New PM must make educational equity a defining mission

With a new Prime Minister imminent this is a critical moment for education. We want to work with FEA members to ensure the new government commits to tackling educational inequity, provides the funding and delivery needed, and supports place-based partnerships that draw on local expertise and community insight.

Prioritise educational inequity

New data this week from the Education Policy Institute, shows that the gap in educational outcomes between children from low-income backgrounds and their peers remains wider than before the pandemic at every stage of education. The government's own ambition - set out in the 2026 Schools white paper ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’, published earlier this year - is to halve that gap by the time this generation finishes secondary school. On current trends, that ambition is moving further out of reach, not closer.

It is critical that a new PM reaffirms their commitment to this target and establishes a clear delivery plan, with the mechanisms and funding to achieve it - targeting investment towards children from low-income households from the early years onwards, supporting schools and teachers serving communities where the need is greatest, and ensuring clear accountability for closing attainment, attendance and progression gaps. Our Fair Education Report Card, to be published in early September, will set out in more detail where the gaps stand and what is needed to address them.

Work locally with communities and young people - from neighbourhood to national

Greater devolution could create a significant shift in education leadership. But devolution needs to improve children's lives, not simply move decision-making. The question isn't just who makes decisions - it's whether those decisions lead to better outcomes for children and young people from low-income households, particularly those whose opportunities are most constrained by the systems around them.

This requires genuine cross-sector collaboration, rooted in local communities, and informed by the people within them – including young people themselves. Schools can and should play a central role, but no single institution can do this alone. Stronger connections across education, local government, employers, charities and health services are essential to driving change.

Through our Collaboration Partnerships with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, we're working alongside local leaders and partners to understand what effective place-based collaboration looks like in practice. There is a real opportunity for the insights, evidence and experience of FEA members to shape and inform this new government's approach to devolution - and we want to collaborate with all of you to seize it.

Get involved

We want the new Prime Minister to hear the messages above loud and clear. We’ll be writing to the PM and Ministerial teams at DfE and relevant departments to emphasise the points above.

In addition, please also save the date for our Fair Education Report Card launch on 9 September. We’ll be sharing the latest data on where the gaps stand and what is needed to address them. More details to follow.

Rob Doble

Director of Collective Voice

Fair Education Alliance