Textbook politics – how the next election will affect what schools buy

Today the majority of schools in England and Wales will return from recess, while MPs will also return to Westminster to get in stuck into a Parliamentary cycle that will be dominated by the looming General Election. While MPs look towards May 2015, schools will be busy trying to implement the changes brought in by the Government that emerged in May 2010.

The Coalition Government has pushed through sweeping reforms to the school system, which has transformed the way schools work – including what they buy and sell. Many schools must be wondering what further changes must be around the corner, while the multi-billion pound education services market that supports them will surely be equally anxious.

The attention of political debates on education policy over the coming months will understandably focus on how the main political party’s policies will affect educational outcomes for children and young people. What is unlikely to be discussed in any significant detail is how those Parties’ policies will affect what goods and services schools buy and sell. So how do schools and education-based businesses prepare for what might be around the corner?

England’s schools spend over £9 billion on non-staff costs – that’s catering, the energy bills, the gym equipment, the text books and so on. This is a huge sum of public money that feeds a dynamic yet vulnerable market. So Whitehouse has explored how this market will be affected by the next election to allow education services to prepare for potential changes.

Please click the link below for our free expert analysis of the multibillion pound world of textbook politics.

Whitehouse research paper on the future of the education market.

If you have any questions on the paper, politics or education policy, please do not hesitate to contact Whitehouse’s education policy specialists Oliver Cardinali and Rowan Allport on 020 7436 0688.