Overhauling Ofsted and private schools: behind the headlines from the Labour Party Conference

The shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, has addressed the Labour Party Conference in Brighton. Two policies made headlines: the abolition of private schools and the creation of a new, independent body to replace Ofsted. Rayner appeared to give her backing to a motion to abolish private schools. Conference delegates voted in support of the motion, which in its entirety represents a radical plan to remove the charitable status of private schools and redistribute their properties, investments and endowments to the state sector. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the plan would help build a ‘more cohesive and equal society’ while Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it a ‘pointless attack’ on education.

Rayner also offered further detail on her proposed plan to scrap Ofsted. She outlined plans to introduce a new system of peer review, led by in-school experts, with regular ‘health checks’ conducted by local authorities and more in-depth inspections led by specialists when needed, overseen by a new, independent body. Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, welcomed the announcement. ‘Ofsted has been a force for lowering school standards by driving teachers from the profession,’ Bousted stated. ‘This announcement demonstrates Labour’s serious intent to break the mould of education policy which has been driving the teaching profession into a brick wall.’

The 4 schools policies in Angela Rayner’s Labour conference speech(Schools Week) ‘We will scrap Ofsted’: Labour makes radical election pledge (The Guardian) Labour to abolish Ofsted (NEU) Do teachers want Labour to abolish Ofsted? Are you anxious about anxiety? And other findings this week… (Teacher Tapp) Dismantling private schools could create problems, union leader warns(Daily Mail) Labour delegates vote for plan that would abolish private schools(The Guardian) Labour members call to 'redistribute' private schools' assets (BBC)

Why should this matter to me? The shadow government’s proposed education policies may seem radical, but they have been met with cautious enthusiasm by many teachers. A Teacher Tapp survey of 4,793 teachers found that 46% supported plans to scrap Ofsted, while 31% opposed it. With the near-constant threat of a snap election, marketing professionals would do well to consider potential strategy changes under a Labour government.

If plans to scrap Ofsted were to progress, it seems likely that schools’ priorities will quickly change, with potential for new suppliers to step in and offer support. Equally, the end of the private school sector would be sure to necessitate a new approach for many suppliers, with the potential for lost income from private institutions to be replaced by that from newly flush state schools working to meet novel government standards.