Lib Dems propose shake up of school inspections

The Liberal Democrats are calling for changes to school inspection regimes, to give teachers and schools ground-breaking new powers to challenge the outcome of the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspections.

In 2012 Ofsted prepared for their current framework for inspections after piloting a series of inspections across the country. The most controversial change was the new system relabelled the "Satisfactory" category as "Requires Improvement", with an expectation that schools should not remain at that level.

Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson, John Pugh, will introduce a Bill on Tuesday which aims to replace current inspections with a new system which encourages improvement and support. Ofsted currently has more than a thousand permanent employees and a budget which costs the taxpayer £153 million every year. 

The Liberal Democrats say they believe that teachers and schools should be held to the highest standard. However it is only fair that they are properly listened to as part of the inspection process.

Under these proposals, the outcome and recommendations from an inspection should be jointly agreed by both the inspector and the school. When this isn't possible because the school disagrees strongly, it should have its response included in a section of the final report which is made public.

Commenting on his Bill, John Pugh said: "Ofsted does a good job but sometimes we all get things wrong. The problem at the moment is that when that happens, schools’ reputations can be ruined and hardworking teachers can see their careers go up in flames. Inspection has a valuable role in education but the way we do things currently is far too burdensome and bureaucratic."

"Many of the countries who exceed the UK in performance, like Finland have a quite different approach to driving up school standards and we should learn from them." John Pugh added.

Greens criticise Tories for "playing politics with children’s futures"

The Green Party has criticised Education Secretary Nicky Morgan for 'playing political games with children’s futures' as she announced government plans to change the criteria for “coasting” schools. Previously schools where at least 40% of pupils were achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE fell into that category but plans announced today by the Education Secretary will see that raised to 60%, meaning more schools will become subject to government intervention and likely turned over to academy status.

The Green Party say they strongly believe that education policy should be about giving teachers autonomy to teach, and ensuring that schools are run for the best interests of pupils, not committing to an ideology which is damaging children’s education.

Green Party schools spokesperson, Samantha Pancheri, said: "This ploy of redefining criteria to distort public perception of a situation is becoming a common tactic from the Conservatives. It is telling that, even in the government’s own terms, the academies programme has failed to provide the promised solution for struggling schools, as the evidence clearly demonstrates that academies do not show improved exam results at any higher a rate than schools which remain under the local authority."

Ms Pancheri continued: "In another triumph of political ideology over evidence-based policy, Nicky Morgan is playing games with children’s futures as the government sinks to new depths to defend their dreadful record on education reforms. It is abundantly clear that the Conservatives have little respect for the diverse nature of teaching, and the widespread ways in which a child’s life can be positively impacted by a supportive learning environment."

"This does an enormous disservice to teachers already struggling to meet arbitrary targets and will only exacerbate the culture of teaching to the test. We must move education back to being pupil and teacher-centred, with accountability at the most local and democratic level." Samantha Pancheri added.

Lib Dems call for PSHE to be compulsory in schools

This morning the Liberal Democrats are calling for compulsory Personal, Social and Health Education in schools. Under their manifesto plans children in state-funded schools, including free schools and academies will be taught a curriculum for life which includes age appropriate sex and relationship education.

Following the publication of a report by the Commons Education Committee which calls for all state primary and secondary schools in England to teach sex and relationship education, Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister Jo Swinson said:

"Liberal Democrats have long argued that Personal, Social and Health Education needs to be compulsory, including in academies and free schools. In the absence of high quality sex and relationships education, including issues around consent, it's clear that many young people are turning to the internet instead. But every parent knows that much of the material on the internet does not reflect the reality of adult relationships. That's why young people must have the opportunity to talk about these issues with a qualified adult, in an age appropriate way in the classroom."

