Pre 1979 Educational Policies:
Tripartite System (1944):
• 11+ test allocates students to different schools; grammar/secondary technical/secondary modern school.
• Selection - schools choose students based on ability, aptitude, faith.
A03 – Evaluation of Tripartite System:
Designed to be fair + give ALL students different but equally valuable education; parity of esteem - all
schools seen as equally respected.
In practice, system increased class inequalities.
Comprehensive Schooling (1965) – Labour:
• Accept all students of all abilities to give true equality of opportunity.
• Gives w/c children easier access to better education + chance to go onto higher education.
• Promotes social justice + tolerance as all students are educated regardless of ethnicity/social class/gender.
A03 – Evaluation of Comprehensive Schooling:
Equality of opportunity + late developers get better chances.
Less able + less academic likely to feel more positive being educated among peers, promoting social mixing.
Brighter pupils held back by less able = might not achieve full potential.
Large comprehensives make it hard for teachers to know students personally + preferred learning styles.
Most comprehensive students operate streaming + banding = divides students.
Teachers have ideal pupil in mind = unequal treatment/judgement of pupils.
Marxists - failure looks like fault of student rather than system by making unequal achievement fair + just.
Vocational Education – Labour:
• Learning relating directly to employment; has been promoted + expanded. Introduced within tripartite
system, introducing technical schools, e.g. ВТЕС, T-Levels, degree apprenticeships.
New Right Policies (1979-1997) - Conservative Government:
1988 Education Reform Act:
• Marketisation - applying business ideas to education, creating marketplace of education.
• League tables - exam results visible = competitive schools; parents = consumers in judging best schools.
o Ball – polarisation of schools: well performing schools attract m/c pupils, reinforcing success; less
successful schools attract w/c pupils = ‘sink schools’ + reproducing inequalities.
• OFSTED - government funded system measuring success of schools, enabling parents to judge success of
school + choose school to send children to.
• National Curriculum - standard curriculum all students follow decided by government.
o All students compete in same framework, girls overachieve.
o Policies, e.g. GIST/WISE, encourage girls into science + technology.
o Girls unable to drop compulsory subjects = greater confidence in these subjects.
o Girls successful in coursework assessments = closing of gap in educational attainment.
• Parental choice - parents send children to school of their choice; further away school = increased transport
costs = more possible for m/c = inequality; ethnic minorities may struggle but Chinese/Indian continue to
do well compared to white m/c boys.
• Gewirtz – studied whether parentocracy was beneficial/not. Found it widened achievement gap between
w/c + m/c. Used Bourdieu's ideas of cultural + economic capital to argue m/c parents use capital to take
more advantage of parental choice than w/c parents. 3 types of parents:
o Privileged skilled choosers - m/c ambitious parents using cultural + economic capital.
o Disconnected local choosers - w/c parents choices restricted by lack of economic + cultural capital.
o Semi-skilled choosers - mainly w/c but ambitious parents, e.g. Indian + Chinese.
• Funding formula - schools allocated funds based on how many pupils attracted. Popular schools do better
+ afford more highly qualified teachers + resources. Less popular schools lose income + can't afford as
many skilled teachers + resources. Widens gap between successful schools + sink schools.
New Labour Policies (1997-2010):
Academies - partially funded by local businesses to tackle + raise achievement of underperforming schools.
Free childcare - women could return to work + ensures all children start school from a level playing field.
,Sure Start - preschool children living in most deprived areas could receive early intervention + support.
Excellence in Cities - compensatory education policy targeted at deprived inner city areas, focusing on raising
boys + w/c aspirations; schools received extra resources to tackle truancy + exclusions.
University tuition fees - university was only available to those who could afford it = New Labour Paradox.
Stricter Ofsted guidance on improving 'failing schools'.
EMA – provide students with money to encourage post 16 education.
A03 – Evaluation of New Labour Policies:
Whitty – conflict between Labour's policies to tackle inequality + development of marketisation; e.g.
compensatory policies may encourage w/c students to stay until 18 but university tuition fees may deter from
going university = ineffective policies providing illusion of equality without actually reducing class inequalities.
Coalition Government (2010-2015):
EMA cut – w/c students stop receiving weekly grant during post-16 education = students less encourage to
continue education; w/c students take part time jobs = funding government + less focus in education.
Pupil premium – resources given to schools for deprived children, e.g. FSM = reduced inequality between
students + less material deprivation.
Increased university tuition fees – university isn’t affordable to all students = less attend.
Free schools – expands marketisation + parentocracy = all students have opportunity of having education +
more choice/variety in school selection.
Reduced resit opportunities + introducing lineal A level system – more students fail but more work hard.
