Commenting on the Department for Education’s ‘Levelling Up’ plans, NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union General Secretary, Dr Patrick Roach, said:

“Education is one of the most powerful tools to level up outcomes for young people and communities, but the latest levelling up plans from the government risk diverting even more money away from the frontline in schools and colleges where it is needed most.

“Structural changes and academisation of schools are not a recipe for delivering better outcomes for pupils. Substantial additional investment is needed in the workforce in our schools and colleges.

“The Government will not deliver on its levelling up ambitions by threatening schools or by heaping yet more responsibilities onto teachers and school leaders. Extra resources need to be found to incentivise teachers to stay in the profession and action taken to remove the excessive workload burdens that are continuing to have a profoundly damaging impact on teacher recruitment, retention, and morale.

“Teachers have been picking up the pieces of Government failures for more than a decade, as vital services for children, young people and families have been eroded and lost. Improving the life chances of children in all areas, especially those areas of greatest disadvantage, will require better coordination and the reinstatement of a statutory duty on schools and other children’s services to work together, reversing the damaging decisions taken by Ministers a decade ago.