ECUCATION:
POLICIES:
History of Education;
- 1870 Education Act (aka Forster’s Education Act) made sure that every child aged 5 to
12 has access to education
- 1918 Education Act (aka Fisher’s Act) extended compulsory education until 14 for all
children
- 1944 Education Act raised compulsory schooling age to 15, and introduced the
tripartite system, which provided 3 di erent types of secondary schools for di erent
types of student with di erent ‘types of mind’
This system was based on selection, as entry depended on performance in the 11+ exam
The system drew on the idea that intelligence was xed at birth, and that the exam could
correctly place children into one of the 3 main intelligence groups.
The policy intended to o er a ‘parity of esteem’, where each type if school was seen as
equal but di erent.
11+ exam = pass = grammar schools, with academic education = mainly m/c
11+ exam = fail = secondary modern schools, with vocational education = lower m/c and
w/c
11+ exam = fail = technical schools, with practical and vocational education (for skilled
manual jobs) = w/c
A03 OF TRIPARTITE SYSTEM:
- Functionalists = shows how individuals have an equal chance of success (meritocracy),
as it is achieved through their own e orts and abilities
- Marxists = reproduces inequalities by putting social classes into 3 di erent types of
schools which o ers unequal opportunities
- Feminists = reinforces gender inequalities as it requires girls to gain higher marks than
boys in the 11+ exam to obtain a grammar school place
A03:
- Culture bias due to use of language (social and ethnic)
- Gender bias as boys have a lower pass rate of 11+
- Class bias as m/c are better equipped for the exam
- 1965 Comprehensive System was expanded to create a ‘one size ts all’ school
system that all students could attend. This aimed to overcome the class divide of the
tripartite system, as the comprehensive system was non-selective as there is no entry
exam
A03 OF COMPREHENSIVES:
- Functionalists = promotes meritocracy as there is no entry exam, so no selection for
access (CAGE allowed), leading to equal access and opportunity - this in turn leads to
social class integration due to mixed ability teaching
- Marxists/Interactionists = inequalities persist inside the school e.g. setting, streaming,
middle class habits, ethnocentric curriculum etc..
ff ff ffff ff ff fi fi ff ff
,Marketisation;
- This is where schools are run like businesses
- 3 main features of marketisation of education;
CONTROL = reduce state/local education authority control over education by allowing
schools and colleges to control their own a airs and run like private businesses
COMPETITION = making schools and colleges compete with one another for customers
(parents/pupils)
CHOICE = promoting parentocracy by giving parents a choice of schools enabling them
to choose which school they felt best suited their child
CONSERVATIVE (1979-1997):
Marketisation is the central theme of government education policies since the 1988
Education Reform Act, which introduced;
- National curriculum = compulsory subjects for 5 to 16 year olds, and coursework was
introduced with GCSEs
- League tables = exam results published for the public to be able to compare success
rates (competition and choice)
- Ofsted reports = government-led inspection, giving parents information they need to
choose the right school (competition)
- Formula funding = schools are allocated funds based on how many pupils they attract
(competition)
- Open enrolment = parents are free to apply to any school they like (choice)
- City Technology Colleges and Grant Maintained Schools = schools outside of LEA
control, which are part-funded by businesses and have great powers of selection
(control - schools can specialise in speci c subjects) (choice - students who want to
specialise in certain areas have the option to do so)
A03:
- Gerwitz = myth of parentocracy;
Marketisation reproduces and legitimises inequalities
Schools advertise themselves to be seen as though all parents have a free choice to
choose what school their child goes to, but this is a myth
M/C parents have more ability to take advantage of the choices available to them, as they
are privileged-skilled choosers — have economic capital to move into the catchment
areas of the desirable schools, and cultural capital as they know how school admissions
work (e.g. importance of putting schools as 1st choice, importance of deadlines etc..),
can visit schools, and have the skills to research options (often results, league tables etc..)