State schooling like private schooling – better education quality + smaller class sizes = more focus on pupil.
Only British authors taught in GCSE English literature – reinforced British values.
A03 – Evaluation of Coalition Government:
Policies widen educational inequalities.
Conservative Government:
• Continuation of previous coalition policies; focus on academies + marketisation-driven education.
• Education Bill - forces all 'struggling’ schools to become academies; acceleration of academies programme.
• Prevent Strategy - reforms to make schools more accountable.
• Students who don't do well in their year 6 SATS may have to re-sit at secondary school.
• Institute of Fiscal Studies - there are cuts in education budget which amount to ≈ 12% of budget.
• Continued privatisation of education - more private companies used in education for software + services,
e.g. teacher training, registering data.
Policies relating to gender + ethnicity:
Policy Effect on gender Effect on ethnicity Effect on class
differences differences differences
Equal Pay + Sex Reduced gender pay Benefited w/c women
Discrimination Act gaps + work who earned less than
discrimination, men.
encouraging more
women to pursue higher
education + careers.
GIST + WISE Encouraged girls to take Helps ethnic minority M/c girls benefitted
STEM, challenging girls access STEM more as they had better
gender stereotypes in careers. access to STEM
education. resources.
Marketisation Girls benefitted as Ethnic minority students M/c parents had more
schools preferred higher- were often places in choice due to more
achieving students, lower-performing cultural capital, w/c
reinforcing educational schools due to selection students ended up in
achievement for girls. processes. lower quality schools.
Raising Boys Closed gender gap by Black boys in anti-school Helped boys from
Achievement Program improving boys’ subculture from SPFs will disadvantaged
educational have benefitted. backgrounds, m/c had
achievement. more support.
, Sure Start Helped mums return to Ethnic minority children Helped w/c children by
work by providing early in deprived areas improving early
childcare + education received early education in deprived
support. educational support. areas.
Prevent Strategy Increased surveillance of Targeted ethnic minority W/c Muslim boys
Muslim boys, reinforcing students, increasing experienced
negative stereotypes. discrimination + distrust. discrimination.
Cuts to education Reinforced funding for No more support for Reduced access to good
budget gender-focused ethnic minority students, education + resources
programs, e.g. GIST + increasing attainment for w/c students.
WISE. gap.
Education, Social policy and Globalisation
Globalisation - national + regional economies, societies, cultures have become integrated through global
network of trade, communication, immigration, transportation.
Increased migration:
• More move around globe, e.g. into UK + subsequent generations of migrants entering education system.
• Evidence - European migrants generally very successful + contribute positively to education system,
getting strong results + showing strong work ethic.
• English isn’t first language spoken = school needs to provide resources + support for these students.
Access to education:
• Garrod - investigates participation in education globally; Looking at initiatives to encourage higher
participation rates in education in developing countries; despite strategies to free people from extreme
poverty, great inequalities still exist in education.
• Many young people cannot access primary education = lack skills for work.
• A03 – there’s some improvement in gender gap = more equality in terms of girls + boys going school, e.g.
more girls attending school in Afghanistan.
International policies adopted/affecting UK policies:
• Inclusion of global issues within curriculum, multicultural education, learning about cross-cultural
practices, ways of life, influence of globalisation.
• Prevent strategy – monitor for religious extremism + potentially encouraging/condoning set of views.
• Policies focus on equality, diversity, inclusion to reflect increasingly diverse pupil culture backgrounds.
• Ofsted inspections assess schools in terms of effectiveness in embracing diversity.
• Greater emphasis on supporting students with English as Second Language (ESL) in education.
International rankings - PISA/TIMMS:
• Enable education system to compare performance of students in subjects against students globally.
• Other large-scale international surveys (e.g. TIMMS) influence UK government policy.
• Poor position in league table used by gov. to demand + justify major changes to UK education system.
Cola-risation of schools:
• Private sector is penetrating education industry through vending machines on school premises +
development of brand loyalty through displays of logos + sponsorships.
• Molnar - schools targeted by private companies as they’re a kind of product endorsement.
• A03 - benefits to schools + pupils of this private sector involvement are often very limited.
Privatisation in education:
Privatisation – services once owned by state are now transferred to private companies/non-government
organisation = makes things run more efficient competition for customers, improves products/services.
• Endogenous privatisation – privatisation IN education; marketisation = schools/colleges/universities run
more like private businesses, e.g. competition, league tables, formula funding.
• Exogenous privatisation – privatisation OF education; school services (training + building maintenance),
school management (academy trust), school inspection (OFSTED); branding schools (websites), exams.