"This report leaves the Conservatives even more isolated in their refusal to make PSHE compulsory. The Conservatives have to explain to parents why they are content for young people to rely on playground gossip and internet pornography." Ms Swinson added

Labour plan for education today - for the economy of tomorrow

The Labour leader Ed Miliband will today set out how Labour plans for an education will, the party say, equips young people with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the future. Speaking at Haverstock School in London, which he attended from 1981 to 1988, he will commit the next Labour government to:

• Cap class sizes for 5, 6 and 7 year-olds 
• Drive up standards in every classroom, in every school, in every region
• Ensure all children in state schools are taught by high-quality qualified teachers
• Raise the status and quality of vocational education and skills.
• Give our children the creativity, character and resilience they need to succeed in the 21st Century

Mr Miliband is expected to say: "My vision for education is shaped by my belief in equal opportunity, built for the modern world. It is based on the idea that education gives people a passport to a good life. A means not just of learning but of earning a decent living, transcending circumstance, understanding how to be part of a community and venturing into new worlds. If we are to restore the Promise of Britain, we need to equip all our children with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed with excellence from the first steps a child takes to the day they stride into the adult world: education today for the economy of tomorrow."

"There are two very different plans for Britain at this election. There is one plan - the Tory plan - that focuses on just a few, based on the idea that success will come from tax cuts for the wealthiest, stripping the rest of government back to the very bone, public spending at levels not seen since the 1930s. And there is another plan - a Labour plan - that says we build long-term, enduring success for ourselves as a nation only when we support all working people."

Labour will also pledge to cap class sizes for 5,6 and 7 year-olds. Labour say the Tories have scrapped Labour’s policy to cap infant class sizes at 30 pupils. The proportion of class sizes bigger than this has trebled. That means the number of youngest children taught in such classes has risen by over 60,000. This is in part because the Tories’ Free School programme has opened schools in areas that have a surplus of places. It has seen more than 30,000 places created in areas where they were not needed over this Parliament. On these, trends, Labour say, if the Tories win a second term, the number of classes over 30 is on course to grow to 11,000 - a number close to the deeply damaging levels we inherited in 1997.

The next Labour government will:

• Cap class sizes for 5,6 and 7 year-olds so they are not bigger than 30 pupils for more than 12 months.
• Create the required places in high need areas to deliver this cap, including in the over-subscribed schools which parents often put as their first choice by ending the Tory practice of creating new Free Schools in areas that do not need them.

Ed Miliband is expected to say: "Successful teaching and classroom discipline is made harder when classes are so much bigger. Since 2010, the number of the youngest children taught in classes bigger than 30 has gone up by almost 60,000. It is treble the number it was. And it is set to get far worse. Currently, the government is spending money on new Free Schools in areas where there are surplus places. This simply makes no sense when class sizes are rising in the way they are. Or when people can’t get their kids into the good schools they want. So by ending the scandalous waste of money from building new schools in areas of surplus places, we will create more places where they are needed. This will allow us to cap class sizes for 5, 6, and 7 year olds at no more than 30 pupils."

Labour say they will drive up standards in every class room, in every school, in every region. There are still 1.6 million children being educated in under-performing schools. We will take the battle to raise standards from our great cities where standards have risen over the last two decades to every corner of our country where there is persistent under-achievement. These include:

• Sefton: in 2010, 15 per cent of schools were less than good, in 2014, this figure has risen to 50 per cent. 
• Swindon: in 2010, 20 per cent of schools were less than good, in 2014, this figure has risen to 45 per cent 
• Torbay: in 2010, 25 per cent of schools were less than good in 2014, this figure has risen to 38 per cent.

Labour say they will ensure:

• Every area has a new Standards Challenge setting a tough target to raise performance in every school – modelled on the last government’s successful programme in London which dramatically improved attainment in the capital
• Every school is locally accountable to new Directors of Standards 
• Every parent body has the power to call in Directors of Standards when concerned about failing standards
• Every head teacher has the key freedoms currently given to academy heads.

Ed Miliband is expected to say: "We should always be the eternal warriors for higher standards. For Britain being the world’s best. There are still 1.6 million children being educated in schools that are rated as less than “good”. And the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and everyone else is actually growing wider. It is up to the next Labour government to improve standards in every part of the country not by turning the clock back but by ensuring proper accountability within the diversity of provision that we have.

“We want all head teachers to have the powers currently given to academy heads. But we also want every school to be locally accountable. That is what our new Directors of School Standards will ensure. And they will have a specific mission to drive up standards in every type of local school: local authority run, academies and Free Schools. And they will have clear objectives, a Standards Challenge, agreed when they are appointed because we must now do the same in terms of driving up standards in all our regions that the last Labour government did in London. And parents will no longer be powerless. They will have the right to call in the Directors of School Standards in if they are worried about what’s going on in their school."

