Years ago I used to use a team building exercise called Blue or Red to teach delegates the value of collaboration. It was always fascinating to observe different strategies being deployed to fulfil the brief, including negotiation u-turns from competitive spirits!

In the lead up to the general election, I find it no less fascinating to read each main political party's manifesto and their policies for the next 5 years, if elected to form the next government. Both the Labour and Conservative manifestos for 2017 have pledged more funding for education but not yet fully explained how they would be paid for.

In summary, the current education context in England is that there is an increasing demand for school places and a variance in the quality of teaching means there are fewer ‘good’ Ofsted judgements for schools in the north compared to the south. The consultation about the National Funding Formula has closed but purdah means no news will be forthcoming until after the general election. The consensus appeared to be that the new NFF calculation amounted to a re-distribution resulting in different winners and losers rather than a significant funding investment or overhaul. The impact on school budgets from rising on-costs for staff (e.g. national insurance and pension contributions) mean that a new financial benchmark of 75% of expenditure on staffing to income is likely to be the new ‘norm’ instead of 80%. Recruitment and retention of teaching staff remains challenging particularly in some core subject areas and locations.

To tackle the shortage of school places the Conservative Party manifesto proposes to: build 500 new free schools resulting in 270,000 new places; end a ban on selective schools; incentivise university and independent school sponsorship of new state schools and prohibit councils creating new places in schools judged by Ofsted less than good. The Labour Party manifesto appears to be silent on this point. Otherwise, an initial review of the two manifestos shows some comparable proposals to consider against the national context and deficit:

Conservative Party	Labour Party
Increase overall school budgets by £4bn by 2022. Re-direct £1bn of national funding formula	Protect education budget from early years – post 16 education. Re-introduce the educational maintenance allowance for 16-18 year old students from lower and middle income families. Abolish university tuition fees for those starting courses in September 2017.
Strengthen early years teaching of literacy and numeracy. Create 3 million new apprenticeships and ensure there is no cap on university places. Introduce new T-levels (technical qualifications) and institutes of technology backed by employers and universities.	Cap class sizes for 5, 6 & 7 year olds. Ensure all pupils study English and maths to age 18. Introduce continuous assessment to avoid ‘teaching for the test’. Introduce a new gold-standard technical baccalaureate for 16-18 year olds.
Help teachers to make Britain the best country in the world for developing maths, engineering, science and computing skills. Encourage Teach First. Offer bursaries to attract top graduates. Train all teachers in classroom management and an extra 17,500 maths & physics teachers over next 5 years. Reduce time teachers spend on paperwork.	Appoint directors of school standards to drive up standards in every area. Introduce a national education service to move towards cradle-to-grave learning that is free at the point of use. Embed SEND training and transition to a qualified, graduate-led workforce by increasing wages and training opportunities. End public sector pay cap and reduce bureaucracy for teachers.
Free breakfast to every child in every year of primary school instead of free school lunches for first three years	Free school meals for all school children.

The manifestos can be read in full via:

https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto

http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/manifesto2017

It's now only 16 days to go until the outcome on 8 June tells which manifesto pledges resonated most with UK voters. The polls keep changing so will it be blue or red?

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Blue or Red?

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