A03 – Evaluation of Privatisation:
Tripartite System (1944):
• 11+ test allocates students to different schools; grammar/secondary technical/secondary modern school.
• Selection - schools choose students based on ability, aptitude, faith.
A03 – Evaluation of Tripartite System:
Designed to be fair + give ALL students different but equally valuable education; parity of esteem - all
schools seen as equally respected.
In practice, system increased class inequalities.
Comprehensive Schooling (1965) – Labour:
• Accept all students of all abilities to give true equality of opportunity.
• Gives w/c children easier access to better education + chance to go onto higher education.
• Promotes social justice + tolerance as all students are educated regardless of ethnicity/social class/gender.
A03 – Evaluation of Comprehensive Schooling:
Equality of opportunity + late developers get better chances.
Less able + less academic likely to feel more positive being educated among peers, promoting social mixing.
Brighter pupils held back by less able = might not achieve full potential.
Large comprehensives make it hard for teachers to know students personally + preferred learning styles.
Most comprehensive students operate streaming + banding = divides students.
Teachers have ideal pupil in mind = unequal treatment/judgement of pupils.
Marxists - failure looks like fault of student rather than system by making unequal achievement fair + just.
Vocational Education – Labour:
• Learning relating directly to employment; has been promoted + expanded. Introduced within tripartite
system, introducing technical schools, e.g. ВТЕС, T-Levels, degree apprenticeships.
New Right Policies (1979-1997) - Conservative Government:
1988 Education Reform Act:
• Marketisation - applying business ideas to education, creating marketplace of education.
• League tables - exam results visible = competitive schools; parents = consumers in judging best schools.
o Ball – polarisation of schools: well performing schools attract m/c pupils, reinforcing success; less
successful schools attract w/c pupils = ‘sink schools’ + reproducing inequalities.
• OFSTED - government funded system measuring success of schools, enabling parents to judge success of
school + choose school to send children to.
• National Curriculum - standard curriculum all students follow decided by government.
o All students compete in same framework, girls overachieve.
o Policies, e.g. GIST/WISE, encourage girls into science + technology.
o Girls unable to drop compulsory subjects = greater confidence in these subjects.
o Girls successful in coursework assessments = closing of gap in educational attainment.
• Parental choice - parents send children to school of their choice; further away school = increased transport
costs = more possible for m/c = inequality; ethnic minorities may struggle but Chinese/Indian continue to
do well compared to white m/c boys.
• Gewirtz – studied whether parentocracy was beneficial/not. Found it widened achievement gap between
w/c + m/c. Used Bourdieu's ideas of cultural + economic capital to argue m/c parents use capital to take
more advantage of parental choice than w/c parents. 3 types of parents:
o Privileged skilled choosers - m/c ambitious parents using cultural + economic capital.
o Disconnected local choosers - w/c parents choices restricted by lack of economic + cultural capital.
o Semi-skilled choosers - mainly w/c but ambitious parents, e.g. Indian + Chinese.
• Funding formula - schools allocated funds based on how many pupils attracted. Popular schools do better
+ afford more highly qualified teachers + resources. Less popular schools lose income + can't afford as
many skilled teachers + resources. Widens gap between successful schools + sink schools.
New Labour Policies (1997-2010):
Academies - partially funded by local businesses to tackle + raise achievement of underperforming schools.
Free childcare - women could return to work + ensures all children start school from a level playing field.
,Sure Start - preschool children living in most deprived areas could receive early intervention + support.
Excellence in Cities - compensatory education policy targeted at deprived inner city areas, focusing on raising
boys + w/c aspirations; schools received extra resources to tackle truancy + exclusions.
University tuition fees - university was only available to those who could afford it = New Labour Paradox.
Stricter Ofsted guidance on improving 'failing schools'.
EMA – provide students with money to encourage post 16 education.
A03 – Evaluation of New Labour Policies:
Whitty – conflict between Labour's policies to tackle inequality + development of marketisation; e.g.
compensatory policies may encourage w/c students to stay until 18 but university tuition fees may deter from
going university = ineffective policies providing illusion of equality without actually reducing class inequalities.
Coalition Government (2010-2015):
EMA cut – w/c students stop receiving weekly grant during post-16 education = students less encourage to
continue education; w/c students take part time jobs = funding government + less focus in education.
Pupil premium – resources given to schools for deprived children, e.g. FSM = reduced inequality between
students + less material deprivation.
Increased university tuition fees – university isn’t affordable to all students = less attend.
Free schools – expands marketisation + parentocracy = all students have opportunity of having education +
more choice/variety in school selection.
Reduced resit opportunities + introducing lineal A level system – more students fail but more work hard.
