Why Are the UK's Schools Failing (and can Labour fix them)?

In this video, we thought we’d take a look at the UK’s education system, the problems currently facing primary and secondary schools, and how Labour plan to fix things.

Our mission is to explain news and politics in an impartial, efficient, and accessible way, balancing import and interest while fostering independent thought.

TLDR is a completely independent & privately owned media company that's not afraid to tackle the issues we think are most important. The channel is run by a small group of young people, with us hoping to pass on our enthusiasm for politics to other young people. We are primarily fan sourced with most of our funding coming from donations and ad revenue. No shady corporations, no one telling us what to say. We can't wait to grow further and help more people get informed. Help support us by subscribing, engaging and sharing. Thanks!

[beardedjb]

I was a newly qualified teacher in 2020. I probably worked 50-55 hours a week. And my case isn't unique, but I recognise it may not be the norm either. But I had to make my own materials, I was given little support in the classroom as a new teacher and despite writing my research paper on NOT doing homework being better for pupils, especially those in low income households, I was FORCED to adopt the schools homework policy. At least 1 homework assignment every week for every class I teach. Then marking books, marking the homework, planning lessons, extra curriculars (some mandated by the school) - it adds up.

I left. I work in software development now and get paid close to double, I work from home, I get a bonus, private medical, adequate equipment and am encouraged to work NO MORE than 38 hours a week (we get told off for working more unless otherwise approved). My life is so much better, no scale that I was using before could possibly comprehend it.

I was a good teacher. I was awarded the teacher excellence, I passed my course with distinctions and my paper was shortlisted for publication (it didnt make it). I enjoyed teaching Biology KS3-4 and sixthform, I LOVED teaching, but I hated the job and I promised myself I wouldn't workmyself into depression/hating their life like I saw from friends and family who were teachers. So I left - all that tax free money as bursary given to me that I had every intention to go into teaching as a career - wasted because I the job sucks on a scale I can't even describe properly.

[Mmjk_]

Im a fourth year uni student now, but back when i was a year 7 my school was great, loads of support, resources and opportunities for kids. By year 13 half the languages like Italian, Greek and Latin had been cut completely, all the sports teams funding had been slashed, extracurricular clubs like music, cooking and theatre too. Computers never got repaired/replaced, trips abroad stopped and there were hardly any teachers, half the lessons were substituted. That was one of the best grammar schools in the country... I feel so sorry for the poor bastards going through education now.

[Sheev]

My mum is a teaching assistant and she has an awful time. The kids are only 6 or 7 years old and they regularly assault and threaten staff, throw furniture around and attack other children. Lots of them always refuse to do what they're told and the SEN specialist just lets them do whatever they want all the time so they never learn anything.

[JamesRoyceDawson]

Hiring more teachers won’t do anything if they don’t raise pay or reduce our admin. This is like asking 9 women to make a baby in 1 month

[trevorb]

Failed to mention that 40000 teachers quit last year> An extra 6500 teachers (basically one teacher per school) is nothing. Also, in order to reduce the number of hours worked per teacher, the workforce actually needs to be expanded by, say, 20%.

[scottbrick]

Teachers quit schools because they are constantly harassed by kids with no respect or discipline, I'm 18 and I remember my high school as hell on earth so I feel sorry for the teachers that got completely bullied by the kids. This should be the focus as teachers cannot teach when they are constantly dealing with kids causing trouble

[Andrew_BIake]

I can say teaching is just not worth the effort!

I was a teacher for two years (my bachelors and masters are in Biomedical Science and officially hold a PGCE) and quit in December 2019. Kind of luckily for me, when the pandemic hit, this kind of catapulted my into healthcare science again they were taking anyone and everyone they could get! I frequently worked 60+ hour weeks just to get my marking done, plan lessons, adjust lessons for SEN students... just not worth it! Yes that included school holidays and weekends...

I can assure you, absolutely nothing, not even a six figure salary would get me back into a classroom again!

EDIT:
Where I work now (I work in the NHS and when I get home, I switch off, I don't keep working!), I can say my stress levels are much lower (I analyse all those samples you have taken from you i.e. blood, spinal fluid, pee, tissue fluid etc...) and the patients have respect for the staff, unlike in school where I was effectively bullied for trying to do my job...

[Kwippy]

Just like the NHS, everybody in Britain wants the system improved, but very few are prepared to pay more tax to make it happen. Shuffling money around, and cutting inefficiency isn't going to do it. Nor would cutting aid to Ukraine and kicking out immigrants going to help. Also, Britain is haemorrhaging good teachers to the UAE and the Far East, where they get far superior pay and working condition, students who are eager to learn, and safety from abuse and violence.

[SkepticalTeacher]

Children have no boundaries. Start there! Signed, A. Teacher.

