What the Tory-Lib Dem coalition will change in schools and universities
The coalition government has agreed to push forward the Tories' plans to allow parents, teachers and charities to set up their own schools.
We can expect proposals very soon to change legislation so that these new schools can open. At the moment, rules on planning permission stand in the way of making these new schools – based on Sweden's free schools and US charter schools – a reality in the near future. But while the Conservatives can be seen to have got their way on new schools, where is their big drive to increase the number of academy schools? The only mention of academies is in the penultimate paragraph of the schools section. In the run-up to the election, the Conservatives were loudly proclaiming that they would give primary schools the chance to turn into academies and that any school deemed "outstanding" by Ofsted, the school inspectorate, would be able to transform into an academy within days of a Tory government. The Lib Dems may well have refused to concede an expansion of academy schools. They have stated that they want schools to be held accountable to local authorities. Academies are not, being independent state schools.
Is there a contradiction in telling schools they will have more freedom, but also asserting that they will be "properly accountable"? Many teachers will be delighted that the two parties that make up the coalition agree that government should have less involvement in curriculum matters. We can expect that the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, a quango in charge of curriculum design, may well have had its day. But teachers and their unions will be worried by the statement that headteachers are going to be given the power to award bonuses to their staff and possibly penalise them too, under a reform of existing "rigid" national pay and condition rules.
Much is still vague in this document. How exactly will Sats be changed? The document says this is "to be reviewed". The Lib Dems have got their way on the pupil premium. This is the financial incentive that would give schools extra cash for taking disproportionately more pupils from poor homes. But how much this pupil premium will be, and where the money will come from, has not been said. On universities, the main question has been evaded: tuition fees. The parties are hiding behind the Browne review, which is currently under way and looking into whether fees should rise. The Lib Dems are well-known for their stance on phasing out the fees. All this document repeats is that Lib Dems will be able to abstain from a vote in parliament on the topic. The Lib Dems have also not got their way on raising the adult learning grant. In their manifesto, they said this should increase from £30 to £45 a week. Just like the pupil premium, the figures are nowhere to be seen.
In summary
• Parents, teachers and charities to be encouraged to set up their own schools under a "Swedish-style" system.
• Emphasis on old-fashioned discipline – strict uniform codes, and rules such as pupils standing up when teachers enter the classroom. A pledge to give teachers "the powers they need" to keep order.
• A pupil premium for disadvantaged children – but no mention of what the "significant" premium will be worth and no further detail on what cuts "outside the schools budget" will fund it.
• Inspections to be targeted on failing schools, an effort to get more science and maths graduates to be teachers, and state school pupils to sit "elite" exams like the iGCSE.
• Policy on higher and further education is light on detail, with aspirations such as fostering stronger links between universities, colleges and industry featuring more heavily than actual measures to deliver them.
• No firm policy on student fees. The coalition will wait until Lord Browne's review into university funding has reported; Lib Dems can abstain if the government wants to increase fees.