Have two years of Labour moved the key data points in schools?

It has been two years since the Labour government came to power, with the party’s manifesto promising major education reforms, including new Ofsted inspections and 6,500 more teachers.

Since then the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act has become law and the government has launched its first wave of free breakfast clubs, published a schools White Paper and SEND reform plans, and completed a curriculum review.

The Education for All Bill is the government’s next legislative priority for schools, bringing together reforms to special educational needs and disabilities provision, as the government pushes towards creating a more inclusive mainstream school system.

The impact of many of Labour’s biggest reforms will not be felt fully for several years, with key changes to the SEND system not expected to come into effect until 2029.

However, heads are already facing new responsibilities on behaviour, safeguarding, admissions, inspection, inclusion, attendance and support for pupils with SEND, with budgets remaining under pressure.

Now, as the party looks to change leadership after prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that he will step down, Tes assesses how Labour has performed against its plans, and looks at the changes to the school sector since it took office in July 2024.

Teacher workforce falls but DfE claims progress

Teacher recruitment is one of Labour’s flagship pledges. The party’s manifesto promised to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers in key subjects. It did not mention which phases of education this recruitment target would apply to.

Tes revealed last year that primary schools have not been included in the target. Instead the government is focusing on teacher numbers in secondary schools, special schools and further education.

This has become a source of controversy, with the Conservative Party accusing the government of moving the goalposts from its original pledge.

The Department for Education is using the November 2023 School Workforce Census as its baseline for measuring new entrants to the profession.

The government has claimed that it is making progress towards meeting its target. It points to there being 4,654 more teachers in the system in its target areas.

However, DfE data also shows that, since 2023, there are now 7,077 fewer full-time equivalent primary school teachers in the system.

Separate data also shows that the proportion of hours taught by teachers with a relevant post-A-level qualification in secondary schools fell across all key stages from 2024-25 to 2025-26, with Years 7-9 having the lowest proportion, at 84.3 per cent.

The number of teachers needed in the system is a complex question due to falling pupil rolls.

Labour’s first two years have coincided with a rapid decline in the school population.

There were 8,920,227 pupils in England in 2025-26, down 112,200 from the previous year, following a 59,600 decline in 2024-25.

There will be 924,839 fewer pupils by 2030 compared with this year, according to DfE projections.

Pay has been an area cited as being a barrier to growing the number of teachers.

Teachers received a fully funded 5.5 per cent pay rise in 2024-25, followed by a 4 per cent award in 2025-26, although schools were expected to fund 1 percentage point of this latter award from efficiencies.

The government has now confirmed a 3.5 per cent rise for 2026-27 and a 3 per cent rise for 2027-28, although schools will need to find at least 1 percentage point of each pay award.

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that despite above-inflation pay rises, most teachers’ salaries will still be around 7 per cent lower in real terms in 2027-28 than in 2010-11.

Recruitment incentives are also being cut in several subjects, with bursaries removed entirely for English, art and design, music and religious education from 2026-27.

Attendance improves amid behaviour concerns

There has been some progress on improving school attendance, but absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.

The attendance rate across the 2025-26 academic year, up to 12 June (this is the latest data available), was 93.26 per cent, with an absence rate of 6.74 per cent.

The absence rate was 6.9 per cent across 2024-25, although it often rises later in the summer term.

The rate of persistent absence - defined as pupils missing 10 per cent or more of their sessions - was 18.06 per cent up to 12 June 2026, a 0.31 percentage point fall compared with the same point last year.

The picture on suspensions and exclusions is more mixed: there were 335,671 suspensions in autumn 2024-25, down from 346,279 in autumn 2023-24, while permanent exclusions fell from 4,168 to 3,715.

But suspensions increased in spring 2024-25 compared with the previous spring, rising from 295,559 to 312,562, while permanent exclusions rose from 3,107 to 3,320.

SEND demand continues to rise

One of the biggest pressures on schools cited by heads is SEND provision.

There were 538,547 pupils in schools in England with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in 2025-26, up 11.6 per cent from 2024-25.

A further 1,319,780 pupils were receiving SEN support without an EHCP in 2025-26, up 2.8 per cent year on year.

Overall, more than 1.8 million pupils in England now have special educational needs, an increase of 91,400 pupils in a year.

SEN support is the category of support provided in schools for pupils with SEND who do not have an EHCP.

There has also been some growth in specialist provision within mainstream schools: 514 schools were recorded as having SEN units in January 2026, up from 449 the previous year, while schools with resourced provision rose from 1,217 to 1,309.

EHCP demand to rise until 2030

The government is proposing major reforms of the SEND provision system, including changing how EHCPs operate.