[henryginn]

I was a trainee teacher, and imo the most stupid thing about how the UK education system is run is not meeting students where they are at. To understand trig you first need to have a decent understanding of ratio and proportion, measure and length, and geometry. It does not matter whether the students do not understand those things, when they get to year 8 they will be learning trig either way. There seems to be resistance to organising students by ability/understanding, but personally I think it makes more sense to have students of all ages learning ability appropriate content, i.e. classes with students from different year groups.

[jmartins]

I’m a Canadian who taught in England from 2018-2020… it’s not just the excessive workload that is driving teachers away, but also some of the abhorrent behaviour that is seen in these classrooms that impact teachers’ mental health. Every teacher that I have met that has also taught in England have made similar comments. As well, there don’t seem to be enough resources to meet students where they are at and give them extended support to ensure they’re getting the most out of the education system. I think there has to be a lot of soul searching done in the English education system.

[tomburns]

I do enjoy the content men. However I think the media and politics are missing the biggest problem in teaching (in my opinion).

I am a teacher that was in my third year in the UK before leaving to another country. I loved the job and found the workload was manageable. However, what made me unhappy was watching children rule the roost and take no responsibility for their own learning. It was all on the teacher. Furthermore, Schools have no power what so ever to enforce their own policies. If a student breaks the rules consistently, abuses staff or other students, what can the school do? Pretty much nothing is the answer. Detentions, students don’t attend, temporary exclusion, has no impact, permanent exclusion, too expensive as it costs the school £10000. I know one student cost my old school £27000 to exclude. The student in question put another on intensive care and physically assaulted a member of staff. Still cost £27000 to remove from the school.

[RedJadeArt]

Personally I’m worried about the safety of kids who are being taught by teachers that are overworked. Teachers all get training in being vigilant for signs of abuse and neglect, but someone who is working 50+ hours a week is going to miss something sooner or later, and kids could get hurt as a result.

It’s hardly unreasonable for us to make sacrifices in terms of money to make improvements here.

[morganylong]

The 7 MPs didn’t vote against a move to scrap the 2 child cap, they voted in favour of it, hence why the whip was withdrawn as it was against Labour’s position at the time

[PLuMUK]

In the years leading up to my retirement, I was averaging 70+ hours a week. My working day began at 07:00. Often, I was waiting for the caretaker to unlock. I began with marking until 08:30. The rest of my day was spent teaching, marking, dealing with pupils' problems (usually during break or lunchtime), and sometimes having to cover a lesson (where I was expected to take the pupils through their work, even if I knew nothing about the topic). As I began early, I left early, at 15:30. Between 16:00 and 17:30 I'd relax and have a meal. By 17:30, I'd begun my lesson preparation, working until 20:00 or 21:00. Saturday was a day off, then Sunday I'd often do an additional 8 hours.

Being a teacher is like being Alice in Through the Looking Glass. You run and run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place.

No doubt some will point to the holidays. I usually had 2 weeks off in Summer, the rest was spent on preparation, including spending several days in school getting my room ready. I far exceeded the hours for which I was paid. Without the goodwill of teachers working beyond their contracted hours, schools would be even worse.

This is the reality for many teachers. Admittedly, there are those who do the bare minimum, but they are a small minority. I taught in a school with high expectations of staff and pupils. I also believed that it was my duty to provide the best level of education that I could.

If Starmer wants to improve schools, then this workload is a priority. I loved my job, I happily worked as hard as I could, but there came a time when I could no longer cope. My health was suffering. My mental health was suffering. I decided to take early retirement before I had a physical and mental collapse. Looking back, I've no idea how I coped. I worked under both Conservative and Labour and can only say that neither supported teachers. It seemed as if they both went out of their way to make teacher's lives difficult. It is as if governments want schools to do the worst job possible in order to create pliant wage slaves. They do not care about the people of this country at all.

[jayjaypen]

Uneccessary school policies just to impress Ofsted that just end up overburdening teachers. Poor behaviour of students and soft leadership. Unsupportive parents who expect too much from schools and don't parent their children at home sufficiently.

[Randomman_]

At my school, our free meals used to be worth £2.55 (If you get free meals like I do, the school throw the money at you for you to then use), then a year ago the price went up 20p and they took away some drink options because they were becoming expensive and now the meals are worth £2.90 and you no longer get any sort of drink (not even a bottle of water) due to the crisis. This is the best High School in my area and one of the top 15 within my local council and 71st best in my County, for all of that at least five them some funding?

[deadby]

it'll be VERY difficult to have positive effects unless the whole society starts to have different perspectives.
kids don't behave as you tell them, but behave just as you do yourself. is the society at large functioning as a good example?

[ArtSmart]

I’ve been a secondary school teacher for 9 years (started teaching under Micheal Gove) and this video doesn’t even come close to outlining the complete and utter mess eduction is in. A 5.5% pay raise, breakfast clubs and an empty promise of 6, 500 extra teacher will have a minor impact.

[Amberxxbbunni]

My dads a highschool maths teacher. He left the school he had been working at for over decade and was a substitute teacher for a little bit. They made my dad teach French and German.. to this day, he doesn't know a word in French or German. I can only imagine how chaotic those lessons were