Labour’s planned increases in everyday spending - £190 billion over the remainder of the parliament, announced in last week’s ‘spending review’ - are firefighting measures, being nowhere near enough to rebuild public services after ’14 wasted years’. Labour’s increases are also dependent on the economy continuing to expand and generate additional taxation revenue. With a … Continue reading The State we’re in
Tag: Education
Making Further Education fit for the Future?
The Parliamentary Education Committee has set up an enquiry - Making Further Education fit for the Future? https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/3576/ Any enquiry into this forgotten sector is to be welcome, but its title is rather a misnomer - it isn’t really a enquiry about FE at all. As its subtitle and the initial terms of reference for … Continue reading Making Further Education fit for the Future?
Review the National Curriculum, but also young people and work.
Despite its limited terms of reference, the National Curriculum Review should get rid of the worst aspects of Michael Gove’s 2010 ‘reforms’ – making the curriculum broader, less Eurocentric and more inclusive. At least an element of Creative Arts is likely to be restored, along with greater access to sport and vocational subjects. Given the … Continue reading Review the National Curriculum, but also young people and work.
Young people, BTECs, T-levels and ‘working on the buildings’
Labour has always supported T-levels as alternatives to academic qualifications, but in pre-election press releases it also committed to a ‘pause and review’ of Tory plans to defund over 140 qualifications which were considered to overlap with the Ts. This including many established BTECs and other National level 3 options. Cuts scheduled for the end … Continue reading Young people, BTECs, T-levels and ‘working on the buildings’
Goodbye to the Institute of Apprenticeships… Hello to Skills England
The new Labour government is abolishing the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) – rather it will be subsumed into a new body called Skills England. Created in 2017 to revamp the UKs ailing apprenticeship system, its remit was widened to include responsibility for the new T-level qualifications, to be delivered as full-time courses, … Continue reading Goodbye to the Institute of Apprenticeships… Hello to Skills England
Does the Reeves budget take things forward?
Make no mistake, there are some progressive intentions behind this week’s budget, as the Starmer government sets out to address the UK economy’s miserable performance since the financial crash, the rapid decline of public services and disintegrating infrastructure. Labour plans a £70 billion increase in public spending, with over £20 billion for the NHS, just … Continue reading Does the Reeves budget take things forward?
Gordon Brown won’t save the T-levels.
Within a few days of Labour coming to office, Gordon Brown has intervened in the debate about T-levels. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/16/gordon-brown-calls-on-ministers-not-to-scrap-t-level-vocational-qualification This site has continued to document the issues that surround the Ts (see the categories menu below right). T-levels originate from a 2016 report from Lord Sainsbury and a subsequent White Paper. Since then, they have … Continue reading Gordon Brown won’t save the T-levels.
Labour and the private schools
Labour’s election manifesto contained few promises for education. Probably most eye-catching has been its plan to impose VAT on private school fees in England (and to remove the exemption from business rates). Schools don't have to pass these increases onto parents and pupils with special needs statements will be exempt. The traditional image of the … Continue reading Labour and the private schools
No repeat of ‘education, education, education’ under a Starmer government
There’ll be no repeat of Tony Blair’s ‘education, education, education’ by a Starmer government. For Blair and Gordon Brown ‘education’ became a key economic policy. Getting ‘qualified’ would, it was argued, sharpen people’s ability to take advantage of opportunities in the new global economy, whereas those who didn’t would be left behind. In other words, … Continue reading No repeat of ‘education, education, education’ under a Starmer government
Young people and wellbeing : does education damage your health?
Despite the economy being in ‘technical’ recession (though this is increasingly expected to be ‘mild’) the labour market continues to boom. With the jobless rate at under 4%, some Tories are pointing to ‘full-employment’ – a term used to describe the prosperous years of the post-war period. Indeed, labour shortages have pushed up wage levels … Continue reading Young people and wellbeing : does education damage your health?
Education, Economy and Society 