The Fair Education Alliance 2019 General Election Manifesto

In light of the upcoming general election The Fair Education Alliance has released a manifesto.

In this manifesto we are calling for a long-term, cross-governmental department and strategic commitment to work with us to tackle inequalities in education.

Based upon The Fair Education Alliance priorities, the manifesto calls for the government to focus on things that will make the biggest difference to closing the disadvantage gap. 

They are:

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Supporting world-class teachers and leaders

to work in the most disadvantaged communities

Great teaching has shown time and time again to have a transformational effect on student outcomes. However, schools in areas with high levels of deprivation are more likely to struggle to attract teachers and retain them. 

We are calling for: 

Investment in professional and leadership development for teachers and school leaders.

We want a renewed focus and investment in continuous personal development, leadership development and teacher well-being to attract and keep staff in the education profession, particularly in areas of high disadvantage. 

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Creating an education system that develops the whole child

one which values and promotes skills and well-being alongside academic attainment.

Decreased school funding alongside rigorous accountability measures have forced schools to make tough decisions about what they deliver to their pupils. Often the first thing to go in schools are activities which develop social and emotional skills and well being such as extra-curricular activities, pastoral care or beyond-curriculum learning. 

We are calling for an education system that delivers on skills and well being alongside academic attainment to prepare all children to learn no matter their background and to achieve their potential in and out of school, no matter their socio-economic background. 

We are calling for: 

A shared language and framework for skills development using the Skills Builder Partnership framework. 

This needs to be embedded in all schools and learning environments to ensure that every child develops the skills they need to thrive. 

An education system that isn’t solely focused on grades and attainment measures. We want more emphasis on whole school approaches to well being and development of social and emotional competencies. 

This should be an outcome of education in and of itself, but is also essential to enable improvements in attainment. We welcome the recent inclusion of character in DfE strategy and steps to include metrics around this in Ofsted measures and would like to build on this

An education system that doesn’t stop at the school gates. 

Parental engagement should be a critical component of education and we should be working with communities and parents to develop learning in the home and community


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Improving support for all post-16 routes

enabling every young person to fulfil their potential after school.

The post-16 education and training landscape is more complex than ever, and many students lack the information, support and guidance to make decisions about their next steps – whether that be further education, an apprenticeship, university, or employment. Currently this means that those from disadvantaged backgrounds are still six times as likely to be recorded as not in education, training or employment after age 16. 

We are calling for:

Increased collaboration between employers and post-16 education providers in the way they provide information about the range of options available and how they are interconnected. 

We support the work of the Careers & Enterprise Company and would like this to continue under future government policy. 


Continuing to embed a whole school approach to careers and post-16 progression in schools. 

We welcomed the policy of a designated careers leader in every school in 2018 and would also like this to continue.

How you can get involved and make a difference this election…

Share The Fair Education Alliance Manifesto through your communication channels with employees, partners, your members, teachers, young people and anyone else that you may work with.

We’ve even drafted a handy Tweet you can share here:

Use the Fair Education Manifesto to lobby your local MP candidates on the policies you want to see. 

We’ve drafted a template below for you to edit: