three separate sciences from age 11.
- National Citizen Service scheme - a national civil service for teenagers.
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-The National Curriculum would be replaced with a less rigid Minimum Curriculum entitlement. |
| Qualifications & Exams |
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- Key Stage 3 Sats were discontinued.
-The government's National Challenge schools are those where below 30% of pupils get 5+ A*-C at GCSE (inc. English and Maths). 247 schools are in this category, compared to 439 the previous year and 1,600 in 1997.[23] £400 million is invested in meeting this target by 2011.[24]
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-Schools could offer international qualifications, such as the International Baccalaureate and the IGCSE.
-Pupils would take a reading test age 6 - Key Stage 2 Sats would be scrapped and replaced with test in the first year of secondary school.
-The points value of subjects would be re-configured, giving subjects deemed 'tougher', higher value in the league tables. |
-Introduce a General Diploma to encourage students to mix academic and vocational qualifications |
| Workforce |
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-Government funding is to allow teachers to take a Masters in Teaching and Learning.
-A License to Practice will require teachers to renew their teaching qualification in the course of their careers. |
-More individuals would be encouraged to switch to teaching, mid-career, on schemes such as 'Troops to Teachers'.
-State funding for primary school teacher training for only those with a B in English and Maths GCSE and a 2:2 or above.
-Student loan repayments for maths and science graduates training as teachers.
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-Classroom based teacher training.
-Teachers will have to re-certify their fitness to teach. |
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-Class sizes for 5-7 year olds were limited to 30. Class sizes have fallen only minimally since Labour and over a tenth of pupils remain in a class over 30. [25]
-The number of teachers has increased by 10.6% since 1997 and the number of teaching assistants in schools has more than tripled to 183 700.[26] |
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-Class size cut to 20 at primary and 16 at secondary school level |
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-Academies gave teachers more freedom to determine what was taught, disciplinary policy and ethos of the school. |
-Greater independence for heads and teachers in academies: freedom to introduce a uniform, determine teachers' pay; more control over discipline and armoury against prosecution. Enforceable home-school contracts. |
-With less centralised control, teachers could focus on classroom teaching.
-Schools will have greater freedom to determine teacher pay |
| Further Education |
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-The compulsory school leaving age will reach 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015. More students than ever are staying in education to 18 - up from 56.4% in 1997 to 64.1% in 2009.[27]
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-Funding for Further Education could be allocated to both state and private providers according to how many students attended the previous year. Private providers would be encouraged to take over from existing failing institutions. |
-Allow pupils to move to college or a work-related provider at age 14.
-Scrap compulsory education to age 18. Replace it with an entitlement to two years of post-16 learning or training at any age. |
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-In recent years, Labour has expanded apprenticeships, 239 000 began one this year.[28] However, figures are lower than under the Conservatives: in 1994, 11.3% of 16-18 year olds were in work based learning; the figure is now 6.5%.[29] |
-200,000 apprenticeships would be created over two years and 77,000 fully funded which are currently part-funded
- More government funding would be available upfront and red tape reduced for companies taking on apprentices.
- A £2000 bonus would accompany each apprenticeship in a small or medium-sized enterprise and small employers encouraged to create Group Training Associations. |
-Create a national application system for apprenticeships similar to UCAS for universities.
-Fully fund off-the-job training costs of apprenticeships. |
- Adult Learning and Training for Work
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-The Young Person's Guarantee provides unemployed 18 to 24-year-olds with an offer of a job, work-focused training or a work experience place from 2010.
-Train to Gain encouraged employers to train their employees and offer them qualifications.
- They intend for one in five young people to take up apprenticeships within the next ten years. |
-Individual Learning Accounts would be created for individuals using the funds Labour put into the Train to Gain scheme.
-An £100 million NEETS fund |
-Redirect the money spent on the existing employer-led Train to Gain programme to individual adult learners. |
| Higher Education |
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-Tuition fees were introduced from 2006 for students from England, Northern Ireland and Wales. They currently stand at £3,255. Around 40% are eligible for a maintenance grant.
-Labour's target of 50% of students attending Higher Education has been reformed and they now advocate a wider variety of provision, including two year foundation degrees
-Numbers going to university do not appear to have changed dramatically since 1999.[30]
- 20 new university campuses will be opened over the next 6 years.
-Over two thirds of students will receive a partial grant to put towards university fees.
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-There would be an early repayment bonus for those students who repay their loans early.
- A 'fairer deal for part-time and mature students'.
-10,000 new university places twould be created.
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-Tuition fees would be removed for full and part time students on a first degree over the next six years.
- The existing bursary scheme would be made available more fairly across universities on the basis of encouraging study of shortage subjects and rewarding good performance.
