Education may not have been a key battleground in the campaign so far, but several striking themes have already emerged. First, high schools. Both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak would like to see more of them. It is possible; Will it happen and what will be the impact? It is currently illegal to open new secondary schools, thanks to a Labor ban that has been in place since 1998. The selective system has been phased out in most parts of the country since the 1960s amid concerns that inequality was entrenched and these concerns still exist. Around 160 grammar schools remain in England and in recent years the number of pupils in these schools has grown significantly as the Tories toyed with further expanding choice, allowing existing schools to grow. In theory, the ban could be lifted and indeed there have been calls for it to be included in the government’s recent schools bill. All the evidence shows, however, that grammar schools harm the life chances of the poorest children and any attempt to lift the ban would be met with fierce opposition. Critics say working-class children fare worse in parts of the country that have retained secondary schools and that disadvantaged children are vastly underrepresented in secondary schools. Just 8.3% of secondary school pupils access the additional pupil funding available to the most disadvantaged pupils, compared to the national average of 27.6% in secondary schools in England. Sir Chris Husbands, who is vice-chancellor at Sheffield Hallam and an expert on education policy, said: “Areas with selective schools tend to have a competitive private tuition economy – one reason why children from the affluent middle classes tend to dominate grammar schools. “The heyday of high schools was two generations ago, when psychologists believed that intelligence was fixed and unchanging, and thus could be reliably assessed at any age. We now know that this is simply wrong.” He added: “It is hard to understand the electoral appeal of labeling four-fifths of children as ‘failing’ at 11 – especially for a party of ‘ambition’. Politicians forget that high schools were largely killed by their strong electoral unpopularity.” Indeed, a YouGov poll earlier this year found that less than a third (29%) of those surveyed believed the government should create more grammar schools, compared with 23% who favored ending choice and enforcement of existing schools to be opened to children of all abilities. One of the other notable education ideas that emerged during the campaign is Liz Truss’ proposal that all students with three As at A-level should automatically be offered an interview for a place at either Oxford or Cambridge , as a way to improve access. As well as burdening those universities, “this preoccupation with Oxbridge devalues every other university in the country,” said Husbands. “But what’s more practically difficult is that no student has grades, let alone 3 As, when they apply for university.” The Truss campaign said it would reform admissions so that students apply to university after their A-level exam results are graded, rather than before, when offers are made based on predicted grades. This system of postgraduate admissions (PQA) has its supporters and works well in other countries, but it would present huge challenges to the academic calendar, which some argue make it unfeasible. “It was most recently rejected a few months ago [the then education secretary] Nadhim Zahawi who saw his potential for chaos and rushed to make decisions,” says Husbands. Claire Callender, professor of higher education at Birkbeck and UCL’s Institute of Education, is concerned about the impact of Truss’ Oxbridge interview policy on contextual admissions – where additional information such as where students live or the school they went to is taken into account. try to make the system fairer. With the introduction of the Truss policy, it may not be possible for Oxbridge to interview those students whose grades may be slightly lower due to circumstances, but whose potential may be higher. Another approach to interviewing might be better, he suggests. “To widen participation, there could be an argument for interviewing all children who receive free school meals or who live in Polar 1 regions (which have the lowest undergraduate participation rates),” Callender said. “Otherwise, the proposal is mainly kind to wealthier independent school pupils who believe (or their parents believe) they are being kicked out of Oxbridge.” Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, promises to build on existing Conservative policies to phase out university degrees that do not improve students’ “earning potential” and fast-track the controversial Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which it is currently in the House of Lords. In an interview with the Sunday Times, he also outlined plans for a new ‘British Baccalaureate’ which would require all 16-year-olds to study maths and English, beyond GCSE. “In Germany, France, Asia, young people study maths until they’re 18 and the way a modern economy works, I think it’s going to hold us back if our young people don’t have those skills,” the former chancellor said. Labor unveiled a similar policy in 2014 and it’s true that in most developed countries, basic subjects such as maths are compulsory until pupils leave school. As sensible as the idea is, it would require huge investment and many hundreds more teachers at a time when finances are tight and there is already a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, especially in math. “When these caucuses are over, there will be serious education policy that needs to be addressed,” Housands said. How to fund schools after years of underinvestment, how to improve education coverage and recovery after the pandemic shutdown, the widening achievement gap and growing funding challenges at universities where fees have plummeted in value after being frozen for a decade. “Neither candidate gives anyone the impression that they are ready for that. Schools deserve better. Universities deserve better. But, above all, children and young people deserve better.”
