Diagnosis.
Schools
- Teacher pay down ~10-12% real terms since 2010
- Teacher recruitment and retention in crisis: shortages worst in maths, sciences, languages, computing
- School buildings in visible decline: RAAC crisis exposed systemic estate neglect
- Attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and peers stubborn
- Special Educational Needs (SEND) provision in genuine crisis: local authorities bankrupt from High Needs costs
- Absence rates post-COVID remain elevated
- School budgets stretched by rising energy, wage, and SEND costs
Early years
- 30-hour free childcare rollout (Conservative 2023) underfunded: settings losing money on it
- Early years workforce paid poverty wages, high turnover
- Provision uneven geographically
- Sure Start-style integrated family support centres largely closed since 2010
Universities
- Sector in financial crisis: dozens of universities facing deficits
- Tuition fees frozen in cash terms since 2017 (value eroded by inflation)
- International student numbers down due to visa policy instability
- Research funding concentrated in small number of institutions
- Capital decline as maintenance deferred
- Governance and management issues at some institutions
Cross-cutting
- Apprenticeship/vocational pathway neglected (covered in the Skills briefing)
- Lifelong learning collapsed since 2010
- Educational technology poorly deployed, often captured by US vendors
- Curriculum content and assessment methods under-reviewed
Core Policy Platform.
Teacher Pay and Conditions.
Position: Restore teacher pay to pre-austerity real terms over 4 years.
Mechanism
- Above-inflation pay rises of ~2.5% real terms annually for 4 years
- Starting salary for new teachers raised to £35k+ by Y3
- Recruitment and retention supplements for shortage subjects (maths, physics, chemistry, languages, computing)
- School leader pay structure reviewed: head teachers and deputy heads
- Teaching assistant and support staff pay also addressed: current rates below living wage in many cases
Workforce measures
- Teacher workload reduction: specific commitment to remove 5 hours/week of admin via curriculum simplification and accountability reform
- Ofsted inspection reform: current model causes disproportionate stress and workload
- Teacher training funding increased: bursaries for shortage subjects
- Return-to-teaching pathways for ex-teachers
Cost: £3bn/year by Y3, £4bn/year by Y5. Pure revenue.
School Buildings and Estate.
Position: Capital programme to address RAAC and broader estate decline.
Mechanism
- Accelerated RAAC remediation: target completion Y5
- Schools rebuilding programme expanded: target 500 schools rebuilt or major refurbished over 10 years
- Energy efficiency retrofit of school estate (links to energy policy)
- School playing fields protected: end sales of sports land
Cost: £2bn/year capital for 10 years, plus £500m/year capital for energy efficiency retrofit.
School Budgets and Funding.
Position: Restore real-terms per-pupil funding to 2010 levels, with particular uplift for disadvantaged areas.
Mechanisms
- Core school funding uplift £2bn/year by Y3
- Pupil Premium retained and enhanced
- Disadvantaged regions specific programme: ~£500m/year for regions with highest deprivation
- SEND crisis addressed: High Needs funding increased £2bn/year, with mainstream integration support
Cost: £4.5bn/year by Y3, £5bn/year by Y5. Revenue.
Special Educational Needs.
Position: Major reform and funding restoration. Current system is in collapse.
Mechanisms
- High Needs Block funding increased by £2bn/year
- Local authority SEND deficits (~£4bn accumulated) written off over 5 years via dedicated Treasury facility
- EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) process reformed: simpler, faster, less adversarial
- Mainstream inclusion supported with proper resources, not just rhetoric
- Specialist provision capacity expanded: 100 new special schools/units over 10 years
- Teacher training in SEND enhanced
Cost: £2.5bn/year revenue by Y5. Historical deficit write-off as one-off capital transaction (£4bn over 5 years).
Early Years.
Position: Major expansion and quality investment.
Mechanisms
- 30-hour free childcare properly funded: settings get full cost recovery
- Workforce pay raised: minimum pay floor for qualified early years staff at £25k
- Qualifications pathway simplified and funded
- Family Hubs (evolution of Sure Start): 1,000 hubs over 5 years, integrating health, family support, early education
- Maternity/paternity leave reviewed: UK provision poor by international standards
Cost: £3bn/year revenue by Y5. Family Hubs capital ~£500m one-off.