Labour say they will also ensure all children in state schools are taught by high-quality qualified teachers. Saying last year 50,000 experienced, qualified teachers have left the profession – an increase of 25% since 2010 - while the number of unqualified teachers who have taken their places in our classrooms rose to 17,000.

Labour will:

• Ensure all teachers become qualified, create a new Master Teacher status and establish a College of Teaching to help ensure all teachers continue to build their skills and knowledge
• Issue a ‘call to arms’ to bring the best of the 200,000 qualified teachers who have left the profession back into state schools to help to raise standards across the country. And address the looming teacher shortage

Mr Miliband is expected to say: "And in a world where what matters for our children it is not simply knowing one set of facts but an ability to learn new things throughout their lives, it means the skills of teachers need to be even broader than before and even more fundamental. What a difference from this government and their contempt for the profession. 50,000 experienced, qualified teachers have left the profession in the last year alone. There are massive problems of recruitment throughout the profession. Nobody could possibly call this a success."

"We now have 17,000 unqualified teachers in our classrooms, when all the evidence is that qualified teachers are best. The government proposes to do nothing about it. We will put an end to it, demanding that all teachers work towards qualified teacher status. We will support the teachers to learn new skills and develop their talent. We will create a new status of Master Teacher to which they can aspire. And we will stop denigrating the profession."

Labour will raise the status and quality of vocational education and skills. Under the Tories, the latest figures show that 202,000 16 to 18 year-olds are not in education, employment or training (NEET), employers say skills gaps are getting worse and complain about poor standards in Maths and English, we are training less than half the number of engineers needed per year leaving Britain with a shortfall of more than 400,000 by 2020, and the number of apprenticeships for young people is falling.

Labour will prioritise the forgotten 50 per cent of young people who do not go to university by:

• Introducing a new Technical Baccalaureate for 16-18 year olds which includes an employer accredited vocational qualification, English, Maths and work experience.
• Ensuring all young people study English and Maths to 18, so they have the core skills they need to succeed in work, further study and apprenticeships.
• Raising the quality of apprenticeships so they all last a minimum of two years and are at least a level three standard (A level standard).
• Bringing in new Technical Degrees as a next step for young people who excel in our new vocational route through school and college.
• Backing new Institutes of Technical Education linked to local industry and charged with delivering our Tech Bacc and apprenticeships

Ed Miliband is expected to say: "Indeed the biggest challenge we face is preparing our young people for the economy of the future, not of yesterday. In the 21st century, world class education isn’t a luxury for the individual. It’s a necessity. We need an education system that brings out the talents of every single person. We will ensure equal respect right across the curriculum, vocational, academic and creative subjects."

Labour  say they will give our children the creativity, character and resilience they need to succeed in the 21st Century. They claim the Tories are not equipping our young people for the challenges of the modern world because they are driven by a narrow and old-fashioned ideology on education. Labour also say they will prepare young people to be citizens by:

• Bringing in compulsory work experience for all young people between 14-16
• Introducing compulsory age appropriate sex and relationship education in schools.
• Guaranteeing two hours of organised sport a week.
• Widening the franchise to voters at 16 and redesigning the curriculum for citizenship education

Ed Miliband is expected to say: "We must adapt the vision or education to the 21st century: an era where young people have more opportunity open to them than ever before, as globalisation brings the world closer together and technology opens up so many possibilities. "But at the same time, where they often face more pressures than ever before. Financial pressures in their own family. Peer pressures turbo-charged by the internet. And the pathways into adulthood and careers so much less certain than they used to be."

Secret Tory plan to slash education budget by £13.3bn

Damning new evidence has come to light as the lid as been lifted on Conservative plans to slash the education budget in the next Parliament. Private briefing notes photographed yesterday show the Tories have refused to rule out cutting the schools budget after the general election. Research provided by Liberal Democrats shows that the Conservatives would need to axe a quarter of the education budget by 2020 to keep pace with their plans for public spending.

The findings based on House of Commons library figures show that the education budget could be slashed by £13.3bn a year by the end of the next Parliament. Such drastic cuts would have a profound impact on schools and the life chances of children. For example, applied evenly across DfE spending, cuts on this scale could mean:

• More than £9bn cut from schools funding – the equivalent of scrapping the funding for 2m pupils.
• About £640m cut from the Pupil Premium – the equivalent of 36,000 teaching assistants or 920,000 fewer pupils receiving 12 weeks of one-to-one tuition.
• About £775m cut from early years – the equivalent of 58,000 3-4-year-olds and 66,000 2-year-olds from low income families losing their free childcare entitlement.

