1.6 - Social Policy and Education

• What was the 1944 Butler Education Act?

  • proposed by richard butler
  • made education compulsory up until age 14 regardless of class
  • selection policy
• What was the Tripartite system?

  • made up of 3 different schools
  • 1 - Grammar schools - offered an academic curriculum and access to higher education. Tended to be from the middle-class
  • 2 - Technical schools - would teach mechanical, scientific and engineering skills to serve industry and science
  • 3 - Secondary modern schools - offered a non-academic curriculum and access to manual jobs
  • All students at the age of 11 had to take an IQ test to determine what school they went too
  • government believed the view IQ was innate and could be scientifically determined
• What were the issues with the tripartite system?

  • there were only 2 choices as there was limited technical schools
  • w/c who went to secondary schools were seen as 'failures' and denied opportunities
  • still a divide - only a few GIRL grammar schools
• What was introduced in 1965-1979?

  • comprehensive schools - social dem influences
  • scrapped the 11+ tests to make school more meritocratic
  • school facilities were upgraded, larger curriculum and more sporting activities
  • grammar schools remained
  • selection policy of education - not allowed to select pupils by ability
• What were the issues with comprehensive schools?

  • admissions were based on who was geographically mobile and these were mainly the m/c
  • schools were organised into streams and m/c tended to be in higher streams
  • mixed ability sets brought the m/c down
  • NR criticised for bad results and a lack of discipline
• What was introduced in 1979-1997?

  • new right had an impact on education
  • believed in the use of free market in school
  • encouraged marketisation of schools
  • consumers (pupils/parents) would find the perfect product (schools)
  • producers would promote the school to attract the best pupils
• What was also introduced in 1979-1997?

  • vocational training and unemployment schemes
  • NR believed the reason for high unemployment in the UK was due to a lack of work skills being learnt in education
  • introduced 'new vocationalism' - had work training and qualifications at the same time
• What are the criticisms of 'New Vocationalism'?

  • neo marxist - Finn believes that it provided cheap labour for companies as students were paid less and did a lot of work
  • reduced unemployment rates
  • Paul Cohen - argues that it gives positive mindsets about work to students so they do not resent when older
• What was introduced in 1988?

  • Education Reform Act - NR ideas
  • 1 - Marketisation
  • 2 - Testing
  • 3 - National Curriculum
  • 4 - League Tables
  • 5 - Diversifying School Choice
  • 6 - Private Education
• What are the criticisms of the 1988 Education Reform Act?

  • concerns were expressed over the pressure damaging students
  • very few places in the best schools since they were very popular
  • Ball - m/c parents use their cultural capital, money and resources to find the best schools
  • led to 'cream skimming' - schools would focus on the highest performing students and neglect those who needed help
• What was introduced in 1997-2015?

  • new labour influences on education
  • specialist schools - increase in schools who specialised in a specific subject and the aim was to increase choice and allow students to excel in their best subjects
  • vocational education
• What two schemes were introduced under vocational education in 1997-2010?

  1 - Apprenticeships

  2 - Flexibility Programme - those in KS4 could go to college twice a week to learn the work skills needed

  3 - New Deal for Young People - to reduce unemployment, they could claim jobseekers' allowance for 6 months
• What was the Education Act in coalition policies?

  social democratic influences

  1. Academies - companies should help state education
  2. Sure Start - compensatory education and help children start
  3. Educational Maintenance Allowance - those in education age 16-18 could get £30 a week
  4. Private Schools
  5. Nursery Education - free for children
  6. Vocational Education
  7. Higher education - to push students
  8. Education Action Zones - lowest performing areas and established cooperation with businesses and parents
  9. PRIVATISATION POLICY
• What are the criticisms of the social democratic influences?

  • Tomlinson - m/c has gained the most from these policies
  • NL have been criticised for introducing a greater privatisation of education
  • SD have resulted in deprivation of specific groups - Ball says girls exceed in education but boys are left behind
• What was formed in 2010?

  • coalition policies between conservatives and liberal democrats
  • Michael Gove - minister
• What did the 2010 coalition policies do?

  • academies and free schools - Academies are schools that are funded by the government but are independent of local authority control. They have more freedom over their curriculum, finances, and staff, compared to traditional state schools
  • free school - when religious groups, teachers or parents could set up new schools with their own ethos and curriculum
  • progress 8 - performance measure of students from the end of primary to end of secondary schools
• What were the reforms to the curriculum in the coalition policies?

  1. A-level changes - 'toughned' up a levels by removing the opportunities to resit and seperating AS from A level
  2. New National Curriculum - had a strong emphasis on traditional learning styles and content
  3. English Baccalaureate (EBac) - certain academic subjects had to be passed to gain qualifications. These were maths, english, science, history and a language
• What were the reforms to vocational education in the coalition policies?

  1 - Educational Maintenance Allowance - this was removed and used to upgrade the schools

  2 - Change in tuition fees from £3000 - £9000
• How did the coalition policies compensate for disadvantages in school?

  • pupil premium involved extra resources for schools related to the number of pupils who were from low income backgrounds and had FSM
• How did the coalition policies compensate for disadvantages in higher education?

  • could get maintenance grants for cost of living for university students
  • students were not required to pay anything back till they had earned £21,000
• What was the evaluation of the coalition policies?

  1. national union of teachers argues free schools and academies reduce the budget available for other schools
  2. parental choice was limited in many areas
  3. removal of educational maintenance allowance led to decrease in students staying in education
  4. 53% of teachers say pupil premium was not spent on the pupils
• Timeline of social policy and education -

  • 1965-1979 - social democratics - comprehensive schools
  • 1979 - 1997 - new right - marketisation + new vocationalism
  • 1988 - Educational Reform Act
  • 1997-2015 - New labour - specialist schools + vocational education
  • 2002 - social democratics - Education Act
  • 2010 - coalition between lib democrats and conservatives - academies, free schools and changes
• How did the 1988 Education Reform Act promote parentocracy?

  • This literally means ‘rule by parents’ and promoted a market
  • Publication of league tables and Ofsted inspection reports that rank schools
  • exam performance to give parents the information to choose the right school
  • Open enrolment, allowing successful schools to recruit more pupils
  • Funding formula, where schools receive funding per pupil.
  • Schools having to compete to attract pupils.
• What was Gerwitz study on parental choice?


  • studied 14 London secondary schools
  • Privileged-skilled Choosers – Professional middle class parents who possessed cultural capital. Their economic capital meant they could afford to move their children around the education system
  • Disconnected - local choosers – working class parents whose lack of cultural capital mean they did not understand how school admissions worked. Could not sent children to best schools due to travel expenses.
  • Semi-skilled choosers – Working class parents who were ambitious for their children but lacked cultural capital