General Election 2024

The next UK General Election will take place on Thursday 4 July 2024, and NFER has identified four key priorities, based on our rigorous research and insights, which we believe should be addressed in each of the major political parties' manifestos:

Teachers: A new long-term strategy to fix the workforce crisis
Skills: Essential skills for tomorrow’s workforce
Funding: Sufficient cash to help children and young people fulfil their
potential
Disadvantage: Ensuring that no one is left behind

To help inform the debate during the election campaign period, please see below a variety of links to research reports, blog posts and webinar recordings related to the four key priorities. More detail on these priorities can be found in our manifesto appeals document.

We have also recently made use of our Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey and asked a representative sample of 1,282 school teachers and senior leaders for their thoughts on the most important issues facing the country and in the education sector.

Teachers: A new long-term strategy to fix the workforce crisis

Teacher Labour Market in England Annual Report 2024

Our annual look at the current teacher supply situation in England offers a range of insights on teacher recruitment, retention, pay and working hours.

What impact might election manifesto pledges have on teacher recruitment and retention?

School Workforce Lead Jack Worth reviews the election manifestos for all of the main political parties, analysing the costs and impact of the solutions offered on teacher recruitment and retention.

Next government needs long-term pay strategy that will help teacher supply challenge

This blog post discusses the costs and potential impacts of different pay strategies on medium-term recruitment and retention.

Teacher Workforce Policy Webinar

The first of our pre-election policy webinars looked at current trends in teacher recruitment and retention in England.

Watch the webinar...

Skills: Essential skills for tomorrow’s workforce

The Skills Imperative 2035

Information about our ongoing strategic research partnership, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which aims to identify the essential employment skills people will need for work by 2035.

Making apprenticeships work for young people

Research Director Luke Bocock discusses anticipated changes to the labour market and the role of apprenticeships in supporting young people.

Apprenticeships are failing as a vehicle for social mobility

This blog post discussed the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy, introduced in 2017, on the number and composition of apprenticeships starts.

What should the next government do to close employer-reported skills gaps in the labour market?

This recent webinar focused on how the main political parties may look to ensure that systems are in place for young people to be properly equipped with skills needed for the future of work.

Watch the webinar...

Funding: Sufficient cash to help children and young people fulfil their potential

Cost Of Living General Election Spotlight

The ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis on schools

New research exploring how the increased cost of living, alongside wider financial pressures, is continuing to impact schools a year on.

Cost-of-living crisis: Impact on schools

This three-part research series, published in September 2023, explored how recent cost-of-living pressures are affected pupils, families, school staff and provision.

Why schools need urgent action to cope with cost-of-living pressures

This blog post summarises the key findings from our three-part research project looking at the impact of recent cost-of-living pressures on schools.

Education Funding Policy Webinar: reflections on the Autumn Statement

This webinar discusses proposals related to school funding and the findings of the 2023 Autumn Statement announcement.

Watch the webinar...

Disadvantage: Ensuring that no one is left behind

Impact of Covid-19-related school closures in Key Stage 1 on attainment and social skills of pupils in Year 3 and Year 4 in academic year 2022/2023

This ongoing study follows a group of the youngest school-aged children during the Covid-19 pandemic to understand the long-term impact of the related disruption on pupils’ attainment and social skills.

The National Tutoring Programme: Evidence based or just popular with parents?

Ben Styles discusses our evaluation of the first year of the National Tutoring Programme, as well as the effectiveness of other tuition schemes.

The MAT Factor

This study highlights the approaches being used by different multi-academy trusts (MAT) to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), following a number of interviews with MAT leaders and school special educational needs coordinators.

Disadvantaged Policy Webinar

This webinar discussed how the main political parties may look to tackle the disadvantage gap in education.

Watch the webinar...