We are spending more, yet too many families, schools and councils remain dissatisfied. And too many children are not receiving the support they need to thrive.
The government spends billions subsidising student loans it knows will never be repaid. The least it can do is give students the information to make better decisions in the first place.
Labour has shown, through blocking an Eton-sponsored sixth form in the North-East, and its vindictive VAT levy on independent schools, that it continues to put ideology before progress.
Demand for EHCPs will remain as strong as demand once was for Statements, because families will always seek the only mechanism that carries legal force. Shift the language from “deficit” to “complexity”, and the system will adapt accordingly.
It is great to see the Conservative Party launching its New Deal for Young People which is a bold attempt to plug the gap of not having any offer for younger people. Any evidence of the party thinking beyond its core vote of pensioners is to be welcomed.
If you care about certainty in your classroom, freedom for your school and serious answers to the challenges education faces, it’s time to reconsider old assumptions. The Conservatives are alone in offering a clear response to the problems teachers confront daily.
In Rushmoor, if you drop litter, you can be certain you will not receive a fine if spotted. Why? Because our Labour council has decided the focus should be on educating people, not enforcing.
Its long-term impact on our society at large dwarfs the cultural wars, the pronoun skirmishes, the speculation over Trump’s purchase of Greenland, or Putin’s territorial ambitions.
A comprehensive Labour Market strategy should sit at the centre of our offer to working Britain. Becoming the vehicle for a broad coalition of working people from engineers and builders to agricultural workers and carers will give the Conservatives purpose.
University may once have been a rite of passage, but it has become a sacred cow. While a degree will continue to offer a key to a better future for thousands, the era of university domination must now come to an end.
If we are serious about restoring rigour, the Conservatives should push for a system where the vast majority of assessments are conducted through pen‑and‑paper exams.
A Jewish MP barred from a school because he might “inflame” teachers is not an aberration. It is a warning about how far intimidation has crept into public life. And we are too late to it.
We should elevate education to its higher purpose of cultivating wisdom, conscience and virtue – yet they are at best sidelined, or wholly absent from modern schooling.
Children starting school have new demands placed on them both socially and in terms of learning. Reading requires them to focus closely on small details, and also to move their eyes.
Young people are an eternal problem for conservatism— but they aren’t a lost cause. In the Conservative Party’s fight for nationwide relevance, education must become a new frontline.