Policies of education

THE FORSTER ACT 1870

• Schools only accessible to the wealthy. 
• Working class were limited to church schools.
• The state ran schools for ages 5-11.
• Eleentory schools were made compulsary up to the age of 10.
• Aimed at basic Literacy and Numeracy

In 1891 the school leaving age became 12.

THE BUTLER EDUCATION ACT 1944

• Introduced the the 3 stages of freestate education:  Primary (5-11) Secondary (11-16) Further education
• Introduced the tripartite system; This is where students at primary school age had to take a 11+ exam to determine if they were good enough for grammar school. If you failed you was to be send to either secondary modern or secondary technical.
• Evaluation; The 11+ was an unfair way of selection. Grammar schools were better. The system reinforced social class divisions and labelling someone a failure at 11 may have negative effects on children. 

Regarding the education system, ignorance was seen as a great evil.

THE COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM 1965

All students, regardless of their academic ability attended the same school. This system got rid of the tripartite system.

The aims;

- To break down social class barriers.

- To meet everyones educational needs.

- Make it cheaper to run as there is one school instead of three.

- Creating local schools for local people.

Evaluation;

- No choice for parents - students were expected to go to local schools.

- More academically able students would be held back by the less academic.

- Comprehensive may expect lower standards than grammar schools.

- Some argue that it doesnt break down the social barriers as the tripartite         system is reinforced through sets and streaming.

THE NEW VOCATIONALISM 1979

Aims; 

- The New Right decided that the state needed to be directly involved in youth       training.

- The education system is not meeting the needs of the industry and there is a shortage in skills. From this, vocational education was introducted.

Youth Training Scheme (YTS) - One year training for school leavers.

National Vocational Qualifications (NQV'S) - Introducted for a range of specific occupations. E.g health and beauty, Health and social care.

Work experience - Offered to year 10 & 11 students.

Modern apprenticiships

Evaluation; 

- FINN; Jobs need to be created rather than training

- COHEN; The quality and relevance of training can be questioned. Can be used just as a cheap source of labour.

THE EDUCATION REFORM ACT 1988

Brought in the concept of Marketisation. Marketisation is the use of the market in order to creat competition, choice and to raise standards. 

- Miriam David; Power has now moved away from the producers and been given  to the parents. This is called Parentocracy.

- Chubb & Moe; Marketisation policies such as league tables and funding  formula drive standards up as schools will have to compete against each other in order to move up the table. This is achieved by improving exam results and gaining financial rewards.

- Ball & Witty; League tables shows how well a school is achieving. Parents want their child to go to the best school making it popular which allows the school to be more selective and chose high achieving middle class pupils. 

The unpopular schools will lose income and will find it difficult to compete. This could result in the school being closed down creating more competition between better schools. 

- Gilborn & Youdell; A*-C economy where schools channel most their efforts to those pupils which are likely to achieve a C or above. This creates an educational triange in which the working class pupils are seen as being of low ability.

- Ball; Marketisation gives the appearance of creating parentocracy however this is a myth  as not all parents have the freedom of choice. 

- Gertwitz; Middle-Class parents have more cultural capital which is used to their advantage but the working-class dont. 

• Specialised schools – Schools will receive extra funding to specialise in one certain are (technology, music, maths etc). This was introduced to improve standards in that field for that comprehensive.

Many of these policies were an extension of the Marketisation policy. More money was used to support Compensatory policies aimed at improving working class achievement.

Increase of specialist schools; More specialist schools which selects 10% of their students according to ability. 

Acadamies; Introduced to replace failing schools. They are independant but state funded and sponsors have a say in how the school is run and the curriculum

EAZ's; Education Action Zones were built around groups of schools which were determined to raise standards in areas of deprivation.

Introduction of tuition fees and expansion of higher education; Want 50% of young people to enter higher education but they are to pay for their education through tuition fees. 

EMA; Education Maintainance Allowance where 16-18 yr olds get £30 pw used to buy resources etc. This has now been replaced with bursarys. 

New Deal; Gives people who are on benefits help and support they need to look for work including training. Young people on benefits for six months are required to enter training or they lose their benefits. 

Raising of the school leaving age; From 16 to 17 in 2013 and 17 to 18 in 2015. 

Diplomas in vocational subjects; Pupils can study for qualification such as engineering and health and social care for 14-19 yr olds. 

Train To Gain (T2G); Offers vocational training for those over 25

Sure Start centres; Provides childcare, healthcare, early education and family support to more than 2 million children & their families. 

Beacon Schools; Schools which have been identified as the best preforming in the country. They are expected to work in partnership with other schools in order to raise standards.

Curriculum 2000; A level now consists of 6 units over 2 years with moduels being taken in january and june. (now replaced so that all exams are taken in june 2014, 2015 exams taken at the end of the 2 years)

Free nursery places; Every 3-4 year old has a right to a 15 hour a week place. 

Diplomas in vocational subjects; Pupils can study for qualification such as engineering and health and social care for 14-19 yr olds. 

Train To Gain (T2G); Offers vocational training for those over 25

Sure Start centres; Provides childcare, healthcare, early education and family support to more than 2 million children & their families. 

Beacon Schools; Schools which have been identified as the best preforming in the country. They are expected to work in partnership with other schools in order to raise standards.

Curriculum 2000; A level now consists of 6 units over 2 years with moduels being taken in january and june. (now replaced so that all exams are taken in june 2014, 2015 exams taken at the end of the 2 years)

Free nursery places; Every 3-4 year old has a right to a 15 hour a week place.