1. Education
SWIB week 17

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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!

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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”

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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