Education top election priority for parents, polls show

With a general election only days away, Deltapoll surveyed 1,000 parents of school-age pupils on behalf of the National Education Union, and found education came third on a list of priorities, after the NHS and Brexit. Education moved to the same position in early June 2017, just days before an election in which it is claimed as many as 750,000 switched their support because of school funding cuts.

The Deltapoll/NEU poll found that 54% of parents believe that the funding of state schools in their area is insufficient. 78% said that child poverty was a very big or quite big issue in Britain today. When polled on which party’s education policies were most impressive – putting aside their own preference – 26% of respondents said Labour, 16% said Conservative and 10% said Liberal Democrat. 5% chose the Brexit Party, despite the fact that the party has not released details of its education policies.

Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the NEU, stated that the poll results show that the election is “about much more than Brexit.” Bousted concluded: ““The importance of education is growing in this election. Parents, alongside teachers, head teachers and support staff, know that if you value education then you must vote for education.”

Education becomes third most important election issue for parents (Schools Week) Education 'rising up election agenda' (TES) Is education a bigger election issue than in 2017? (TES) Electorate put education high on election agenda (Nursery World)

Why should this matter to me? While the election will soon be old news, polls such as this one show parents’ priorities, and their perspective of the education sector. The fact that parents seem to prefer Labour’s policies may indicate a desire to see an improvement to early education and increases in funding across the board. With that in mind, nursery schools may be more willing to invest in resources to increase the perceived ‘value’ of their services. In the predicted event of a Conservative majority government, it is unlikely that schools funding will dramatically increase; in this case, schools will seek ways to make the most of a limited budget going into the next academic year.