Our national priorities
We want to give every child the fair start they deserve through a huge transformation of our education system that will build the foundations of fair society.
That means cutting class sizes so children get the individual attention they need to thrive.
The Liberal Democrats will be putting an extra £2.5 billion into schools to pay for more teachers, better discipline and catch-up classes so children get the individual attention they all need. This means an average of £2,500 extra per pupil for the schools teaching the million most deprived children in the country, funded by taking above-average earners out of the tax credit system and cutting wasteful programmes at the Department for Education.
The Liberal Democrats will also phase out tuition fees over the course of six years, so that, after school, everyone who gets the grades has the opportunity to go to university without fear of debt, no matter what their background.
| Year | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Scrap fees for final year full-time students |
| 2 | Begin regulating part-time fees |
| 3 | Part time fees become regulated and fee loans become available to part time students |
| 4 | Expand free tuition to all full-time students apart from first year undergraduates |
| 5 | Expand free tuition to all part-time students apart from first year undergraduates |
| 6 | Scrap tuition fees for all first degree students |