Education - types of school

• Educational policy


  The actions and programmes of government bodies and agencies that aim to deal with a problem or achieve a goal in education. Educational policies are often passed as laws by parliament.
• Selective


  How a school selects/chooses which students can attend - Selection by ability – entrance tests (11+), Selection by aptitude – talents e.g., sports, drama, art, Selection by faith or Selection by economic means
• General aims of educational policies

  • To create equality of educational opportunity (the principle that all people should be provided with an equal chance to succeed in education)
  • To raise educational standards – UK education needs to compete in a global education market and is ranked against other countries – e.g., PISA
  • To create Economic Efficiency by developing the skills of the young to improve the labour force. This involves making the education system meet the needs of industry and employers
  • To create a meritocracy (pupils are rewarded for talent/ability rather than social background)
• Tripartite System (1944)

  • Free secondary education (state maintained)
  • Selective - 11+
  • Three types of school: Grammar schools, Secondary modern schools, Technical schools
  • Parity of esteem - each school was meant to be of equal status and quality
• Tripartite System

  Reducing inequality - Functionalists claim that working class children benefited from free secondary education. Thus opportunities for upward social mobility (moving from a lower social class position to a higher one) were created.
• Tripartite System

  Reproducing inequality - Parity of esteem did not exist - The nature of the 11+ favoured MC students. The tripartite system was very divisive and reproduced the class structure/inequality.
• Tripartite System

  Legitimating inequality - The system served to legitimate (make seem acceptable) social inequality by creating the belief that the education system and society was meritocratic.
• Comprehensive schools (1965)

  • Free (state maintained)
  • Non-selective
  • Mixed abilities and social backgrounds
• Comprehensive schools

  Reducing inequality - They prevent wasted talent. They offer more equality of educational opportunity than the tripartite system.
• Comprehensive schools

  Reproducing inequality - Many comprehensive schools set or stream students. MC students are often placed in the top streams and WC students often being placed in bottom sets. Some comprehensive schools receive more funding than others e.g. a lot of 'converter academies' and 'free schools' in MC areas.
• Comprehensive schools

  Legitimating inequality - Because of these problems comprehensives serve to legitimate inequality through the 'myth of meritocracy'. They create the illusion of equality when in fact they are unequal.
• Private Schools

  • Fee paying
  • Selective
  • Assessed by ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate)
• Private Schools


  Reducing inequality - Most private schools offer scholarships to allow talented students from poorer backgrounds to attend the schools. A number pf private schools such as Eton and Brighton College also offer expertise, exchanges and support to local state schools.
• Private Schools

  Reproducing inequality - Fee paying schools split society into two. The existence of private schools divides society into those who can afford to benefit from private education and those who can't. Private schools serve to re-create the class structure.
• Offering private schools fits in with policy because it is a current example of marketisation (see LT2). Also governments have legislated to allow private schools to have tax breaks by giving them charitable status (worth £165m a year).
• Private schools undoubtedly create inequality. However, postmodernists believe they do provide vital choice in the education system.