Election 2015 - Policy on Education
Conservatives
- Protect England's schools budget - from reception entry at age four or five to the end of GCSEs at 16 - in cash terms although funding per pupil will not keep pace with inflation.
- Convert up to 3,500 more schools judged by Ofsted to "require improvement" into academies. State primary schools in England that repeatedly failed to have a proportion of year-six pupil pass times tables and writing tests be forced to become academies, or have sponsorship replaced if already an academy.
- Opposed to giving votes to 16 and 17-year-olds for UK-wide general elections and local elections in England.
Labour
- Increase the overall education budget in England, including schools, nurseries, Sure Start and provision for 16-to 18-year-olds, by at least the rate of inflation, although per-pupil funding is not specifically protected, meaning some of the increase will be eaten up by rising pupil numbers.
- Parents of primary school children would be guaranteed childcare from 8am to 6pm.
- The amount of free childcare for three and four year olds would be increased from 15 to 25 hours a week.
- Refuse to grant business rate relief to independent schools unless they can show a "meaningful impact" on state schools through a new School Partnership Standard, for example by lending teaching staff or assisting in university admissions procedures.
- Committed to extending the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds in elections across the UK.
- Double the number of Sure Start childcare places to more than 118,000.
- Tighten up the rules on primary school class sizes to ensure they do not have more than 30 pupils.
Lib Dems
- Protect the education budget from cuts.
- Guarantee qualified teachers and a core curriculum set by independent experts, as well as compulsory sex education, in all state schools including academies and free schools.
- More money for disadvantaged school children and free childcare for all two year olds.
- A two-thirds discount on all local bus fares for young people aged 16-21.
- Supports lowering the voting age to 16 in all UK elections.
SNP
- Guaranteed free 30 hours of childcare a week for three and four-year-olds in Scotland, up from 16 hours.
- Maintain lack of tuition fees at Scottish universities, and offer financial support in grants and loans to students.
- Continue to build and refurbish schools.
- Lower voting age to 16 in all UK elections.
Plaid Cymru
- Introduce a compulsory modern foreign language GCSE in secondary schools and the teaching of modern foreign languages in primary schools.
- Look at ways to strengthen the teaching of Welsh history and culture.
- Look at moving from a per-pupil funding mechanism to a funding model based on the catchment area.
- Will not support any further increases in tuition fees for higher education students, and will seek the abolition of tuition fees as and when public finances allow.
- Supports lowering the voting age to 16 for elections to the Welsh Assembly and the UK Parliament.
UKIP
- More grammar schools.
- Scrap sex education for children aged under seven.
- Scrap tuition fees for students from poorer backgrounds who take degree courses in the sciences, technology, maths or engineering.
- Greater emphasis on vocational education with new Apprenticeship Qualification Option.
- School governing boards must be made up of at least 30% parents of children at the school.
- Allow universities to charge same amount for EU students as non-EU students.
Greens
- End performance related pay for teachers.
- Replace Ofsted with an independent National Council for Educational Excellence.
- Ensure all teachers are properly qualified, abolish SATS and Year 1 phonics tests.
- Raise school starting age to six if parents want it.
- Scrap National Curriculum.
- Allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections. Scrap university tuition fees.
Posted on Mar 10, 2015.
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