Liberal Democrat Schools Minister David Laws said: "The Tories have now revealed their true colours for all to see. They want to slash spending on education that’s desperately needed to provide children a fair and equal opportunity to succeed. A Tory-shaped £13.3bn black hole in education spending will jeopardise future job prospects for our country’s children, and jeopardise our long term economic stability. Unlike the Conservatives and Labour, the Liberal Democrats are committed to protecting cradle to college spending in the Department for Education. We believe that giving every child the best possible start in life is the best way to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential."

"Education spending is a real investment – good for growth and essential for creating a fairer society." David Laws added.

Labour's plan to transform the relationship between state and private schools

Shadow Education Secretary, Tristram Hunt, has today delivered a major speech announcing Labour’s plan to recast the relationship between state and private schools. He set out how, if elected in May the next Labour government will break down the ‘corrosive divide’ in education by making £700 million currently received by private schools in business rates relief conditional on them meeting minimum standards of partnership with the state sector and ending exclusive private school competitions in extracurricular activities, such as sport and debating. In a speech at Walthamstow Academy– a member of the state and private school partnership United Learning– Mr Hunt also said that only Labour is serious about breaking down the barriers which hold our country back.

Tristram Hunt, said: "There can be little doubt that Britain is an increasingly divided country. I want to talk about one of those sources of division within British life. A divide that has become emblematic of a country run for the benefit of the privileged few not the many. The divide between private and state education. If we are to prosper as a country, we need to be a more equal country. If we are to make the most of the wealth of talent that exists in every school and every community, we need to give every child a chance. And if we are to be a country which works for most people, we need to break down the divisions in our school system with concerted, collaborative and co-ordinated action from the entire English educational landscape - including the private sector. I know I am not the first to say this. We have a Prime Minister who makes a virtue merely of pointing out this divide exists. But the crucial difference is this: I mean it."

He pointed out the extent of private school dominance in a range of fields including access to top universities, professions and elite sport – accounting for 41 per cent of Team GB Olympic medallists. Mr Hunt said: "It baffles me that we can have private schools loaning a sports pitch to the local comprehensive once or twice a year yet completely refusing to play them at football or opening up their halls and amphitheatres yet unwilling to engage in a debating competition. Social enterprises such as Debate Mate have shown how rewarding and relatively easy it is to set up debate clubs in high disadvantage state schools. And it is hardly difficult to join the local sports leagues. So I see absolutely no reason why private schools should persist with their exclusive private-only competitions. We would look to include regular participation in competitive extra-curricular activities with state schools as part of this settlement."

He also criticised most private schools who he said are not doing enough to earn generous state subsidies through Business Rates Relief worth £700 million over the course of a parliament, as well as benefitting from other tax breaks and qualified teachers trained by the state. Citing figures showing just 3 per cent of private schools sponsor an academy, while only a further 5 per cent loan teaching staff to state schools, and a mere third share facilities, he will add: "The only possible answer to whether they earn their £700m subsidy is a resounding and unequivocal ‘no’. Over the last few years we have seen the limitations of asking private schools politely. So the next government will say to them: step up and play your part. Earn your keep. Because the time you could expect something for nothing is over."

Labour will legislate to make Business Rates Relief payable only when schools meet a tough new Schools Partnership Standard which will require them to:

• Provide qualified teachers in specialist subjects to state schools. 
• Share expertise to help state school students get into top universities 
• Run joint extra-curricular programmes where the state schools is an equal partner so children can mix and sectors learn from each other 

Mr Hunt said: I realise that to some this may seem an unnecessarily tough test. But that is not because I want to penalise private education but because I want to make sure we break down the barriers holding Britain back. I passionately believe we deserve an education system where the majority of young people enjoy the same access to excellence as the privileged 7 per cent; where disadvantaged pupils no longer feel any anxiety or insecurity at aspiring towards success because they feel success belongs to them; and where our children experience equality of opportunity rather than just learn it is one of our core values. But most of all I want us to become a country where we no longer feel the need to point out how few state educated members there are in the top universities, professions and sports teams because that description simply no longer rings true. That is the prize we are chasing with this new partnership. And believe me: clawing back business rate relief will be a poor consolation if we do not bring it about."

