Education
A school and university system built around what actually helps a young person learn, cope and get on in life, not around tests, labels and outdated fees that do neither.
Our Vision
Upgrade UK believes every child deserves an education that prepares them for real life, not just for the next exam. Teachers should be trusted to teach. Schools should be supported to improve, not just labelled. And when a young person finishes their education, whether at 16, 18 or after a degree, the system should have actually set them up to find work and manage their own life.
The Challenge
Primary school children sit high pressure national tests before they are old enough to fully understand why. Schools live in fear of a single inspection visit that can define their reputation overnight. University graduates leave with large amounts of debt and, in some cases, little practical help finding the job that debt was supposed to lead to. And the compulsory curriculum still assumes every teenager needs science, while treating basic digital skills, the kind needed to open a bank account, apply for a job or use a spreadsheet, as entirely optional.
Cutting Pointless Testing
Primary schools are under enormous pressure to prepare children for high stakes tests that add stress without adding much real insight into how a child is actually doing.
The Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check and Key Stage 2 SATs both cost public money to design, deliver and mark every year, on top of the classroom time spent preparing pupils for them. Teachers already assess pupils continuously throughout the year as part of normal teaching, which gives a fuller picture than a single high pressure test.
Key Policies
- Scrap the statutory Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check, the timed, high pressure format adds stress without giving teachers anything they do not already know from day to day teaching
- Scrap Key Stage 2 SATs and replace them with ongoing teacher assessment, moderated to keep standards consistent across schools
- Redirect the time currently spent on test preparation and revision drilling back into actual teaching and learning
- Keep light touch, low stakes diagnostic checks where they genuinely help a teacher spot a child who needs extra support, without turning them into a pass or fail event
Abolishing Ofsted
Single word Ofsted judgements were scrapped in September 2024 following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, and a new report card system with grades across several areas is now being introduced. Upgrade UK believes this does not go far enough. An inspection system built to judge schools should not exist at all. It should be replaced with a body built to help them.
Key Policies
- Abolish Ofsted entirely and replace it with the Office for School Improvement (OSI), a new public body built around support rather than judgement
- End grades, labels and report cards completely, no school receives a score, ranking or pass or fail result under any system
- Replace inspection visits with improvement visits, OSI teams identify specific underdeveloped areas and set them out clearly and directly to the school
- Require every visit to end with practical, hands on support, OSI specialists work directly alongside staff to fix the exact problems identified, not just report them and leave
- Follow up with a return visit to check progress and offer further support where needed, rather than a pass or fail style re-inspection
- Publish a plain English summary of the areas reviewed and the support provided for transparency, without turning it into a comparison tool or league table between schools
A Fairer Deal After School
Going to university should not mean decades of high interest debt or being left to find a job entirely on your own. Universities benefit from every student who enrols, they should have a real stake in that student's success afterwards too.
The government already publishes graduate earnings and employment data by course and university through the Discover Uni website. Upgrade UK's policy is about making this information impossible to miss, shown clearly on every course page, not buried on a separate government site a prospective student has to know to look for.
Key Policies
- Introduce a lower, fairer cap on student loan interest rates, reviewed regularly so no graduate is paying more in interest than is reasonable for the cost of borrowing
- Require every university to provide active job placement support to students in their final year and shortly after graduating, not just a careers noticeboard or a generic website
- Require every university to publish employment and earnings outcomes for each course clearly on that course's own page, not just in a national database, so students can compare before they apply
- Tie a portion of future funding incentives to universities that demonstrably help their graduates into relevant work
A Curriculum Built For Real Life
Science is currently a compulsory GCSE for every pupil in England, while a GCSE in basic digital and IT skills does not exist at all. Upgrade UK would rebalance this so pupils leave school able to do both the things they are interested in and the things they will actually need.
Key Policies
- Make Science an optional GCSE choice rather than a compulsory subject, so pupils who want to pursue it still can, alongside those who would rather focus their time elsewhere
- Introduce a new compulsory GCSE in practical digital and IT skills, covering the things adult life actually requires such as setting up and managing accounts, using email professionally, building spreadsheets, online safety and basic budgeting tools
- Keep science teaching available and well resourced for every pupil who chooses it, so it remains a strong option rather than being reduced by the change
- Review the wider curriculum on a rolling basis so subjects reflect the skills young people are actually leaving school to use
Why This Matters
Education should build confidence, not anxiety. It should support schools and teachers to do their jobs well, not threaten them with a single label. And it should end with a young person who is genuinely ready, whether that means starting a job, an apprenticeship or continuing study, with the practical skills and financial fairness to make the most of it.