The soft bigotry of low expectations

The previous secretary of state for education, Bridget Phillipson, was not exactly popular with Conservatives from Kemi Badenoch down. 

We argued at the last election that the policy of taxing independent schools would not stop the very rich from sending their children to the likes of Eton and Harrow but would stop some of the less-well-off who would otherwise have scrimped and saved to send their children to schools which they thought would give them a better life, thereby paying twice and saving the state the cost of educating those children.

Sure enough, 2026 data suggests that Labour's taxes on private education have resulted in a 30,000 drop in the number of children attending them, a 3.5% fall in enrolment. This is a larger fall and a faster one than ministers had planned for. Exactly as Conservatives and others predicted, far from helping the great majority of children who attend state schools, that means 30,000 more children having to fit into the same, now more overcrowded state school classrooms and putting an increased load on state school budgets which will undoubtedly in at least some LEA and academy schools have made things more difficult than they would otherwise have been.

But at least Bridget Phillipson's attack on Independent schools was included in the Labour manifesto and debated during the 2024 general election, so unlike many of the other dire things which happened under Sir Keir Starmer, nobody can say Labour didn't make clear before the election they were going to do this.

The same cannot be said for the even more alarming words from the new secretary of state for education, Lucy Powell, who has promised to end the supposed "over-focus on academic outcomes."

As Michael Gove wrote in The Times yesterday, this sounds innocuous but it is a recipe for "Bring Back Stupid."





















It was a real achievement of the years 2010 to 2024 that focus on the basics and on excellence resulted in more children attending schools rated "good" or "outstanding" and a steady improvement in Britain's position in international league tables (especially in England where education policy was under the control of the UK government. Education in Scotland and Wales is devolved to the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly respectively.)

Reducing the focus on academic emphasis may well be popular but it will have disastrous consequences for the children educated in this way, especially those who come from less advantaged backgrounds.

They will be held back by the soft bigotry of low expectations.


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