Education Policies

• Examples of Policies


  • The Tripartite System (1944): this change introduced the 11+, grammar schools, technical schools, and secondary moderns. 
  • New Vocationalism (1976): introduced more vocational courses to tackle unemployment. 
  • The Education Reform Act (1988): introduced the national curriculum, league tables, and standardised testing. 
• 1997 New Labour Act

   

   The New Labour education policies of 1997 sought to raise standards, increase diversity and choice within the British education system. 

  One way in which these education policies attempted to raise standards was by reducing class sizes. 

  New Labour also notably introduced one hour of reading and numeracy. This was shown overtime to raise the level of both maths and English pass rates.
• Comprehensive system


  Established in the 1960s as criticism arose against the inequalities of the tripartite system
• Comprehensive system


  1. Three types of schools combined into a singular school

  2. All schools of equal status

  3. Offered the same opportunities for learning and success
• Comprehensive school


  • Removed the structural barrier of an entrance exam
  • Gave all students the opportunity to learn in a mixed-ability grouping system
• Policy implemented to reduce the achievement gap between social classes


  Did not succeed in doing so (achievement across all social classes increased, but the gap between lower-class and middle-class attainment did not close)
• Education Reform Act 1988


  The marketisation of education is an educational policy trend through which schools are encouraged to compete against one another and act like private businesses
• National Curriculum


  Introduced with the aim to formalise educational standards and, therefore, to standardise testing as well. It outlines the topics that need to be covered across all subjects, and in what order. 
• League Tables

  Introduced in 1992 by the Conservative government. This was done as a means to publicise which schools were performing well in their outputs. As would be expected, league tables created a sense of competition between schools, deeming certain outputs "underperforming" and urging parents to send their children to only the best schools.
• Changes to the types of schools available have diversified educational options and made schools more inclined to produce better exam results from their students
• Stephen Ball argues that meritocracy is a myth - students do not always benefit from their own abilities
• A parent's choices or access to information


  Can contribute to reproducing inequality in their children's lives
• There are worries about whether teachers are more inclined to "teach the test" - teaching students to achieve the best results in exams - rather than properly teaching them to understand the subject
• Schools take in students selectively, often opting for the smartest children within a cohort
• This can greatly disadvantage students who may already be struggling with their education