Free School Meals.
Position: Universal Free School Meals for all primary pupils.
Mechanism
- Extended from current targeted provision to all primary (as London already has)
- Secondary FSM eligibility threshold raised to cover pupils in low-income families losing access
- Breakfast club access universal in primary
Cost: £1.5bn/year revenue.
Curriculum and Assessment.
Position: Review, not revolution. Curriculum largely works; assessment has drifted.
Mechanisms
- Curriculum review to rebalance toward:
- Core knowledge (maintained)
- Technical/practical skills (increased)
- Financial literacy (essential, currently absent)
- Digital literacy (essential given sovereign capability programme)
- Assessment reform: reduce high-stakes testing burden in primary; retain GCSE/A-level rigour but review teacher assessment component
- EBacc review: broader options, including creative/technical subjects
- End of "exam factory" framing
Cost: Review and transition ~£200m over 3 years.
University and HE Reform.
Position: Strategic teaching grant uplift. Fee structure maintained but frozen. International framework stabilised.
Mechanisms
- Teaching grant uplift for STEM, medicine, nursing, languages, teaching: ~£1.5bn/year
- Tuition fees frozen in cash terms (effectively reduced in real terms)
- International student framework stabilised: graduate route defended, with reforms on dependent visas and graduate employment (covered in the Digital/Immigration briefing)
- Research funding (QR, UKRI) increased for priority sectors
- Knowledge exchange and industrial partnership funding increased
- Universities with financial difficulties supported through structured reform: end pretence that autonomous institutions can all survive without reform
- USS pension scheme review: current scheme unsustainable and damaging
Cost: £2bn/year revenue by Y5. Much absorbed within existing HE spending envelope through reallocation.
Lifelong Learning.
Position: Adult education rebuilt after decade of collapse.
Mechanisms
- Adult Education Budget doubled: targeted on work-related and essential skills
- Part-time undergraduate study supported: Open University and similar protected
- "Right to retrain": funding entitlement for people whose industries are in structural decline
Cost: £500m/year.
Costs Summary.
Revenue commitments.
| Item | Y3 | Y5 | Y10 |
|---|
| Teacher pay restoration | £3bn | £4bn | £4.5bn |
| School core funding + regional uplift | £4.5bn | £5bn | £5.5bn |
| SEND funding | £1.5bn | £2.5bn | £3bn |
| Early years + workforce + FSM | £3bn | £4.5bn | £5bn |
| University teaching grant | £1bn | £2bn | £2bn |
| Lifelong learning | £0.3bn | £0.5bn | £0.5bn |
| TOTAL REVENUE | £13.3bn | £18.5bn | £20.5bn |
Capital commitments.
| Item | Annual |
|---|
| School estate/RAAC | £2bn |
| School energy retrofit | £0.5bn |
| Family Hubs | £0.1bn (one-off spread) |
| SEND historic deficit write-off | £0.8bn (one-off) |
| TOTAL CAPITAL | £3.4bn/year for 5-10 years |
Scope note.
These numbers are higher than the earlier headline figures (£10-11bn Y5 / £13bn Y10). The detailed policy produces larger totals once specifics are costed.
Adjusted education revenue commitment: £18.5bn Y5 / £20.5bn Y10.
Combined with the Skills briefing (£7.2bn Y5 / £4.1bn Y10 revenue), total education-and-skills revenue commitment:
Strategic Framing.
To teachers and education workforce: "Teacher pay restored over four years. Workload reduced by cutting unnecessary admin. Ofsted reformed. Proper training, proper support, proper conditions. We will make teaching a career people want to enter again."
To parents: "Free school meals for every primary child. Family Hubs in every community. Proper SEND support that doesn't mean tribunal fights. School buildings that are safe and warm. The schools your children deserve."
To universities and students: "Tuition fees frozen, not raised. Teaching grant restored for the subjects the country needs. International students welcome. Research funding increased. Universities that are financially sustainable and academically rigorous."
To the economy: "We are rebuilding the human capital of the country. Skilled workers from FE. Qualified professionals from universities. Prepared young people from schools. Lifelong learning for those who need to retrain. This is infrastructure investment that returns multiples of its cost."