When its reforms come into effect, which should be in 2029-30, EHCPs will be underpinned by a number of specialist provision packages that will define the support pupils can expected to receive depending on their needs.

As the country moves to a new system, some pupils could move off an EHCP when they reach the end of their current phase of education. Children currently above Year 2 will not be affected, but pupils in Year 2 and below will have their EHCP reviewed at the end of their primary school education.

In a forecast published alongside the reform proposals earlier this year, the DfE said it estimated that the percentage of pupils with an EHCP would continue to rise initially - from 5.3 per cent in 2024-25 to 7.7 per cent in 2029-30 - before dropping to 4.7 per cent by 2034-35, broadly in line with current levels.

Pupil funding and cost pressures

School funding has increased in cash terms under Labour, but the situation is more complex once inflation and cost pressures are taken into account.

And finances have been further stretched by events beyond the government’s control, notably the war in Iran, which has fuelled inflation and higher energy costs.

Average per-pupil funding rose from £7,920 in 2024-25 to £8,210 in 2025-26, a 3.7 per cent increase, or 1.2 per cent after inflation.

The DfE’s own schools cost analysis says mainstream school funding is expected to rise by 1.9 per cent in 2026-27.

However, experts warn that as minimum per-pupil funding levels have been effectively frozen from 2025-26 to 2026-27, once grants rolled into core funding are stripped out, schools will have a real increase of just 0.02 per cent.

The high-needs national funding formula has also been suspended for 2026-27, with councils receiving allocations largely rolled forward from 2025-26.

School meal funding has also caused financial pressure, with schools currently receiving £2.61 per pupil meal, only 27p more than in 2020.

The government will expand free school meals from September to all children in households receiving universal credit, claiming this will benefit more than half a million children.

Early years and breakfast manifesto pledges

Labour has made visible progress on two of its manifesto commitments.

The government says children in England have received an estimated 10 million free breakfasts through the primary school breakfast club programme, with more than 300,000 children taking part across 1,250 clubs since the programme began.

A further 1,000 schools will be offering free breakfast clubs from September, the DfE announced today.

Labour also pledged to open 3,000 new primary school-based nurseries by the end of the Parliament.

So far, 300 school-based nursery capital grants were awarded in 2024-25 and 331 in 2025-26, with £82 million allocated across the first two phases of the programme.

Mental health teams

Labour pledged in its manifesto that every school and college will have access to mental health support teams by the end of 2029.

Last month it said nearly 6 million children and young people could now access mental health support in their school or college.

This is up 800,000 compared with last year, with support teams now working in almost 11,800 schools across the country, the DfE said.

However, last month MPs were told that it will take a “heroic effort” to meet the government’s target, casting doubts over whether it will be achieved.

Ofsted changes

One of the most immediate changes for schools this academic year was the new Ofsted inspection framework.

As it promised, the government scrapped overall effectiveness grades with immediate effect in 2024 after winning the election. And Ofsted has now introduced a report card inspection framework.

As of 31 May, 1,257 schools had been inspected under the new system.

On inclusion, a new area that Ofsted is inspecting under this report card framework, 23 schools were rated “exceptional”, 434 “strong standard”, 672 “expected standard”, 117 “needs attention” and 11 “urgent improvement”.

For curriculum and teaching, 265 schools were rated “needs attention” and 20 “urgent improvement”.

On achievement, 18 schools were rated “exceptional”, 206 “strong standard”, 668 “expected standard”, 337 “needs attention” and 28 “urgent improvement”.

Labour will also introduce Ofsted inspections of multi-academy trusts, with £20 million committed to the project. These could start in the 2027-28 academic year.

MAT inspections will focus on leadership, governance and impact, school improvement, high-quality education, support for staff, use of resources and promoting pupil wellbeing.

Trust growth and consolidation

The number of academies and free schools has continued to grow, from 10,955 in July 2024 to 11,985 in June 2026, while the number of academy trusts has fallen from 2,247 to 2,071, showing continued consolidation in the trust sector.

But 58 school closures and 76 amalgamations or mergers have been recorded in total across 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Direct school funding changes

Some of Labour’s changes have also involved scrapping or redesigning existing funding.

The PE and sport premium, which gave £320 million a year directly to primary schools, is being replaced by a new network of sports bodies, with yearly funding around 20 per cent less than current levels.

The Condition Improvement Fund is also due to be replaced by autumn 2028, with the DfE promising a system that will allow eligible schools to access maintenance funding without submitting a full bid.

Academy trusts have seen the Trust Capacity Fund cut, the academy conversion support grant ended and funding for admission appeals removed.