State policy timeline

• 1944, Education Act - Tripartite System

  • Secondary education became free, took 11+ exam at the end of primary and ended in 1 of three:
  • Grammar school = able kids who passed, taught traditional subjects for university
  • Secondary modern = pupils who failed, basic education
  • Technical schools = vocational education for pupils with aptitude for practical subjects
• 1944, Education Act

  • Aimed to improve education
  • 11+ didn't measure intelligence = culturally biased and suited middle class > legitimized social class inequality
  • Few technical schools were built and grammar schools were seen as best
  • Kids who failed 11+ labelled as failures
  • If well-off pupils failed, could be sent to private school
• 1965 - Labour made schools comprehensive, positives

  • Local Education Authorities (LEAs) reorganize schools so everyone has an equal opportunity
  • No 11+, 80% of school population don't get labelled as failures
  • High-ability pupils still do well, low ability pupils do better in comprehensive schools than old secondary moderns
• 1965 - negatives

  • Most comprehensive schools still sort pupils into streams/sets depending on test scores, could feel like a failure
  • Comprehensives in working class areas have worse GCSE results than those in middle class areas
• 1976 - push for vocational education, labour, positives

  • All governments designed policies to create closer link between school and work = vocationalism
  • Youth Training Schemes, 1983 = job training schemes for school leavers
  • Practical qualifications = NVQs ('86) and GNVQs ('92) introduced
  • The New Deal ('98) = people on benefits had to attend courses if they didn't accept work
• 1976 - negatives

  • Marxists = vocational training provides cheap labour, governments encourage people into training schemes to lower unemployment stats
  • Vocational qualifications aren't regarded as highly as academic qualifications by universities and employers
  • Feminists = vocational qualifications force girls into traditionally 'female' jobs, e.g. beautician
• 1988, Education Reform Act, Conservatives, positives

  • Education should link to economy = introduced more vocational courses and work placement schemes
  • Better education standards = National Curriculum of compulsory subjects, OFSTED inspections = make sure teachers doing a good job, schools opt out of LEAs = get money straight from government and spend it how they liked to improve standards
  • System of choice and competition = using league tables so schools worked like businesses and advertised for students
  • More testing and exams = SATs and GCSEs, used to form league tables and monitor standards
• 1988 - negatives

  • Whitty = middle class parents have an advantage in educational market > cultural and financial capital to move into catchment areas > reinforce social class inequality
  • Ball = emphasis on core subjects in National Curriculum is outdated
  • Constant testing can be stressful for students, labelling and self-fulfilling prophecies
• New Labour Era, 1979-2010, positives

  • Academies = independent state-funded schools, receive funding directly from government
  • Free childcare for every pre-school child = mothers can return to work > reduces cultural deprivation
  • Sure Start = improving parenting skills > reduce cultural deprivation: parenting groups as a form of compensatory education
  • Free school meals and breakfast clubs = gives disadvantaged pupils free meals to help them learn in school
  • Stricter Ofsted guidance = schools that were underperforming must show signs of improvement or they would close
• New Labour, 1979-2010, negatives

  • Whitty = new labour policies continued with marketisation, conflict with their view that high quality education should be equal
  • Academies were mixed with performance and inequalities in education
  • Benn = policies were contradictory, introducing tuition fees and continuing to increase them puts working class students off going to uni
• Coalition Government, 2010-15

  • A-Levels = reduction in coursework-based assessments, cutting of traditional subjects > narrow range of subjects available
  • "Pupil premium" = help disadvantaged children in schools, replacing other forms of compensatory education
  • Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) = allowance to help disadvantaged children with further education (16-18) was scrapped
  • Tuition fees increased = harder for poorer students to continue with higher education
• Coalition Government, negatives

  • Policies increased inequalities in education
  • Spending cuts in further education have put greater pressure in budgets
• Education Reform Act, 1988 positives


  Durkheim = National Curriculum creates greater social solidarity as it brings people together under shared values
• Education Reform Act, 1988, negatives

  • Bowles and Gintis = National Curriculum reinforces ruling class ideology through correspondence principle by looking at values of bourgeoisie
  • Oakley = National Curriculum reinforces patriarchy by focusing on achievements of men, many people we study are men
• New Labour interventionist policies

  • Curriculum 2000; policy was changed to make A levels broader and vocational A levels were introduced
  • Introduced numeracy and literacy hours in primary schools
  • Trying to increase numbers of people going to university
• New Labour policies to reduce gender inequality 


  Girls

  • National Curriculum gave all pupils opportunity to study same subjects
  • Encouraged girls to get involved in STEM subjects

  Boys

  • Gave grants to primary school for extra handwriting classes
  • Breakthrough Programme introduced after school classes for teen boys to improve their GCSE's
• Coalition, 2010 neagatives

  • In disadvantaged areas free schools and academies attracted the best teachers, disadvantaging the other schools further
  • Tuition fees now £9000, more socially exclusive