Education Policies Flashcards
What key policies were made from 1944?
Tripartite System: Butler education act 1944
Introduced free secondary education for all
Grammar schools (for academically able students).
Secondary modern schools (for practical/vocational learners).
Technical schools (for those with technical abilities, but few were built).
Criticism: Reinforced class and gender inequalities—middle-class students were more likely to pass the 11+ and attend grammar schools.
What key policies were made in 1965?
1965 Comprehensive System
Aimed to reduce class inequalities by replacing the tripartite system with comprehensive schools (non-selective, open to all abilities).
Criticism: Middle-class parents could use cultural and economic capital (Bourdieu) to move into areas with high-performing comprehensives.
What key policies were made under the conservative government in the 1988?
1988 Education Reform Act (Marketisation and Neoliberal Policies)
Based on New Right ideas.
Introduced Marketisation: making schools compete like businesses to raise standards.
League tables
Ofsted inspections (to measure school performance).
Formula funding (schools funded based on pupil numbers).
Parental choice & open enrolment (encouraging competition).
Criticism: Led to cream-skimming and silt-shifting (Ball, Bowel & Gerwitz)—good schools selected middle-class pupils, while bad schools got stuck with disadvantaged pupils.
What key policies were made under new labour during 1997 to 2010?
Aimed to increase equality while keeping marketisation.
Policies introduced:
Education Action Zones (extra funding for deprived areas).
Sure Start (support for early childhood in poor areas).
EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance) (payments to low-income students to encourage staying in education).
Academies (failing schools taken over by sponsors).
Criticism: New Labour still supported tuition fees for university, which reinforced class inequalities.
What policies were made in 2010 under the coalition government ?
Michael Gove (Education Secretary) introduced:
Expansion of Academies & Free Schools (reducing local authority control).
Pupil Premium (extra funding for disadvantaged students).
Tuition fees increased to £9,000 per year.
Criticism: Austerity led to cuts in EMA and Sure Start, harming working-class students.
What policies have been introduced recently from 2015 to 2024 ?
More emphasis on traditional subjects (EBacc introduced, favouring core subjects).
Further academisation (most secondary schools are now academies).
More focus on vocational education (T-levels introduced).
Criticism: Marketisation still causes inequalities—middle-class students benefit most.