W/C parents are known as disconnected-local choosers
- Bartlett = cream-skimming and silt-shifting;
Cream-skimming = ‘good’ schools can be more selective and choose customers
themselves
Silt-shifting = ‘good’ schools avoid taking less able students who are likely to get poor
results and damage the schools league table position
This advantages m/c, girls, white m/c, Chinese, and Indian
This disadvantaged w/c, boys, white w/c, and black
- Gillborn and Youdel = educational triage;
League tables have led to an educational triage, where students are divided into 3
categories
Safe = m/c, girls, white m/c, Chinese, and Indian
Hopeless cases = w/c, boys, black Caribbean, and white w/c
Underachievers
fi ff
,NEW LABOUR (1997 - 2010);
Continued marketisation policies, but also introduced policies to reduce social exclusion
by making the education system fairer for all students - known as compensatory
education;
- Sure Start = early education intervention programme aimed at parents and children
under 4, living in the most disadvantaged areas - it supports children’s learning skills,
health, well-being, and social and emotional development (social class inequality)
- City Academies = new schools to replace struggling inner-city schools in deprived
areas, which are free from control of LEA and required private sponsorships with the
aim of bringing ‘private sector best practice and innovative management’ into failing
schools (control)
- Education Action Zones = extra funding for schools in deprived areas to improve
educational performance and raise aspirations of w/c students and boys (competition
for funding)
- Specialist Schools = teach the national curriculum but also specialise in one area -
they then have the ability to select up to 10% of pupils by ability in the specialist
subject (control)
- Education Maintenance Allowance = payments to students from low-income
backgrounds to stay on after 16 to gain better quali cations (social class inequality)
- National Literacy Strategy = emphasis on phonics, spelling and grammar, and uses
daily ‘literacy hour’ (for boys, so reduces gender inequality)
- Aim Higher Programme = run by universities which aims to get lower class in
universities by giving careers advice, university summer camps etc.. (social class
inequality)
- GIST + WISE = aimed at girls to close the gender gap in STEM subjects and careers
(gender inequality)
A03:
POSITIVE
- Achieves greater equality in opportunities by making education more inclusive, and by
improving education experience for all
- Raises standard of education to create a skilled labour force
NEGATIVE
- New Labour Paradox = on one hand they try to encourage w/c students to further their
education, but contradicts itself as it comes at a cost - higher education has tuition
fees which is the biggest reason w/c students do not go to university
- The gap between m/c and w/c achievement continues to grow due to cream-skimming
etc..
fi
, COALITION (2010-2015):
Made of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Many of the policies had the goal of
austerity - reducing governments spending. Want to raise standards by having tougher,
more rigorous exams.
- Sure Start centres closed, leaving w/c illiterate before primary school (social class
inequality)
- EMA scrapped, and bursary was introduced, which wasn’t as generous so doesn’t
help that much for those who are nancially struggling (social class inequality)
- Tuition fees tripled to £9000 a year, so w/c de nitely cannot a ord due to fear of debt
(Callander and Jackson)
- Pupil Premium = schools given additional funding for each pupil from a disadvantaged
background
- Converter Academies = schools encouraged to become independent academies, free
from LEA control, national curriculum, and receive all funding from government. Poorly
performing schools were forced into becoming academies, under leadership of a high-
performing neighbouring academy (control - can recruit students and have own
curriculum)(competition - must appeal to customers)
- Free Schools = all-ability, state-funded independent schools which are set up by
‘founding groups’ including parents, charities, businesses, and religious groups
(choice - parents create schools themselves so have freedom of choice)(control - free
from government control)
A03:
CONVERTER ACADEMIES:
- POS = Department for Education claimed an improvement in GCSE results for
academies from 2010 to 2011
- NEG = Too early to judge e ectiveness of academies, and some claim the
improvements seen are due to academies taking fewer students with special needs or
behavioural problems
FREE SCHOOLS:
- POS = Parents and teachers have the chance to initiate creation of new schools if they
are unhappy with state schools in a particular local area
- NEG = Widens social inequalities as free schools are selective in terms of social and
religious backgrounds of students
AUSTERITY POLICIES:
- NEG = Has led to a school cut crisis e.g. fewer sta , less resources etc..
CONSERVATIVE (2015+):
Continues marketisation policies, austerity policies and further reforms to the curriculum
- Further cutting in funding for schools and marginalised children, with a focus on
schools becoming more cost e ective
- Further introduction of private companies within schools e.g. security, catering etc..
