Conservative Educational Policy 1979-1997 + Recent

Question 1

Describe the economic situation before Thatcher

Answer 1

• In the 1970s, a period of rising employment and rapid decline of British industry.
• Concern was education was failing to produce appropriately skilled and motivated young workers

Question 2

Describe New Right thinking influence on Conservative educational policy

Answer 2

• State-run institutions are inefficient as they don’t have a profit motive.
• Introduction of market through competition forces them to become more efficient. Educational institutions have to compete to attract students, and the ones that fail lose funding.
• They have to raise standards or close. The greater the choice offered to parents, the more schools have to compete, the greater their incentive to improve

Question 3

Describe testing and examining under the Thatcher government

Answer 3

• New Right hoped to increase competition through increased use of testing and examining, and the publication of results (league tables). Designed to provide information for parents to help them make informed choices about which school they want their child to attend
• Ball (1990) argues that in some respects the promotion of standardised tests and examinations goes against New Right thinking. New Right are generally ‘against imposing uniformity on schools’ and ‘value diversity’

Question 4

Describe the 1988 Education Reform Act

Answer 4

• Established a national curriculum for all state-schools in England and Wales and a national system of assessment
• Reduced the role of Local Education Authorities (LEAs) by giving greater control and autonomy to individual schools and their governing bodies
• Established city technology colleges (CTCs) and grant maintained schools, both independent of LEA control
• Aim of reform was the increase diversity, choice and competition, and to raise standards
• Ofsted does school inspections and regulatory visits through out England. The results are published online, giving parents further information of quality of education

Question 5

What is a criticism of league tables?

Answer 5

• They can be very misleading
• Bush et al (1993) found in the early 1990s, around a third of grant maintained schools selected pupils on the basis of an interview with parents and/or pupils and reports from pervious schools

Question 6

How did creating a further 500 free schools in England by 2020 impact education? (2015 Manifesto)

Answer 6

• Marketisation
• Impact other comprehensives as funding will be directed from those schools in need to extra support.
• Money will be spent on developing new schools, not for all students but often for those of faith (faith free schools) or those MC areas who have the knowledge and ability to set up these schools, that are less accountable and don’t have to follow the national curriculum

Question 7

How did the zero tolerance for failure - support to turn around failing or coating schools impact education? (2015 Manifesto)

Answer 7

• Marketisation
• Schools shut down and turned into academies (Political motive)
• Idea was to raise standards (no failing)

Question 8

How did 30 hours free childcare for working parents of 3&4 year olds impact education? (2015 Manifesto)

Answer 8

• Equality
• Encourage parents (WC & ethnic minorities) back to work
• Government said would benefit 600,000 families
• Private nurseries claimed they may go out of business (government intervention - disliked by NR)
• Not enough places (negative impact on WC)

Question 9

How did the restructuring of exams - 1-9, Progress 8/ Attainment 8 impact education? (2015 Manifesto)

Answer 9

• Marketisation
• Raises Standards. Competition of UK in a global
• Negative impacts on WC, no retakes.
• Weighting back in boys favour?

Question 10

Why could recent Conservative policies be seen as ineffective?

Answer 10

• 2010-2023: There has been many changes to the Education Secretary Department (government) which means that little actual change in policy