Government leaders answers to education

28 - April - 2010

Where do the major Parties stand on the key education issues?

Young People

Labour: Provide guaranteed places on an apprenticeship, training or study up to age 18, establish a raised ‘leaving’ age, retain education Maintenance Allowances.

Conservative: Create 20,000 additional young apprenticeships, allow schools and colleges ‘to offer workplace training’.

Lib-Dem: Scrap the compulsion in raising the ‘leaving’ age, give young people the right to opt for a college rather than school course.

FE and skills

Labour: Create 70,000 advanced apprenticeships a year, free up colleges, develop a traffic-light grading system for courses and colleges, develop a new technician class especially in key economic sectors.

Conservative: Create 400,000 work-based places over two years, create an FEFC, remove ‘many quangos,’ free up colleges, establish a Community Learning Fund.

Lib-Dem: Close the funding gap between schools and FE, direct Train to Gain funding at small firm training and Level 3 provision, replace quangos.