- Pressure on secondary schools to become academies - a lump sum of money given
- Adoption of texts authored by British-only writers for GCSE and A-Level English, and
prioritises British history
- PREVENT strategy was updated and relaunched, which focuses on maintaining and
emphasising British values, and preventing radicalisation and terrorism
ff ff fi fi ff ff
POLICIES:
History of Education;
- 1870 Education Act (aka Forster’s Education Act) made sure that every child aged 5 to
12 has access to education
- 1918 Education Act (aka Fisher’s Act) extended compulsory education until 14 for all
children
- 1944 Education Act raised compulsory schooling age to 15, and introduced the
tripartite system, which provided 3 di erent types of secondary schools for di erent
types of student with di erent ‘types of mind’
This system was based on selection, as entry depended on performance in the 11+ exam
The system drew on the idea that intelligence was xed at birth, and that the exam could
correctly place children into one of the 3 main intelligence groups.
The policy intended to o er a ‘parity of esteem’, where each type if school was seen as
equal but di erent.
11+ exam = pass = grammar schools, with academic education = mainly m/c
11+ exam = fail = secondary modern schools, with vocational education = lower m/c and
w/c
11+ exam = fail = technical schools, with practical and vocational education (for skilled
manual jobs) = w/c
A03 OF TRIPARTITE SYSTEM:
- Functionalists = shows how individuals have an equal chance of success (meritocracy),
as it is achieved through their own e orts and abilities
- Marxists = reproduces inequalities by putting social classes into 3 di erent types of
schools which o ers unequal opportunities
- Feminists = reinforces gender inequalities as it requires girls to gain higher marks than
boys in the 11+ exam to obtain a grammar school place
A03:
- Culture bias due to use of language (social and ethnic)
- Gender bias as boys have a lower pass rate of 11+
- Class bias as m/c are better equipped for the exam
- 1965 Comprehensive System was expanded to create a ‘one size ts all’ school
system that all students could attend. This aimed to overcome the class divide of the
tripartite system, as the comprehensive system was non-selective as there is no entry
exam
A03 OF COMPREHENSIVES:
- Functionalists = promotes meritocracy as there is no entry exam, so no selection for
access (CAGE allowed), leading to equal access and opportunity - this in turn leads to
social class integration due to mixed ability teaching
- Marxists/Interactionists = inequalities persist inside the school e.g. setting, streaming,
middle class habits, ethnocentric curriculum etc..
ff ff ffff ff ff fi fi ff ff
,Marketisation;
- This is where schools are run like businesses
- 3 main features of marketisation of education;
CONTROL = reduce state/local education authority control over education by allowing
schools and colleges to control their own a airs and run like private businesses
COMPETITION = making schools and colleges compete with one another for customers
(parents/pupils)
CHOICE = promoting parentocracy by giving parents a choice of schools enabling them
to choose which school they felt best suited their child
CONSERVATIVE (1979-1997):
Marketisation is the central theme of government education policies since the 1988
Education Reform Act, which introduced;
- National curriculum = compulsory subjects for 5 to 16 year olds, and coursework was
introduced with GCSEs
- League tables = exam results published for the public to be able to compare success
rates (competition and choice)
- Ofsted reports = government-led inspection, giving parents information they need to
choose the right school (competition)
- Formula funding = schools are allocated funds based on how many pupils they attract
(competition)
- Open enrolment = parents are free to apply to any school they like (choice)
- City Technology Colleges and Grant Maintained Schools = schools outside of LEA
control, which are part-funded by businesses and have great powers of selection
(control - schools can specialise in speci c subjects) (choice - students who want to
specialise in certain areas have the option to do so)
A03:
- Gerwitz = myth of parentocracy;
Marketisation reproduces and legitimises inequalities
Schools advertise themselves to be seen as though all parents have a free choice to
choose what school their child goes to, but this is a myth
M/C parents have more ability to take advantage of the choices available to them, as they
are privileged-skilled choosers — have economic capital to move into the catchment
areas of the desirable schools, and cultural capital as they know how school admissions
work (e.g. importance of putting schools as 1st choice, importance of deadlines etc..),
can visit schools, and have the skills to research options (often results, league tables etc..)
