Why Labour?

Unlocking the talent and potential of each and every young person is at the heart of Labour’s vision for education. We are offering guarantees of an education that suits every child, of good discipline and of good information for parents on their child’s progress and on their local schools. Since 1997, Labour has transformed education; young people are achieving some of the best ever results at 11, 16 and 18.  We have more than doubled investment in education from £30 billion in 1997.

Key achievements:

• We have increased school funding to support the delivery of higher standards. Between 1997-98 and 2009-10, total funding per pupil has more than doubled from £3,030 to £6,350 in real terms.
• Labour has delivered over 42,400 more teachers and 123,100 more teaching assistants than in 1997.
• Today, 80  per cent of 11 year olds reach the expected level in English and 79 per cent in maths. This compares with 63% for English and 62% in maths in 1997.  
• 69.7 per cent achieved 5 GCSEs at grade A*-C – an increase of 4.4 percentage points from last year. This compares to just 45.1 per cent of 15 year olds in 1997.
• 50.4 per cent of pupils in the maintained sector achieved five or more GCSEs at grade A*-C, including in the vital subjects of English and maths - an increase of 2.1 percentage points from last year. This is above the trajectory to meet our 2011 target of 53 per cent.
• The number of schools where fewer than 30 per cent of pupils get five or more good GCSEs (A*-C grade) including English and maths – has fallen to 247 compared to 439 last year and over half of all schools in 1997. Now fewer than one in twelve fall under this benchmark.
• Over 1,100 new schools have been built, rebuilt or refurbished.
• We have offered every 16 and 17 year old a ‘September Guarantee’ which means we are funding a guaranteed place at school, college, training or in an apprenticeship for every 16 and 17 year old that wants one.
• Our schools capital investment is bringing new school buildings across the with 400 new schools open this year including 67 new academies taking us past our target of 200 academies a year ahead of schedule.
• Thanks to Labour’s investment more than 4,000 schools will have been built, rebuilt or refurbished by July 2010 since 1997

A future fair for all:

• We will give parents a say on local school provision by ensuring that where a significant group of parents say they are dissatisfied with local school leadership they will be able to
• vote to call in an experienced schools provider from a chain of schools or another good school to turn things round.
• To ensure that every child leaves primary school confident in their literacy and numeracy skills, Labour will offer 30,000 pupils one to one support in literacy and 30,000 support in numeracy every year over the coming years.
• In secondary schools, Labour will provide one to one tuition to 300,000 pupils in English and Maths who are falling behind their peers.
• Labour will guarantee every young person up to the age of 18 an apprenticeship, training or a place to study free of charge by 2015. We will continue to increase the number of apprenticeships available.  
• We are offering parents, children and schools support in ensuring good discipline through home-school contract strictly enforced.
• We will guarantee good information on local schools through a school report card including full information on a school performance including both exam results and other parent’s views.
• Labour is committed to rebuilding or refurbishing every secondary school and half of all primary schools in the coming years.
• The National Challenge is the government’s scheme designed to ensure that no school has fewer than 30 per cent of its pupils achieving 5 GCSEs at A*-C grade including in English and Maths by 2011. The programme is backed up by £400 million of extra investment. .
• We want every secondary school to be a Specialist school, a Trust school or an Academy, with a business or university partner for every one of them. By 2010/11, over 310 Academies will be open or in the pipeline.