At this year’s Conservative Party Conference, the Education Policy Institute has partnered with the Association of School and College Leaders to hold a public panel on: ‘What are the key challenges facing the education sector and how do we solve them?’
The first report published from the government’s ‘Young people and work’ independent inquiry into the youth NEET (not in education, employment or training) rate – the ‘Milburn Review’ – demonstrated that youth detachment from the labour market is a serious and growing challenge. There have been repeated attempts to broaden the curriculum and open up vocational pathways, but the focus remains predominately academic prior to 16. The options post-16 are in a state of flux and are often not well understood outside of the education sector. Looking to the future, what could “true parity between academic and vocational education” look like in practice, and how can it be achieved given funding constraints and mounting pressure on the system?
Alongside this, the number of teachers reporting that they have an unmanageable workload is increasing year on year, and the expectations on teachers and schools is only set to increase as a result of the government’s extensive reform agenda. In the last year, we have seen the announcement of new Ofsted inspection guidelines, the implementation of a refreshed national curriculum, including the introduction of a new enrichment entitlement – through the Curriculum and Assessment Review – and the publication of the Schools White Paper.
These reforms have great potential to transform outcomes for young people, but do schools and colleges have what they need to deliver on them? Education funding remains extremely challenging with many schools and colleges having to make cuts, and the 2025 spending review plans for core school funding look very tight. In post-16 education, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in its annual report in January that funding per student in colleges is still around 8% lower than in 2010-11 and around 20% lower in school sixth forms. Given the current state of school and college finances, is it realistic for the government to be leveraging change through accountability, without the financial support to meet those measures?
This panel discussion will bring together policymakers, education leaders, and sector experts to consider the key challenges facing the education sector and how policymakers should respond to these challenges. The panel will discuss how government should ensure we meet the needs of all children and young people, how we manage the expectations placed on schools and colleges, and how we support the education workforce. The panel will further discuss the key questions we should be asking of government at this time, and how we work together across policy and education to deliver change.
Speakers will be announced in due course.
** Note: This event will take place in the conference secure zone. To access the secure zone you will need to obtain a pass directly from the Conservative Party.**
