Budget 2008: Education

ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on the education measures in chancellor Alistair Darling's 2008 Budget.

Stakeholder response: National Union of Teachers



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Steve Sinnott, general secretary, said: "In the context of the recent comprehensive spending review, there is some good news for schools, including extra money for training science teachers, the expansion of the London Challenge model and bringing forward support for the toughest schools.

"The renewed commitment to end child poverty is a real plus, particularly in the face of global economic difficulty.

"However, I would have wanted Alistair Darling to commit himself to Gordon Brown’s pledge to raise spending on state education to private school levels. The government has not yet set a target date. 2014 is a realistic goal, I urge the government to commit itself to this target."

Stakeholder response: Institute of Education



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Professor Chris Husbands, dean of the Faculty of Culture and Pedagogy, said: "The budget involves no major  policy developments for education, but it does show government focusing on areas of strategic priority in attainment, children’s services and child poverty. 

"The reaffirmation of the attack on child poverty is very welcome, though the budget does little to provide a resource context for taking the 2007 children’s plan forward.  The spending plans are obviously in line with CSR expectations. 

"The most significant policy announcement related to the allocation of £200 million to increase the 5 A*-C GCSE performance levels to 30% in the 638 schools currently below  that figure,  targeting resource into what the government calls “under-attaining” schools. 

"This is welcome, and may make some marginal difference, but the evidence that these schools are "under-attaining" is not sustainable on the basis of outcome measures alone – value-added data suggests that about half these schools are actually achieving very good results given their intake. 

"The question which is still to be resolved is whether local change can be accommodated by a strategy which focuses on centrally prescribed targets such as the GCSE floor percentage."