W/C parents are known as disconnected-local choosers
- Bartlett = cream-skimming and silt-shifting;
Cream-skimming = ‘good’ schools can be more selective and choose customers
themselves
Silt-shifting = ‘good’ schools avoid taking less able students who are likely to get poor
results and damage the schools league table position
This advantages m/c, girls, white m/c, Chinese, and Indian
This disadvantaged w/c, boys, white w/c, and black
- Gillborn and Youdel = educational triage;
League tables have led to an educational triage, where students are divided into 3
categories
Safe = m/c, girls, white m/c, Chinese, and Indian
Hopeless cases = w/c, boys, black Caribbean, and white w/c
Underachievers
fi ff
,NEW LABOUR (1997 - 2010);
Continued marketisation policies, but also introduced policies to reduce social exclusion
by making the education system fairer for all students - known as compensatory
education;
- Sure Start = early education intervention programme aimed at parents and children
under 4, living in the most disadvantaged areas - it supports children’s learning skills,
health, well-being, and social and emotional development (social class inequality)
- City Academies = new schools to replace struggling inner-city schools in deprived
areas, which are free from control of LEA and required private sponsorships with the
aim of bringing ‘private sector best practice and innovative management’ into failing
schools (control)
- Education Action Zones = extra funding for schools in deprived areas to improve
educational performance and raise aspirations of w/c students and boys (competition
for funding)
- Specialist Schools = teach the national curriculum but also specialise in one area -
they then have the ability to select up to 10% of pupils by ability in the specialist
subject (control)
- Education Maintenance Allowance = payments to students from low-income
backgrounds to stay on after 16 to gain better quali cations (social class inequality)
- National Literacy Strategy = emphasis on phonics, spelling and grammar, and uses
daily ‘literacy hour’ (for boys, so reduces gender inequality)
- Aim Higher Programme = run by universities which aims to get lower class in
universities by giving careers advice, university summer camps etc.. (social class
inequality)
- GIST + WISE = aimed at girls to close the gender gap in STEM subjects and careers
(gender inequality)
A03:
POSITIVE
- Achieves greater equality in opportunities by making education more inclusive, and by
improving education experience for all
- Raises standard of education to create a skilled labour force
NEGATIVE
- New Labour Paradox = on one hand they try to encourage w/c students to further their
education, but contradicts itself as it comes at a cost - higher education has tuition
fees which is the biggest reason w/c students do not go to university
- The gap between m/c and w/c achievement continues to grow due to cream-skimming
etc..
fi
, COALITION (2010-2015):
Made of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Many of the policies had the goal of
austerity - reducing governments spending. Want to raise standards by having tougher,
more rigorous exams.
- Sure Start centres closed, leaving w/c illiterate before primary school (social class
inequality)
- EMA scrapped, and bursary was introduced, which wasn’t as generous so doesn’t
help that much for those who are nancially struggling (social class inequality)
- Tuition fees tripled to £9000 a year, so w/c de nitely cannot a ord due to fear of debt
(Callander and Jackson)
- Pupil Premium = schools given additional funding for each pupil from a disadvantaged
background
- Converter Academies = schools encouraged to become independent academies, free
from LEA control, national curriculum, and receive all funding from government. Poorly
performing schools were forced into becoming academies, under leadership of a high-
performing neighbouring academy (control - can recruit students and have own
curriculum)(competition - must appeal to customers)
- Free Schools = all-ability, state-funded independent schools which are set up by
‘founding groups’ including parents, charities, businesses, and religious groups
(choice - parents create schools themselves so have freedom of choice)(control - free
from government control)
A03:
CONVERTER ACADEMIES:
- POS = Department for Education claimed an improvement in GCSE results for
academies from 2010 to 2011
- NEG = Too early to judge e ectiveness of academies, and some claim the
improvements seen are due to academies taking fewer students with special needs or
behavioural problems
FREE SCHOOLS:
- POS = Parents and teachers have the chance to initiate creation of new schools if they
are unhappy with state schools in a particular local area
- NEG = Widens social inequalities as free schools are selective in terms of social and
religious backgrounds of students
AUSTERITY POLICIES:
- NEG = Has led to a school cut crisis e.g. fewer sta , less resources etc..
CONSERVATIVE (2015+):
Continues marketisation policies, austerity policies and further reforms to the curriculum
- Further cutting in funding for schools and marginalised children, with a focus on
schools becoming more cost e ective
- Further introduction of private companies within schools e.g. security, catering etc..
- Pressure on secondary schools to become academies - a lump sum of money given
- Adoption of texts authored by British-only writers for GCSE and A-Level English, and
prioritises British history
- PREVENT strategy was updated and relaunched, which focuses on maintaining and
emphasising British values, and preventing radicalisation and terrorism
ff ff fi fi ff ff