Labour's new education settlement:

• As a condition for continued business rate relief, state-subsidised private schools will be required to form a hard-edged partnership with a state school, or consortium of schools. New legislation will be passed to amend the 1988 Local Government Act making business rate relief conditional to hard-edged partnership. The Education Act and the Independent Schools Regulations will also be amended to establish the criteria upon which private schools will be judged.
• Private schools will have to demonstrate to their accredited inspectorate that they are participating in a meaningful partnership with a state school.
• Non-compliance or failure to demonstrate effective partnership will result in private schools losing their eligibility for business rate relief, incurring a cost that could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
• Examples of effective partnerships already exist, with a small minority of private and state school heads leading effective collaborations.
• United Learning, the umbrella group for Walthamstow Academy, is a leading partnership arrangement between state and private schools.

Responding Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "What Britain can learn is that high-performing systems internationally focus on high quality public education rather than the public/private division which characterises education here. If education is a public good, which is certainly what we in the NUT believe, all children and young people should have access to a good local school irrespective of parental social class and disposable income."

Continuing Ms Blower said: "It is certainly true that there is a very great deal‎ of excellent practice in the maintained sector from which colleagues in the independent sector could learn. OECD research shows that when exam results take into account social class and background, students in state schools succeed as well as their peers in independent schools. Whilst the independent sector retains a privileged tax and charity status it is incumbent upon schools in that sector to share their resources with other local schools."

An education system free from political interference

Liberal Democrat Schools Minister David Laws is calling for a new education body that would independently assess whether school standards are rising or falling over time. Mr Laws has said he wants to see an independent body take charge of setting what's in the curriculum and bar politicians from deciding which authors are read in English and which monarchs are studied in history.

While the body's leadership would be appointed by the Secretary of State for Education it would have operational independence from government. Liberal Democrats believe what children learn at school should not be subject to political whims. The government would set out which subjects are statutory but a new Educational Standards Authority would co-ordinate panels of experts for each subject area to propose and make changes to the national curriculum.

Commenting David Laws said: “Successive politicians from both Labour and the Tories have been unable to resist trying to force their own pet subjects upon teachers – whether that’s Ed Balls and blogging or Michael Gove and medieval kings. The truth is it teachers and subject experts who know best what should be taught in the classroom. What children learn in school should not be subject to the whims of politicians and Liberal Democrats stop politicians from meddling in the curriculum in the future.

“The debate on school standards has all too often been informed by political prejudice rather than real evidence. So we will also ask for independent reporting on standards in schools over time – so that politicians can be properly held to account on how well schools are performing.” Mr Laws added.

New report reveals shocking gap in performance by schools

A major new report from the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, the UK's official monitor of progress in making the country a fairer place, calls on schools to do more to improve exam results for poorer children.

It shows that overall results for disadvantaged children remain shockingly low but that some schools in highly disadvantaged areas have cracked the code on how to improve social mobility. They are successfully challenging the decades old assumption that wealthier children will naturally excel while poorer children leap ahead - and weaker schools can learn from them.

The Cracking the code report demonstrates that:

Schools could do much better for poor children

• Only two out of five disadvantaged children get five good GCSEs, compared to more than two thirds of other children.
• But in one in nine English secondary schools disadvantaged children get better results than the national average for all children.
• If other schools closed half this gap with the best, 14,000 more disadvantaged students would get five good GCSEs a year, a 25 per cent improvement.
• If all secondary schools closed half the gap with the best performing school with a similar ability intake (based on Key Stage 2 tests at age 11), 60,000 more low attaining students would get five good GCSEs a year, a 19 per cent increase.

Low expectations among some teachers may be a barrier

• New polling of more than 1,100 teachers carried out for the Commission found that most have high expectations of their pupils. But one in five (21 per cent) agreed that colleagues at their school have lower expectations of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In secondaries the number rose to 26 per cent.
• Just 15 per cent of teachers said they would actively seek out a role in a school that was more challenging than their current school, with over half (53 per cent) agreeing that the pressure of working in a weaker school would be a deterrent, unless there were mitigating factors.
• Almost two thirds (63 per cent) identified a salary increase as a factor that might make them more interested in securing a role in a weaker school.

