Coalition Government Policies from 2010

Question 1

Describe the coalitions government background view on education

Answer 1

• Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition elected in 2010 moved away from a system based on comprehensive schools run by local authorities.
• Policies strongly run influenced by neoliberal and NR ideas about reducing the role of the state in the provision of education through marketisation and privatisation

Question 2

Describe the coalitions government view on education

Answer 2

PM Cameron stated the aim of the Coalition education policy was to encourage ‘excellence, competition and innovation,’ by freeing schools from the ‘dead head of the state’ through policies like academies and free schools. Cuts to education budget, as part of the government’s general policy of reducing state spending

Question 3

Describe academies as a coalition policy

Answer 3

• From 2010, schools were encouraged to leave local authority control and become academies. Funding wouldn’t come from local, but from central government. Academies were given more control over admissions and their curriculum
• By 2012, half of all secondary schools converted to academy status. Some were run by private business and others by the state.
• By allowing any school to become academies, it removed the focus on reducing equality. They boost marketisation by allowing schools to have more freedom, and removed a ‘one size fits all’ approach

Question 4

Describe free schools as a coalition policy

Answer 4

• Funded by the state, but run by parents, teachers, faith organisation or businesses rather than local authority
• Don’t have to follow the national curriculum. Improves educational standards by giving power to parents by dealing with specific needs in local areas. Parents/teachers to create new schools if they are unhappy with the state schools in their local area

Question 5

What are criticism of free schools?

Answer 5

• Allen (2010) argues that research from Sweden, where 20% of schools are free schools, shows that they only benefit children from highly educated families
• Other critics claim they’re socially divisive and lower standards. Sweden’s international educational ranking has fallen winch their introduction
• Charter schools in the USA (similar to free schools) have been criticised for appearing to raise standards but only doing so by strict pupil selection and exclusion policies
• In England, evidence shows that free schools take fewer disadvantaged pupils than nearby schools. For example, in 2011 only 6.4% of pupils at Bristol Free School were eligible for FSM, compared to 22.5% of pupils across the city as a whole.
• Feeds into cream skimming, slit shifting in admissions, disadvantages WC and ethnic minority students

Question 6

Describe pupil premium as a coalition policy

Answer 6

• Certain amount of money that schools receive for each pupil from a disadvantaged background. This aims to close the gap between them and their peers.
• In 2015, schools received the following funding for each registered as eligible for FSM: £1,300 primary; £935 secondary. Schools also receive £1,900 for each pupil for whose been adopted from care or left care under a special order
• This is meant to be used by the school to help bridge the gaps for these students.

Question 7

Describe increase in university fees as a coalition policy

Answer 7

• Increased from £3,000 to £9,000 a year. This aimed to promote marketisation through profit making.
• Huge impact on WC who may be put off by higher education. Rather than fatalistic attitudes disengaging them, to fear of debt that puts off their academic focus

Question 8

Describe the Ebacc as a coalition policy

Answer 8

• The English Baccalaureate is a performance measure and isn’t compulsory. The measure shows where pupils have secured a C+ across core ‘academic’ subjects at key stage 4. The Ebacc route involves students selecting core subjects, a language and a humanity.
• Aims to promote a more ‘academic’ stream of education

Question 9

Describe fragmentation and centralisation of control

Answer 9

• Ball argues promoting academies and free schools has led to both increased fragmentation and centralisation of control over education provision in England
• Fragmentation: comprehensive system being replaced by a patchwork of diverse provision, much of it involving private providers, that leads to greater inequality opportunities
• Centralisation of control: central government has the power to allow or require schools to become academies or allow free schools to be set up, they are funded by central government and led to reduced role of elected local authorities

Question 10

What is a criticism of Pupil Premium?

Answer 10

Ofsted (2012) found that in many cases the Pupil Premium isn’t spent on those it’s supposed to help. 1 in 10 head teachers said that it had significantly changed how they supported pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds

Question 11

What is a criticism of Sure Start and EMAs?

Answer 11

• As a part of the coalition’s ‘austerity’ programme, spending on areas of education has been cut: spending school buildings was cut by 60%, many Sure Start centres were closed, the EMA was abolished and university fees increased.
• Cutting Sure Start and the EMA reduced opportunities for WC pupils. Similarly increased university fees may discourage them from entering higher education