Robert Halfon: Ministers should value the Open University no less than Oxbridge. And the latter should open up to apprenticeships.

What is the objective of higher education if it does not play a major role in addressing our country’s skills deficit?

Robert Halfon: Apprenticeship funding is good, but the Chancellor should do more to back skills as a tool of social justice

We must rebalance Further and Higher Education, and ensure that those with most to gain from up-skilling actually get the opportunity to do so.

Robert Halfon: Three big Conservative achievements. Better schools, more apprenticeships – and help for lower paid people.

Of course, mistakes are made, and governments get things wrong – but there is also a duty to make sure that the good gets out into the public sphere too.

Jonathan Gullis: Four ideas to reassure students we are working with them, not against them

Our Party is bringing new rigour to Higher Education, but we have much more to do to win the support of young people on education policy.

Robert Halfon: The Conservative Party must regain the territory of social justice

That doesn’t just mean talking about it – it means putting it into practice both in Government and in how we run our own Party operations.

Steve Barclay: A balanced Budget which ensures that Britain is fit for the future

It continues to clear the deficit, prepare for Brexit, and back our businesses with the support they need to boost productivity.

Robert Halfon: My budget for the workers

Cutting the cost of living. Building more houses. Protecting the NHS. Developing skills. A draft of the proposals Hammond should deliver.

James Palmer: Ofsted measures academic achievement. Let’s get it measuring apprenticeship success too.

Another option would be for Ofsted to rate the school in question from “Outstanding” to “Inadequate” for its engagement and the breadth of its careers advice.

Ideas for the Budget 4) Nick Denys: Give workers greater control, in order to make us all richer

The Chancellor should also support life-long learning through training vouchers, and offer tax breaks for politically independent trade unions.

James Frayne: To win over young voters, don’t make the mistake of assuming they’re all wealthy graduates

Targeting stamp duty and tuition fees could be less effective than technical education and the right industrial policy.

Owen Meredith: Policy reform can unite the party ahead of Manchester

Employment, taxation, and three environment are three areas where we can show the Tory agenda is bigger than Brexit.

Richard Graham: We failed to make the case for business in June. We must do so once again at Party Conference – and after.

Conservative values underpin what it can achieve – whether in apprenticeships, manufacturing exports, jobs or contributions to good causes.

Andy Cook: Give the poor a pay rise? Boost their productivity.

The Government must do much more to promote universities, apprenticeships and FE colleagues equally to ensure that young people get the skills they need.

Robert Halfon: Conservatives must get better at retail politics

It’s not just an auction of promises we can never win, but an essential way to reach out to an increasingly consumerist electorate.

Nadhim Zahawi: Why the basic rate of income tax for younger people should be cut

In an era when it is harder for young people to buy a house, or even just to pay rent, it makes sense to direct more help to them than older people who already have one.