New league tables underline the case for change

• From 2016 new school performance measures raise the bar on subject choice and qualification quality, making it harder for schools to 'game' results. New Commission analysis shows that the new system will lead to 8 per cent of secondary schools falling far down the league table rankings, including a fifth of schools in the North East. The schools with the biggest falls are those with the greatest proportion of disadvantaged students.

Weaker schools can learn from the 'code-breakers': those doing well for poor children.

• Five key steps that the code breaking schools take that other schools can follow are:
• Using the Pupil Premium strategically to tackle the barriers to attainment.
• Building a high-expectations culture.
• Incessant focus on quality of teaching.
• Tailored strategies to engage parents.
• Preparing students for life, not just exams.

Commenting on the findings the Chair of the Commission, Alan Milburn said: "Social mobility in Britain is low and is stalling. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in education. It has long been known that there is a massive gap in attainment between advantaged and disadvantaged students. This research has unearthed a new and shocking gap in performance between similar schools serving similar communities with similar intakes of poorer pupils. But some schools are proving that deprivation needn't be destiny. They have cracked the code on how to improve social mobility by helping disadvantaged children to excel in education. If some schools can do it, there is no excuse for others not to."

Continuing Mr Milburn said: "By following the lead of the code-breakers schools can transform the lives of tens of thousands more disadvantaged children. Headteachers and governors have a responsibility to ensure that every teacher in every school has uniformly high expectations of their students. Our polling suggests though the vast majority of teachers expect the best from every pupil, regardless of background, but in some schools low expectations of disadvantaged students remains a problem."

Responding to today's report Shadow Education Secretary, Tristram Hunt, commented: "On David Cameron's watch, the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has widened. This report gives a damning verdict of the Tory-led government's failures in education. Improving the quality of the teacher in the classroom is crucial for improving the learning outcomes for all children. But Cameron changed the rules to allow unqualified teachers into the classroom, leading to a 16% rise in the last year alone."

Tristram Hunt continued: "Labour will end Cameron's watering down of teaching standards. We will deliver a qualified teacher in every classroom and require all teachers to undertake training on an ongoing basis as a condition to remaining in the classroom. We will raise standards, rejecting Cameron's low expectations."

Education reforms to "herald a revolution in education" say the Tories but Labour call them "divisive" that only applies to some schools

The Conservatives say that their proposals for the new national curriculum "embodies high expectations in every subject" and "will raise standards for all children". It combines the best elements of what is taught in the world’s most successful school systems, including Hong Kong, Massachusetts, Singapore and Finland, with some of the most impressive practice from schools in England.

It has been designed to ensure England has the most productive, most creative and best educated young people of any nation. It aims to create a population with the knowledge and skills not just to get a good job and succeed in life, but also to help us compete and win in the global race.

The Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We are determined to give all children in this country the very best education – for their future, and for our country’s future. The new national curriculum is a vital part of that. This curriculum marks a new chapter in British education. From advanced fractions to computer coding to some of the greatest works of literature in the English language, this is a curriculum that is rigorous, engaging and tough. As a parent this is exactly the kind of thing I want my children to be learning. And as Prime Minister I know this revolution in education is critical for Britain’s prosperity in the decades to come.This is a curriculum to inspire a generation – and it will educate the great British engineers, scientists, writers and thinkers of our future."

Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove said: "We are introducing a tougher, more rigorous national curriculum. Schools will focus more on essay writing, mathematical modelling and problem solving. For the first time children will be learning to programme computers. It will raise standards across the board – and allow our children to compete in the global race."

Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, Stephen Twigg,  commenting on the National Curriculum, said: "David Cameron and Michael Gove have spent the last three years trying to personally rewrite the National Curriculum - they should have listened to the experts in the first place. They have had to go back and change the programmes of study for Design and Technology, Geography and History after experts warned there were serious omissions and they were not suited to prepare young people for the challenges of the modern world. It's right that changes have been made to ICT and Computing following concerns raised by Labour and the ICT sector, but we await further details.

"Labour wants to ensure the National Curriculum sets clear expectations for the knowledge and skills children and young people should reach by a certain age. This curriculum looks like more of the same though. The Tories' divisive approach means curriculum freedom only applies to some schools. Labour would ensure a reformed curriculum allows teachers in all schools the freedom to innovate and prepares young people for the challenges of the modern economy."

