Education

Education shapes every life chance the state can influence, from early years to university. Policy here covers school funding and standards, teacher recruitment and retention, special educational needs provision that is widely agreed to be in crisis, childcare costs, university finance and the balance between academic and vocational routes. It is an area where the effects of decisions take years to show and where short-term savings can do long-term damage, which makes scrutiny of what is promised against what is funded particularly important.