Education SWIB week 17

Lecture Structure The Butler Act The comprehensive system Conservative education reforms New Labour education reforms Coalition education reforms

1944 Education Act (Butler Act) Free and compulsory secondary education for all children Creates Local Education Authorities Established the infant - primary - secondary and further education system based around age Created the tripartite system

Tripartite System Grammar schools Secondary Modern Schools For the ‘academic’ child Secondary Modern Schools For the ‘non – academic’ child Technical Schools Focused upon vocational education Cements a hierarchy of education that values ‘academic’ more than ‘vocational’ Testing at eleven (11 plus) Effectively bipartite: Minority of pupils: Grammar Majority of pupils: Secondary Modern

The Comprehensive System Growing calls to scrap ‘unjust’ 11 plus and ‘class based’ school system Comprehensives will help modernise Britain – tap all potential No child held back because of test at 11 Circular 10/65: LEAs to submit plans for transforming school systems into comprehensives

The white heat of technology 1960s ideal of Labour to modernise: Comprehensive schools University building program (20 new universities) Inc. Warwick in 1965 The Open University Tap adult potential as well A technological revolution: modernise!

Conservative education reforms Thatcher (then Education Minister) reverses Circular 10/65 during early 1970s Scraps free school milk in 1971: "Thatcher, Thatcher, Milk Snatcher" LEAs defy Thatcher and supply milk & also keep comprehensive system Deep distrust of LEAs amongst Conservatives is the outcome.

Conservative education reforms Weaken power of LEAs, consolidate central control 1980 Education Act: Parents have say in admissions Milk scrapped again 1988 Education Reform Act: Introduces grant maintained schools (outside LEA funding) National curriculum Ofsted created in 1992 Polytechnics become universities (30 new universities) Introduces ‘top up’ loans for university students – weakens grant system

Marketisation Increasing desire for parental choice Ranking of schools produces quasi-market: Ofsted reports League tables (based on common curriculum) Competition between schools for best pupils Competition amongst parents to secure best school

New Labour education reforms Education, education, education. Blair’s solution to a globalised world And to youth unemployment? Huge diversity of schools: Academies, technology colleges, beacon schools, faith schools… Comprehensives now seen as ‘bog standard’ Targeting & testing: Charles Clarke: “the age of education for education’s sake has passed”

Monetising the system Target of getting 50% of children into university EMA: Means tested fortnightly payment designed to improve retention (and increase university application numbers?) Tuition fees: 1998 £1000 p/a 2004 £3000 p/a

Coalition education reforms More of the same? Wider diversification in secondary education: Free schools Free from LEA control & national curriculum EMA scrapped and replaced with targeted bursary Tuition fees up to £9000 p/a

The market for education Secondary schools: ‘Choice’ based on Ofsted reports and league tables Universities: ‘Choice’ based on price Universities as ‘providers’, students as ‘customers’ However, £9000 cap distorts market and result is clustering at top of fee scale

Conclusions Since 1980s an erosion of Local Education Authorities’ power Increased diversification and weakening of the common school ideal Marketisation of the system through fees, league tables and Ofsted reports National curriculum allows schools to be compared on result