Keir Starmer speech signals a break from the Nick Gibb “knowledge-rich” approach to education reform –and a possible battle with Ofsted over “creativity”

Keir Starmer appears to have signalled a decisive break away from some central tenets of education reform under the Conservatives since 2010, a possible battle ahead with Ofsted over what matters in the classroom and a departure from seeing academy trusts as central to policy implementation.

These were key implications of a speech this morning by the Labour leader. With the party well ahead in opinion polls, it thus appears to have at least a reasonable chance of having the ability to implement its ideas after a general election, which must happen by January 2025.

So what was the significance of the speech, in terms of some of the ideological battlegrounds of recent years?

Skills

Most striking, perhaps, in Mr Starmer’s speech was the emphasis it placed on “skills”. He said: “This debate about the relative importance of knowledge and skills, people outside the education world are baffled by it – and they’re right. Everyone with their feet on the ground in the real world knows you need both.”