Capital funding for 256,000 new school places is needed urgently

Margaret Hodge, The Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, publishing the Committee's 12th Report of this Session which, on the basis of evidence from Department for Education, examined its distribution of capital funding for new school places today said:

"256,000 new school places are needed by September 2014, but the Department for Education does not know whether the £5 billion it is contributing will be enough to pay for them or even spent to best effect. The Department failed to identify in time the rising demand for school places. Growth in demand is concentrated in particular areas of the country. Without enough resources to provide new places, some authorities are forced to sacrifice facilities like music rooms or expand classes beyond the statutory 30 children per class. The inability of local authorities to require academies and free schools to expand further constrains them.

"The Department does not understand the costs for local authorities in delivering places or the relative value for money of different approaches around the country. The Department believes that the money it is contributing for new school places will cover all the costs. But, in 2012-13, nearly 65 per cent of authorities were having to dip into their maintenance funding to pay for the extra places, storing up unknown maintenance costs for the future. What is also being lost in all of this is the effect that different ways of providing new places might have on pupils' learning. It does not take much imagination to realize that educational opportunities and standards might be diminished if specialist areas, such as music rooms and libraries, are converted into classrooms, poorly performing schools expanded, or playgrounds used to house children in overcrowded demountables."

The report found that one of the Department for Education's (the Department) aims is "to use available capital funding to best effect to provide sufficient places in schools parents want to send their children to." Local authorities are legally responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient schools, and therefore school places. However, the location and development of new free schools is subject to decisions made by the Department. The Department is responsible for the overall policy and statutory framework and makes a substantial financial contribution to the cost of delivering these places-around £5 billion in capital funding to local authorities over the spending period to March 2015.

In the 2011/12 school year, there were 6.8 million 4 to 16 year olds in state-funded schools in England, of which around 600,000 were in reception classes in primary schools. The number of children entering reception classes has been rising for some years, putting pressure on school places with greater stress falling on particular local authority areas where population growth has accelerated. Neither the Department nor local authorities anticipated how much and where pupil numbers were rising early enough and therefore failed to adequately plan for the increased demand. As a result the number of children in infant classes of more than 30 has more than doubled in the last 5 years and 20% of primary schools were full or over capacity in May 2012.

The Department's funding for additional places is coming out of a significantly reduced capital funding pot. This reduced capital allocation also has to maintain the fabric and condition of school buildings across the country and fund the Government's new priorities like the establishment of free schools.

The Department has slowly improved its approach to allocating funding but could still do more to target its funding to the areas that need it most, particularly with the new information it plans to collect from local authorities about costs and methods of delivering school places. Costs will vary according to local circumstances including, for example, the cost of land. We are concerned that the scale of financial contributions expected from some local authorities for new school places introduces wider risks to the on-going maintenance of the school estate and may exacerbate pressures on local authorities' finances.

The Department does not have a good enough understanding of what value for money would look like in the delivery of school places, and whether it is being achieved. In response to fluctuations in local demand local authorities can direct maintained schools to expand or close but do not have this power over academies or free schools. Local authorities need to have mature discussions with all parties, including the academies and free schools, to resolve any mismatch between demand and supply for their communities as a whole. We hope that discussions at local level always prove successful, but the Department needs to be clear about how it will achieve the best value for money solutions in the event that local discussions fail to achieve a resolution.

This has to be in the context that Free Schools and Academies are directly accountable to central Government, but the Government has no mechanism to force them to expand to meet the demand for school places. In addition, the Department does not sufficiently understand the risks to children's learning and development that may arise as authorities strain the sinews of the school estate to deliver enough places. The imperative to increase the quantity of school places should not be achieved at the expense of quality.

Responding the report the Schools Minister David Laws: "Margaret Hodge is right that there is a severe need to ensure there are enough school places but she has failed to pin the blame where it belongs - at the door of the last government of which she was a member. Her report correctly states that the Department 'failed to adequately plan' for the rising population, but does not explain that the responsibility for this failure lies with the previous Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, who ignored the rising birth rates reported by the ONS. This government has more than doubled spending on new school places compared to the previous government. We are investing £5 billion in new school places up to 2015 and we expect 190,000 extra places will have been created by this September, with many more to come. The Coalition is clearing up the mess left by Ed Balls and Labour when they were in government."

