CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT POLICIES FROM 2010 Flashcards
What perspectives influenced the Conservative Government policies since 2010?
Neoliberals and the New Right
Academies:
a. From 2010, all schools were encouraged to leave local authority control and become academies
b. Funding was taken from local authority budgets and given directly to academies by central government
c. Academies were given control over their curriculum
d. By 2017, over 68% of all secondary schools had converted to academy status
Free Schools:
a. Although funded directly by the state, free schools are set up and run by parents, teachers, faith organisations or businesses rather than the local authority
b. Allen (2010); using research from Sweden (where 20% of schools are free schools), free schools only benefit children from highly educated families
c. Other critics claim that free schools are socially divisive- Sweden’s international education ranking has fallen since their introduction
d. Charter schools in the USA- strict pupil selection and exclusion policies
e. Free schools take fewer disadvantaged pupils in: 2011, only 6.4% of pupils at Bristol Free School were eligible for FSM, compared with 22.4% of pupils across the city as a whole
Fragmented Centralisation:
a. Ball (2011); promoting academies and free schools has led to both increased fragmentation and increased centralisation of control over educational provision in England
- Fragmentation: The comprehensive system is being replaced by a patchwork of diverse provision, much of it involving private providers, which leads to greater inequality in opportunities
- Centralisation of control: Removal of state intervention within schools, reduced the role of elected local authorities in education
Policies to reduce inequality:
- FSM for all chidren in reception, year 1 and year 2
2. The Pupil Premium- money that schools receive for each pupil from a disadvantaged background
Criticisms of these policies:
a. Ofsted (2012); in many cases the Pupil Premium isn’t spent on who it’s supposed to. Only 1 in 10 head teachers said that it had significantly changed how they supported pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds
What other budgets were cut as part of the Conservative government’s ‘austerity’ programme?
a. Spending on school buildings was cut by 60%
What policy was abolished?
The EMA
What institution rapidly increased in price?
University; fees were triped to £9,000 a year
