‹ News / General
The King’s Speech – What are the new government’s plans for education?
On 17th July 2024, the King delivered his speech to mark the state opening of Parliament. This regular occurrence explains the government’s plans for the country for the coming year.
What made this one so interesting, though, was that it came 16 days after the General Election and was the first time since 2009 that the words and pledges have come from a Labour government. A total of 40 bills (the largest number since 2005) were introduced, linked to the Labour Party manifesto, with one in particular having a focus on young people and education.
Children’s Wellbeing Bill
“A Bill will be introduced to raise standards in education and promote children’s wellbeing”
This bill contains several changes designed to ensure a fairer system for all children regardless of their background. The aim is to remove barriers to opportunity and to ensure that all children are safe, happy and healthy through the following measures:
- Free breakfast clubs in every primary school.
- A limit on the number of branded uniform items required by schools.
- A local authority duty to have tighter registration processes for children not in school with support for home-educating parents.
- Stronger powers for Ofsted to regulate and inspect independent schools.
- A requirement for all schools, both academies and maintained schools, to teach the national curriculum (following the review of the current Programmes of Study).
- Ensuring all new teachers have QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) or are working towards gaining it.
- Changes to how cases of serious teacher misconduct are investigated.
- Allow local authorities greater powers to work with all schools in an area on admissions, SEND inclusion and place planning.
- Bringing MATs (multi-academy trusts) into the inspection system.
Other bills which may have an influence on schools and the future of young people include Skills Bill England (which will provide more opportunities for school leavers and inform the DofE’s policy priorities) and Employment Rights Bill (which will remove restrictions on trade union activity and reinstate the School Support Staff Negotiating Body amongst other changes).
It remains to be seen whether these bills get through parliament and if any changes take place, but it is good to know the government’s plans for the future of education. The curriculum review (from KS1-KS5) will be central to this vision and will seek a ‘broader, richer, cutting-edge curriculum that drives high and rising standards and sets all young people up for life and work.’ Government launches Curriculum and Assessment Review – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We will continue to follow this closely and share any updates along the way.
Don’t want to miss anything? Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates straight to your inbox.
Pathways Literacy Starting Pathways to Write: your to-do list
Pathways Literacy Why is Pathways to Read changing?
Informed by school feedback and the latest literacy research, our team has enhanced our Pathways to Read units and created new ones to better support high‑quality reading and writing progression.