When is a free school not a free school? When Stephen Twigg is trying to appease the teaching unions

The Tories have attacked the Shadow Education Secretary, Stephen Twigg, after his appearance on the BBC's Today programme. Mr Twigg said on Today: "Existing free schools will stay open, free schools in the pipeline will go ahead, but we will not have additional free schools" He went on to say "What we will have is a new academies programme including parent-led academies, really good teacher-led academies like Peter Hyman’s school in East London - those sorts of things" the Tories point out that "Peter Hyman’s school is a free school" and what Mr Twigg described for his academies as "exactly what free schools are".

They also accuse Mr Twigg and Labour of being in "disarray" over the policy. Mr Twigg made a speech to the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts in which he said: "Under Michael Gove’s policy, millions have been spent opening schools in areas with a surplus of places, while children elsewhere face a shortage of places. This is not just wasteful, it is a scandal. It should be the first duty of any Education Secretary to ensure that every child has a place at one of their local schools'. He also said ‘Labour’s vision for creating new schools is… where priority is given to setting up new schools where they are needed most, particularly in areas with a shortage of places."

But the former Education Minister the Lord Andrew Adonis has contradicted Stephen Twigg by saying free schools should open where there are not enough ‘good quality’ places. In his blog, Andrew Adonis says: "Labour will rightly locate new academies in areas – and there are plenty of them – where there is a shortage of good quality school places’". Stephen Twigg does not include the "good quality" caveat.

Just on Saturday Labour spinners briefed the Daily Mirror, for a story which was published on Sunday, saying: "Stephen Twigg will announce parents would be welcome to set up their own schools – but with tough controls. Labour is set to drop its ­opposition to free schools in a major change in policy. Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg will announce next week that parents would be welcome to set up their own schools – as long as there is a strong demand in their area. Mr Twigg will announce in the same speech that council-run schools could have the same freedoms as academies for hiring staff and deciding the curriculum. A source said Labour was looking to give schools more independence, but added: “They must also be accountable. That means not having unqualified staff or refusing to make accounts public"

However only hours later the BBC's education correspondent Angela Harrison tweeted yesterday afternoon: ‘Labour say the Mirror story about its policy on free schools is “highly speculative, misleading and ill informed”

Education Secretary Michael Gove In response to Stephen Twigg’s speech on schools policy said: "Labour’s policy on free schools is so tortured they should send in the UN to end the suffering. On the one hand Stephen Twigg says he will end the free school programme, but on the other he says he would set up “parent-led” and “teacher-led academies” – free schools under a different name. As Andrew Adonis has said this morning, 'free schools are academies without a predecessor school'. When is a free school not a free school? When Stephen Twigg is trying to appease the teaching unions.

"Stephen Twigg also says it’s a “scandal” to set up new schools in areas where existing schools are failing and parents have no choice. We don’t think it’s a scandal, we think it’s vital. Too often the poorest families are left with the worst schools. Stephen Twigg is failing to help the poorest and failing to stand up to unions. It’s the same old Labour."

Education reforms are a step in the wrong direction

The Green Party has reiterated its opposition to the government’s reforms of teachers’ pay, in the wake of the renewed threat of industrial action from teaching unions. In response to government plans to end teachers’ pay rises in line with length of service in favour of performance-related pay, the National Union of Teachers executive has agreed to “build towards strike action in the spring term,” while the NASUWT has warned that “resistance across the profession” was growing.

Will Duckworth, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, who was a teacher for thirty years at his local comprehensive school, said: "This policy may possibly hold some very short term financial benefits, but we should be looking at the long term interests of our children. The reason this is a particularly damaging measure is because it chips away even more at the status of teaching. It is a profession, but this policy treats it as if it's simply a step to be taken on the way to management. In a real professional career, of course you receive pay increases based on experience and expertise. But this plan removes that from teaching, meaning the only way many teachers will be able to progress is by teaching for just two to three years then entering school management. Others will be even less likely to regard teaching as a profession, and turn to do something else instead. It's a waste of talent that we should be harnessing for the good of our children, and society in years to come.”

Mr Duckworth added: “It's also concerning that this seems to remove one more reward for loyalty and length of service, perhaps in an attempt to make it even easier for Academies and Free Schools, which will be able to raise money from private businesses, to poach the best teachers from LEA affiliated schools by offering them more money. The majority of children will suffer if this is allowed to happen.”