State schooling like private schooling – better education quality + smaller class sizes = more focus on pupil.
Only British authors taught in GCSE English literature – reinforced British values.
A03 – Evaluation of Coalition Government:
Policies widen educational inequalities.
Conservative Government:
• Continuation of previous coalition policies; focus on academies + marketisation-driven education.
• Education Bill - forces all 'struggling’ schools to become academies; acceleration of academies programme.
• Prevent Strategy - reforms to make schools more accountable.
• Students who don't do well in their year 6 SATS may have to re-sit at secondary school.
• Institute of Fiscal Studies - there are cuts in education budget which amount to ≈ 12% of budget.
• Continued privatisation of education - more private companies used in education for software + services,
e.g. teacher training, registering data.
Policies relating to gender + ethnicity:
Policy Effect on gender Effect on ethnicity Effect on class
differences differences differences
Equal Pay + Sex Reduced gender pay Benefited w/c women
Discrimination Act gaps + work who earned less than
discrimination, men.
encouraging more
women to pursue higher
education + careers.
GIST + WISE Encouraged girls to take Helps ethnic minority M/c girls benefitted
STEM, challenging girls access STEM more as they had better
gender stereotypes in careers. access to STEM
education. resources.
Marketisation Girls benefitted as Ethnic minority students M/c parents had more
schools preferred higher- were often places in choice due to more
achieving students, lower-performing cultural capital, w/c
reinforcing educational schools due to selection students ended up in
achievement for girls. processes. lower quality schools.
Raising Boys Closed gender gap by Black boys in anti-school Helped boys from
Achievement Program improving boys’ subculture from SPFs will disadvantaged
educational have benefitted. backgrounds, m/c had
achievement. more support.
, Sure Start Helped mums return to Ethnic minority children Helped w/c children by
work by providing early in deprived areas improving early
childcare + education received early education in deprived
support. educational support. areas.
Prevent Strategy Increased surveillance of Targeted ethnic minority W/c Muslim boys
Muslim boys, reinforcing students, increasing experienced
negative stereotypes. discrimination + distrust. discrimination.
Cuts to education Reinforced funding for No more support for Reduced access to good
budget gender-focused ethnic minority students, education + resources
programs, e.g. GIST + increasing attainment for w/c students.
WISE. gap.
Education, Social policy and Globalisation
Globalisation - national + regional economies, societies, cultures have become integrated through global
network of trade, communication, immigration, transportation.
Increased migration:
• More move around globe, e.g. into UK + subsequent generations of migrants entering education system.
• Evidence - European migrants generally very successful + contribute positively to education system,
getting strong results + showing strong work ethic.
• English isn’t first language spoken = school needs to provide resources + support for these students.
Access to education:
• Garrod - investigates participation in education globally; Looking at initiatives to encourage higher
participation rates in education in developing countries; despite strategies to free people from extreme
poverty, great inequalities still exist in education.
• Many young people cannot access primary education = lack skills for work.
• A03 – there’s some improvement in gender gap = more equality in terms of girls + boys going school, e.g.
more girls attending school in Afghanistan.
International policies adopted/affecting UK policies:
• Inclusion of global issues within curriculum, multicultural education, learning about cross-cultural
practices, ways of life, influence of globalisation.
• Prevent strategy – monitor for religious extremism + potentially encouraging/condoning set of views.
• Policies focus on equality, diversity, inclusion to reflect increasingly diverse pupil culture backgrounds.
• Ofsted inspections assess schools in terms of effectiveness in embracing diversity.
• Greater emphasis on supporting students with English as Second Language (ESL) in education.
International rankings - PISA/TIMMS:
• Enable education system to compare performance of students in subjects against students globally.
• Other large-scale international surveys (e.g. TIMMS) influence UK government policy.
• Poor position in league table used by gov. to demand + justify major changes to UK education system.
Cola-risation of schools:
• Private sector is penetrating education industry through vending machines on school premises +
development of brand loyalty through displays of logos + sponsorships.
• Molnar - schools targeted by private companies as they’re a kind of product endorsement.
• A03 - benefits to schools + pupils of this private sector involvement are often very limited.
Privatisation in education:
Privatisation – services once owned by state are now transferred to private companies/non-government
organisation = makes things run more efficient competition for customers, improves products/services.
• Endogenous privatisation – privatisation IN education; marketisation = schools/colleges/universities run
more like private businesses, e.g. competition, league tables, formula funding.
• Exogenous privatisation – privatisation OF education; school services (training + building maintenance),
school management (academy trust), school inspection (OFSTED); branding schools (websites), exams.
A03 – Evaluation of Privatisation:
