Labour delegates have backed radical plans to abolish private schools by stripping them of their charitable status and redistributing their endowments, investments and properties to the state sector. The motion, approved at the party's conference, calls for such a commitment to be included in Labour's next general election manifesto. It also proposes limiting universities to admitting the same proportion of private school students as in the wider population, currently 7%.
The vote came as shadow education secretary Angela Rayner announced that a future Labour government would scrap the “tax loopholes” benefiting private schools in its first budget. Rayner also set out plans to overhaul school inspections in England by abolishing Ofsted, a proposal that has received a mixed welcome from teachers and drawn accusations of lowering standards from opponents.
Holly Rigby, a campaign organiser and state school teacher, welcomed the move as “a really positive moment” and “a big victory for the left”. However, Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, said the plan was an attack on parents' rights and would breach the European Convention on Human Rights. She argued that “tearing down excellent schools does not improve our education system”.
Rayner defended the policy, saying: “Our very first budget will immediately close the tax loopholes used by elite private schools and use that money to improve the lives of all children.” She also promised a new system of peer review to replace Ofsted, to ensure schools are “no longer reduced to a one-word grade”.
While teaching unions such as the NASUWT applauded the Ofsted plans, a Teacher Tapp poll of over 5,000 teachers found only 41% supported the proposal, with 36% opposed. Prof Becky Allen, chief analyst at Teacher Tapp, noted a split within the profession, with head teachers and primary teachers largely in favour but only a third of secondary teachers backing it. Mary Bousted of the National Education Union said Ofsted was “unfit for its purpose”, while education secretary Gavin Williamson accused Labour of pursuing dogma.
