Mike Foster - Labour

Education remains our number one priority.

In our first term we recruited more teachers, placed the emphasis on literacy and numeracy, and we drove up primary school results, like in Gorse Hill, where Key Stage 2 results rose by 145 per cent.

In our second term we focused on secondary schools, reforming the curriculum to offer a broader choice while still challenging the most able pupils.

Now we want to tailor the system to fit every individual pupil's needs.

In Worcester, Labour will

Ensure all primary school pupils have a broad curriculum including music, art, sport and languages.

Continue to rebuild or refurbish schools - including every single secondary school in Worcester.

Continue to increase funding for local schools, already more than £1,100 per pupil higher than in 1997.

Margaret Harper Conservative

In Worcester, Conservatives will provide the funding for a new Christopher Whitehead school, putting an end to years of uncertainly, and narrow the funding gap between Worcestershire schools and surrounding areas.

Children deserve a good education.

Conservatives will enable teachers to provide this by

Giving complete control to headteachers so they can expel disruptive pupils.

Abolishing appeals panels, which can overrule headteachers' decisions to expel pupils.

Investing £200m in a network of ''Turnaround Schools'' for expelled pupils.

Abolishing the restrictions stopping good schools from expanding and new ones opening, and allowing parents more choice over where their children go to school.

Introducing a Teacher Protection Bill to give teachers protection from malicious allegations.

On May 5 the choice is clear.

It's time to take a stand. For school discipline, vote Conservative.

Mary Dhonau-Lib Dem

The low level of education funding in Worcester by this Government is a scandal, yet nothing has been done to rectify the discrimination.

I will work with our vociferous campaigners to demand an urgent review of central government support.

If the Liberal Democrats came into power the following changes would be made:-

Class sizes would be cut to a maximum of 20 for all five to seven-year-olds and to a maximum of 25 for all seven to 11-year-olds.

The abolition of unnecessary tests for 7 and 11 year olds.

Where children persistently cause disruption, the school will agree externally monitored 'positive behaviour plans' - successfully tried and tested locally - but if necessary, behavioural support units to tackle exceptional problems.

All students over 14 will have the chance to combine vocational and academic learning.

All tuition fees and top-up fees scrapped and maintenance grants for students from low-income families introduced.

ALL major parties have listed education as one of the key election battlegrounds, but deciphering what their policies actually mean for Worcester's schools is not so easy.

After all, the oft-repeated ''education, education, education'' may be a catchy slogan - in political speeches, things always sound good in threes - but it is hardly a detailed blueprint for the future of our schools.

The problem is that when party leaders announce their manifestos it all seems a little gimmicky and far removed from the reality of day-to-day life in a Worcester school.

As if to echo the confusion, a Worcester News survey found the election too close to call in the city, with the majority - 28 per cent of 1,000 asked - undecided which way to vote.

To cut through the rhetoric, Worcester's three leading candidates - Labour's Mike Foster, Conservative Margaret Harper and Liberal Democrat Mary Dhonau - spell out exactly what they have in mind for Worcester schools.

Consider this a cut-out-and-keep guide to education in Worcester.

Policies have been laid out and promises made in black and white - it's up to the electorate to ensure their chosen candidate delivers on these pledges to our schools.

Year group ban to boost performance

AN under-achieving secondary school is abolishing all year groups in a bid to raise its ''unacceptable'' academic performance.

Pupils at Bridgemary School, in Gosport, Hampshire, will be mixed according to ability rather than age, with the brightest taking exams years early.

Only a quarter of its 11 to 16-year-old pupils currently gain five A* to C grades at GCSE or equivalent, less than half the national average.

"This is about making sure the bright kids are pushed and that those with less academic ability are not left behind," said headteacher Cheryl Heron.

"Children will be able to work according to their own needs and raise their expectations."

Heads to get tough on parents

HEADTEACHERS have said they are increasingly being abused, threatened and assaulted by parents.

The National Association of Head Teachers said, in January alone, five school heads were attacked by parents, while 10 were threatened by them.

At its annual conference in Telford at the weekend, the NAHT called for tougher action against abusive parents.

Too few suitable jobs for graduates

TWO thirds of students graduating from leading UK universities this summer fear there are not enough suitable jobs for them, a survey has revealed.

Interviews with 16,113 students at 30 colleges and universities found that just 36 per cent expect to enter a graduate-level job when they leave.

The figure was slightly up on last year, but well down on the peak of 49 per cent recorded in a similar UK Graduate Careers Survey, in 1998.

Despite this, the survey suggested that graduates expected to earn an average of £19,800 for their first job, with London the preferred employment destination for a third of graduates.