New Labour 1997

Question 1

What policies did New Labour introduce?

Answer 1

Academies
Specialist schools
Faith schools
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
Aim Higher
Raising of School Leaving Age (ROSLA)

Question 2

Which theoretical perspectives would like New Labour’s changes?

Answer 2

Marxists - creates more opportunities for the working class

Postmodernists - allows more variety and choice of subject for students

Functionalists - creates more sifting and sorting

Question 3

Which theoretical perspectives would not like New Labour’s changes?

Answer 3

New Right - different schools for different students goes against social solidarity

Question 4

What are academies?

Answer 4

Failing schools which became part of an academy chain with better schools to share resources. Also received new facilities, government funding, and control over their curriculum

Question 5

What is positive about academies?

Answer 5

Benefits the working class as most academies were in deprived areas

Creates more diversity and choice in education

Question 6

What is negative about academies?

Answer 6

Businesses sponsoring schools can be seen as them becoming privatised for profit

Can pay their staff more, disadvantaging other schools by ‘stealing’ their teachers

Question 7

What are specialist schools?

Answer 7

A school that is an expert in a certain subject. By 2007, 85% of secondary schools were specialists

Question 8

What is positive about specialist schools?

Answer 8

Increases choice for parents and raises standards

Question 9

What is negative about specialist schools?

Answer 9

Some created selection policies, disadvantaging the working class

Question 10

What are faith schools?

Answer 10

Schools that cater specifically to one faith, e.g. Islamic or Catholic schools

Question 11

What is positive about faith schools?

Answer 11

Increases choice for parents

Increases diversity of schools in the education system

Question 12

What is negative about faith schools?

Answer 12

Could be seen as segregating students from different faiths/cultures

Question 13

What is the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)?

Answer 13

£30 per week to low-income students over 16 if they attended all their lessons. Bonuses for achieving targets

Question 14

What is positive about the EMA?

Answer 14

Helps low-income students buy books, transport, meals etc.

Question 15

What is negative about the EMA?

Answer 15

Didn’t encourage enough students to stay in education, so the Conservative Coalition scrapped it

Benn (2012): this was meant to help the working class, but New Labour also introduced tuition fees for university which disadvantages them

Question 16

What is Aim Higher?

Answer 16

A program to encourage social mobility, sending representatives into schools to talk to students about the benefits of university, or taking them on trips to universities

Question 17

What is positive about Aim Higher?

Answer 17

Encourages social mobility

Question 18

What is negative about Aim Higher?

Answer 18

There has been an increase in working class students going to university since it was scrapped in 2010, suggesting it wasn’t effective

Question 19

What is ROSLA?

Answer 19

Raising Of School Leaving Age. New Labour raised the school leaving age from 16 to 18

Question 20

What is positive about ROSLA?

Answer 20

Aims to reduce the number of NEETs by giving them more education

Question 21

What is negative about ROSLA?

Answer 21

Reduces choice for students, meaning they can’t get straight into work

Prolongs childhood and dependency on parents