David Cameron launched the education section of the Conservatives election manifesto this week. Some headline points:
They plan to raise the entry requirement for taxpayer-funded primary school teacher training from a C grade in English and Maths GCSE to a B, and graduates will need at least a 2:2 in their degree in order to qualify for state-funded training.
Schools - especially struggling ones - must be able to attract the best teachers and subject specialists, so they will give all Head teachers the power to pay good teachers more. By redirecting the current teacher training budget, they will pay the student loan repayments for top maths and science graduates for as long as they remain teachers, expand Teach First and introduce two new programmes - Teach Now and Troops to Teachers - to get experienced, high-quality people into the profession.
Exams and testing - Key Stage 2 tests will be overhauled and exams will be made more robust and rigorous by giving universities and subject academics more power over examinations.
School league tables will be reformed so that schools can demonstrate they are stretching the most able and raising the attainment of the less able.
Supply side - They will establish technical Academies (Baker schools) across England, starting in at least the twelve biggest cities, and fund 400,000 new apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, college and other training places over two years. They will break down barriers to entry to the supply market so that any good education provider can set up a new Academy school - free, non-selective, high-quality state schools that are open to all. These new Academies will be run by charities, parent and teacher groups, trusts, voluntary groups and co-operatives.
Inspection - They will ensure that Ofsted adopts a more rigorous and targeted inspection regime, reporting on performance only in the core areas related to teaching and learning: the quality of teaching, the effectiveness of leadership, pupils' behaviour and safety and pupils' achievement. There will be more unannounced inspections, and failing schools will be inspected more often - with the best schools visited less frequently. And any school that is in special measures for more than a year will be taken over immediately by a successful Academy provider.
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