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Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom: 2009, VOL/2009, DCSF, November 2009. Annex A. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000891/UKVolume2009.pdf
Revenue Only. Revenue and capital at £6,020. Revenue & Capital Funding per School Pupil (excludes LEA block funding), DCSF, August 2009. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/TIM/m002012/NSRStatsJuneGDP140809.pdf
Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom: 2009, VOL/2009, DCSF, November 2009. Table 1.6. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000891/UKVolume2009.pdf
Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom: 2009, VOL/2009, DCSF, November 2009. Table 1.1 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000891/UKVolume2009.pdf
Directory of Academies. Specialist Schools and Academies Trust website, accessed 11 March 2010. All the academies are in England. http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/academies/academies_directory/?version=1&token=31618fa8-0034-4771-b358-467f2fe621c5
Schools, Pupils and Their Characteristics: January 2009 (Provisional), Table 2. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000843/SFR08_2009.pdf
Schools, Pupils and Their Characteristics: January 2009 (Provisional), Annex 1: Class Sizes.http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000843/SFR08_2009_ClassSizeCommentary.pdf
Qualified teachers (includes nursery; secondary; non-maintained mainstream and secondary schools) 2007/08. Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom: 2009, VOL/2009, DCSF, November 2009. Table 1.5 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000891/UKVolume2009.pdf
Maintained Primary, State-funded Secondary and Special Schools: Information and Communications Technology, The School Census, 2009. Acquired via correspondence with DCSF, 16 February 2010.
School Workforce in England (including Local Authority level figures) January 2009 (Revised), SFR, January 2010. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000874/SFR23_2009v2.pdf
% of half days missed due to unauthorised absence. Pupil Absence in Schools in England, including pupil characteristics: 2007/08, SFR, February 2009. Table 1.1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000832/SFR03_2009v2.pdf
National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2 in England, 2009 (Revised), SFR, December 2009. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000893/KS2-SFR-2009-4.pdf
GCSE and Equivalent Results in England 2008/09 (Revised), SFR, January 2010. Table 1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000909/SFR01_2010.pdf
GCE/Applied GCE A/AS and Equivalent Examination Results in England, 2008/09 (REVISED), SFR, January 2010. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000906/SFR02_2010.pdf
Participation of 16 to 18 year olds in education and training, England, 2007 and 2008. Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 year olds in England, DCSF, June 2009. Table 1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000849/SFR12_2009v2.pdf
Participation Rates in Higher Education: Academic Years 1999/2000 - 2007/2008 (Provisional), SFR, March 2009. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000839/SFR02-2009webversion1.pdf
Wallace, E; Smith, K; Pye, J;Crouch, J; Ziff, A & Burston,K, Extended Schools Survey of Schools,Pupils and Parents: A Quantitative Study of Perceptions and Usage of Extended Services in Schools, Research Report DCSF-RR068, 2009. http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/14086/DCSF-RR068.pdf
Annex A. Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom: 2009, VOL/2009, DCSF, November 2009. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000891/UKVolume2009.pdf
Revenue Only. Revenue and capital at £6,020. Revenue & Capital Funding per School Pupil (excludes LEA block funding), DCSF, August 2009. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/TIM/m002012/NSRStatsJuneGDP140809.pdf
Every Child Matters:The Primary Capital Programme 2008 - 2022, DCSF. http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/12293/Primary%20Capital%20Programme%202008-2022.pdf
The 2002 statistics do not include GCSE equivalents; the 2008 figures include GCSE equivalents. Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A* to C GCSEs and equivalent9 by eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM), 2002 to 2008. Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2007/08, SFR32/2008. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/TIM/m002021/index.shtml
Chowdry, H; Dearden, L; Emmerson, C. Education Maintenance Allowance: Evaluation with Administrative Data, Institute for Fiscal Studies, November 2007. http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/18324/1/18324.pdf
The National Challenge, DCSF. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/nationalchallenge/
National Challenge - Raising standards, supporting schools; DCSF; 2008. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/nationalchallenge/downloads/7715-National%20ChallengeWEB.pdf
Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England, January 2008 (Provisional), SFR, April 2008. Table 13. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/SFR_09_2008.pdf
School Workforce in England (including Local Authority level figures) January 2009 (Revised), SFR, September 2009. Table 1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000874/SFR23_2009v2.pdf
Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 year olds in England, SFR, June 2009. Table 5. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000849/SFR12_2009v2.pdf
Post-16 Education & Skills: Learner Participation, Outcomes and Level of Highest Qualification Held, National Statistics, March 2010. http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/0621C764-6198-4526-A976-2A4CE33F0F57/0/Post_16_Education_December_2009_Mar_Republish.pdf
Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 year olds in England, SFR, June 2009. Table 5. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000849/SFR12_2009v2.pdf
Participation Rates in Higher Education: Academic Years 1999/2000 - 2007/2008 (Provisional), BIS, March 2009. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000839/SFR02-2009webversion1.pdf
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