The party wants £14bn more spending on education, an end to 'official' secondary exams and Ofsted and all academies under LA 'control'.
The party wants £14bn more spending on education, an end to 'official' secondary exams and Ofsted and all academies under LA 'control'.
The Greens' manifesto includes plans to spend around £14 billion more on education, abolish “official exams” in secondary schools, scrap Ofsted and bring all academies under parliamentary “control”.
The party, which is polling at around 6% nationally ahead of the July 4 election, has elected Green Party members calling on the government to provide free school meals for all school pupils, restore the education maintenance allowance for year 6 pupils and rebuild school buildings. He said he would put pressure on them to insulate it. .
The Greens estimated there would be almost £14 billion in additional revenue spent on education as a result of the policy.
They said they would pay for investment in public services through “major changes to the tax system”, including a wealth tax on income above £10 million and assets above £1 billion.
But the party also said it was “ready to borrow money to invest” and that the nearly £80 billion shortfall between its tax and spending plans by 2030 “will be covered by additional debt”.
“Allowing ourselves to be trapped in a self-imposed fiscal straitjacket is bad economics.
“Investing to protect the climate now can save us huge sums of money in the future, and spending on adequate public services and fit-for-purpose infrastructure is essential for a prosperous future for us all.”
Here’s what you need to know…
school funding
- Increase school funding to £8 billion, including £2 billion to boost teacher pay.
- Investing £2.5 million a year to resolve the RAAC concrete scandal and provide schools with the funding they need to ensure they are “well-maintained and fit for purpose”.
- £4 billion spent on insulating public buildings to EPC B standards and above. This is “mainly for schools and hospitals.”
- Increase funding for sixth form education by £3 billion in the next parliament.
- Investing £5 billion in special support (SEND) provision in mainstream schools. This means all schools “will have fully accessible buildings and specially trained teachers, and local councils will have funding to adequately support SEND pupils to get from school to school”.
Sending, Inclusion and Mental Health
- A “fully inclusive” education system with “better funding for special educational needs”
- Ensure that neurodiverse children and children with special needs have adequate support, including through school systems, to enable them to live rich and fulfilling lives.
- We provide a trained and paid counselor to every primary and secondary school and every sixth form college.
- This work is supported through a scholarship to train counselors from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Fully restore the role of school nurses, ensuring all schools have access to on-site health care professionals
school food
- Provide every child with a free school meal made with nutritious ingredients and based on local, organic or sustainable produce every day.
- Free breakfast club for elementary school students
- Schools that engage children in growing, preparing and cooking food as part of their core curriculum, ensuring they recognize and understand how to use basic fresh produce
Assessment, Curriculum, and Accountability
- Stop “high-stakes formal testing” in primary and secondary schools
- abolish Ofsted
- The school's assessment aims to ensure that arts and vocational subjects “are treated equally within the curriculum, that children are supported to play and learn outdoors, and that all children learn about the climate and biodiversity crises to prepare for the challenges ahead” Review .
- Maintain a “comprehensive, evidence-based and age-appropriate program” of relationships, sexuality and health education, including LGBTIQA+ content and resources.
school system
- Moving academies and free schools into local authority “control”
- Remove charity status from private schools and charge full value added tax (VAT) on tuition fees.
- VAT is not charged on private schools for children with special educational needs. “Temporary measures to build public sector capacity”
Other policies
- Reinstate the Education Maintenance Allowance to financially support young people to continue their studies beyond the age of 16.
- Protect school grounds from development through “strict planning controls”.
- Allow local clubs and teams access to school sports facilities outside of teaching hours to ensure “maximum use of valuable resources”.
- Youth workers, not police, work with students in schools.