The Liberal Democrats have pledged to increase school funding above inflation, spend an extra 拢1.9 billion a year on buildings and include arts subjects in the EBacc. The party’s also commits to reform Ofsted, curriculum and assessment, and the expansion of extra-curricular activities and extension of free school meals and the pupil premium. Conservatives manifesto 2024: All the schools policies The party 拢2.17 billion by 2028, while its capital plans will cost 拢1.9 billion a year. But beyond capital, no breakdown for individual proposals has been provided. Schools Week previously estimated that proposals signed off at last year鈥檚 Lib Dem conference could cost more than 拢9 billion. However, not all of those policies have made it into the manifesto. For example, extending free school meals to all primary schools is a longer-term ambition. The party said it would raise revenue by reversing cuts to bank taxes, reforming capital gains tax, taxing oil and gas profits and raising the digital services tax, among other initiatives. Here’s your Schools Week round-up of all the schools policies … School funding and pay Increase school and college funding per-pupil above the rate of inflation every year End the 鈥渟candal of crumbling school and college buildings鈥 by investing in new buildings and 鈥渃learing the backlog of repairs鈥. This will cost 拢1.9 billion a year, with 拢900 million coming from redirecting capital funding 鈥渇or unnecessary new free schools鈥 Reform the school teachers鈥 review body to make it 鈥減roperly independent of government and able to recommend fair pay rises for teachers, and fully funding those rises every year鈥 Teacher training and development Create a teacher workforce strategy to 鈥渆nsure that every secondary school child is taught by a specialist teacher in their subject鈥 Fund teacher training so all posts in school are paid Introduce a 鈥渃lear and properly funded programme of high-quality professional development for all teachers, including training on effective parental engagement鈥 Curriculum and assessment Establish a commission to broaden the curriculum and 鈥渕ake qualifications at 16 and 18 fit for the 21st century鈥, drawing on 鈥渂est practice such as the International Baccalaureate鈥 and ensuring children learn 鈥渃ore skills such as critical thinking, verbal reasoning and creativity鈥 Strengthen careers advice and links with employers in schools and colleges Include arts subjects in the English Baccalaureate and give power to Ofsted to monitor the curriculum so that schools continue to provide subjects like art, music or drama Expand extracurricular activities, such as sport, music, drama, debating and coding, starting with a 鈥渘ew free entitlement for disadvantaged children鈥 Accountability Reform Ofsted inspections and end single-word judgements 鈥渟o that parents get a clear picture of the true strengths and weaknesses of each school, and schools get the guidance and support they need to improve鈥 Implement a new parental engagement strategy, 鈥渋ncluding a regular, published parent survey鈥 and guidance for schools on 鈥減roviding accessible information to parents on what their children are learning鈥 SEND Give councils extra funding to reduce the amount schools pay towards the cost of children鈥檚 education, health and care plans Set up a new 鈥淣ational Body for SEND鈥 to fund support for children with very high needs Free school meals and pupil premium Extend free school meals to all children in poverty, with an ambition to extend them to all primary school children 鈥渨hen the public finances allow鈥 Introduce a 鈥淵oung People鈥檚 Premium鈥, extending pupil premium funding to disadvantaged young people aged 16-18 Extend pupil premium plus funding to children in kinship care, and guarantee any child taken into care a school place within three weeks, if required to move schools Other policies Give LAs the power and resources to act as 鈥淪trategic Education Authorities鈥 for their area, including responsibility for places planning, exclusions, administering admissions including in-year admissions, and SEND functions Put a 鈥渄edicated, qualified mental health professional in every primary and secondary school鈥, paid-for by increasing the digital services tax Introduce a 鈥淭utoring Guarantee鈥 for every disadvantaged pupil who needs extra support Set up a register of children who are not in school, and work 鈥渢o understand and remove underlying barriers to attendance鈥 Tackle bullying in schools by 鈥減romoting pastoral leadership in schools and delivering high-quality relationships and sex education鈥 Appoint a cabinet minister for children and young people Return to the Erasmus Plus programme as an associated country Set up an independent advocacy body for children鈥檚 safety online Addressing the 鈥渦nderfunding and neglect鈥 of children鈥檚 mental health services, youth services and youth justice services