The Tory leadership hopeful, whose endorsement from party heavyweights has added to the sense that she is pulling ahead of rival Rishi Sunak in the race for No 10, unveiled a six-point strategy on Saturday “to bring back education Britain’s system in orbit’. This includes expanding existing high-performing academies while replacing failing ones with free schools – start-up academies. Academies are state-funded schools that are independent of local authorities. In an oft-repeated line of her leadership campaign, Truss said she saw “first-hand how children fail and are let down by low expectations” during her comprehensive state education in Leeds. The remarks had previously been criticized by city political leaders, and former pupils and staff at her former school, Roundhay. Truss, a former education and children’s minister, also pledged to raise the quality of maths teaching and achieve the “target of 90% of primary school children reaching expected standards in literacy and numeracy”. It aims to give working parents access to childcare during the school day and to expand the range of providers that accept state childcare entitlements. The foreign secretary also said she would follow through with government plans to change staff-to-child ratios for young children, bringing England in line with ratios in Scotland, proposals Labor called “pathetic”. Truss, who studied at Oxford, promised to reform admissions procedures for Oxbridge and other top universities “so students who get top grades in their A-levels will automatically be invited to apply”. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Truss said: “My six-point plan will ensure that our education system gets back on track by giving every child the tools they need to succeed. “Through a laser-like focus on improving maths and literacy standards, we will make a real difference to children’s lives, and by giving families more choice and flexibility when it comes to childcare, we will also save them money.” Truss has previously said she would end a ban on new high schools, selective schools that critics say could target the brightest students but increase inequality overall as other children’s performance suffers. Sunak also said he supports their “return” but is understood to mean the expansion of existing high schools.
