Exclusive: crackdown on behaviour coupled with more money for schools and teachers

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A raft of dramatic and controversial education measures including billions of pounds in new funding, a crackdown on student behaviour and a further wave of free schools are to be announced by the government within days, according to a confidential briefing paper seen by the Guardian.

The briefing document, dated 22 August and marked “Official-Sensitive”, details policy proposals for schools in England designed to be rolled out over the coming weeks in an attempt to seize the initiative on education before a possible autumn election.

While proposals including a £3.5bn funding announcement and plans to increase teachers’ basic pay may be broadly welcomed, there will be concern in some quarters over a package of disciplinary measures that include a renewed emphasis on exclusions and allowing teachers to use “reasonable force” to improve behaviour.

The paper, which is under discussion between Gavin Williamson’s Department for Education (DfE) and No 10, is understood to have been inserted into the government “grid” of announcements, as families prepare for the new school year in England.

The headline figures include £2.8bn for primary and secondary schools up to the age of 16, including £800m for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The details for an extra £800m for sixth form and further education colleges are still under discussion with the Treasury.

The main proposals in the package include:

Increasing pay for teachers, with starting salaries rising to £30,000 by 2022.

Encouraging school leaders to confiscate or ban mobile phones.

Backing headteachers to exclude pupils, with new guidance on behaviour.

Offering academy trusts £24,000 incentives to take over struggling schools.

Opening a new wave of free schools, including alternative provision schools for excluded children.

Removing exemptions from regular inspection for schools rated as “outstanding” by Ofsted.

A fresh push to convert local authority maintained schools to academy status.

Any additional funding is likely to be welcomed by school leaders, although many will want to wait until they see how much of the headline figure has been “reprioritised” from the DfE’s previous spending commitments.

Last year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated per pupil funding had been cut by 4% in real terms since 2015, after a freeze was imposed by the government. It estimated returning school funding to 2015 levels would require nearly £2bn.

Aside from funding, the DfE paper includes a major focus on poor behaviour in schools, said to be driven by No 10’s view that recent polling has shown strong public support for policies taking a tougher line.

The announcements will include explicit support for headteachers who use “reasonable force” in their efforts to improve discipline.

“This government backs headteachers to improve behaviour and will support them to create safe and disciplined school environments,” the document states.

“We will back heads to use powers to promote good behaviour including sanctions and rewards; using reasonable force; to search and confiscate items from pupils (including mobile phones); impose same-day detentions; suspend and expel pupils; ban mobile phones.”

While the DfE expects members of the public will welcome “a harder narrative on discipline”, the document warns key stakeholders will be worried the policy could result in increased rates of permanent exclusion, which have in any case been climbing since 2012.

The document notes police and crime commissioners “worry about rates of exclusion driving knife crime” and acknowledges concerns it will impact disproportionately on children from some ethnic minority backgrounds, in particular black Caribbean boys, and those with special educational needs (SEN).

The success of the Michaela free school in GCSE results last week is likely to be used by ministers to promote its behaviour policies, while four “behaviour tsars” are to be named, including Charlie Taylor, the former head of a school for children with SEN and the current chair of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.

While recent coverage of school funding cuts has included widespread reporting about teaching assistants being axed and headteachers’ concerns about the detrimental impact on classrooms, the briefing paper reveals – on the contrary – that Downing Street and the Treasury are more concerned there may be too many TAs rather than too few.

“No 10 and HMT [the Treasury] have been keen to publicly express concerns about the rising number of TAs and set out government’s commitment to more effective deployment of TAs being integral to more efficient use of school spend,” it states.

The document advises against going public with this line, warning “it would undermine the ‘hearts and minds’ aspect of the announcement with the numerous audiences we know value TAs – parents, teachers, heads and [the] SEND lobby. This needs to be handled very sensitively if we are to protect the positivity of the announcement.”

The Treasury “firmly” rejected a radical attempt to improve recruitment by making teacher training courses free for students. But it appears more enthusiastic about a scheme to reimburse trainee teachers for their student loans.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these figures. The prime minister has made clear that we will increase minimum levels of per pupil funding in primary and secondary schools and make real terms increases to education funding. We will be announcing more details in due course.”