| The Labour government implemented its five-year plan in 2005.
The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats also launched their proposals, but would need to win the next general election before they could put their plans into practice.
Labour
The government’s five year education strategy:
• Expand and make more places available at popular state schools
• Encourage all secondary schools to specialise in at least one subject by 2008
• Encourage schools to adopt ‘foundation’ status so they can own and run their land, assets and admissions
• Have state schools adopt uniforms and a house system
• Replace weak schools with ‘academies’, schools run by private sponsors
• Renovate or rebuild every secondary school within the next 10-15 years
• Give schools a three-year budget, allowing head teachers and governors more control over how money is spent.
Conservatives
The Conservative proposals for education policy include:
• Allowing parents to apply to any state school so local authorities do not decide on admissions
• Allowing schools to control admissions policy, and this could mean entrance tests
• Giving schools rather than local education authorities the final say on discipline
• Giving heads and governors full control of school budgets
• Providing state-funded places at independent schools charging less than £5,500 a year
• Allowing failing schools to be taken over by new management teams
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats ‘pupils' guarantee’ promises:
• Smaller class sizes, one teacher for every 25 pupils
• Replacing tests for seven and 11-year-olds with monitoring against national standards
• A personalised curriculum tailored to the individual pupil from 14 years of age
• High quality teachers appropriately trained for specific age-groups and subjects
• Well-equipped schools with IT facilities available to all
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