1988 Education reform act

This was an important policy, it made 6 key changes:

1. Ofsted Inspections
2. Tests at 7, 11 and 14 (SATs)
3. Local management of school budget – reduced the control of schools and handed it over to local authorities
4. Opting Out – schools that were maintained by grants
5. City technical schools
6. A national curriculum

 All of these changes led to one major difference, the marketization of education. This is where parents have the power and choice to make a decision and “shop around” to see which school to send their child to. The New Right argued that this marketization would lead to more efficient and effective schools due to increased competition, and now many political parties share this opinion.

Other Educational policy changes since 1988

There have been many more changes since the 1988 Education Reform Act, all designed to increase the standard of education:

• Vocational education -  Includes work experience, NVQs and Applied GCEs – these aim to provide a more skilled future workforce
• More money for nurseries and smaller primary school, and smaller primary school classes – Labour introduced a maximum class size…