ReviseSociology

Category: Education Policy

  • Coalition Education Policies #Revision Notes

    Neoliberal ideas were much stronger in the Coalition government’s education policies—in a context of public sector cuts, they focused mainly on the further marketization of education, scrapping many of New Labour’s policies to tackle inequality of opportunity  Funding cuts to education  Spending on education in the UK fell by almost 15% between 2010-11 and 2014-15.…

  • Coalition Education Policy (2010-2015)

    The coalition government continued the marketisation of education. They introduced Free schools, forced acadamisation, increased university tuition fees, but also the Pupil Premium.

  • Education Policy Under New Labour

    New Labour increased funding for education and expanded the number of standard assessments for pupils and targets for schools. They introduced academies, specialist schools, sure start, education action zones and the education maintenance allowance.

  • The 1988 Education Reform Act

    The New Right’s 1988 Education Act introduced marketisation to British schools, through league tables and open enrolment. This post explores some of the strengths and limitations of these policies.

  • Are League Tables Good for Education?

    The New Right introduced league tables into the UK education system in 1988, and today they are part of the ‘education furniture’, but what are the pros and cons? Arguments and evidence that league tables have benefitted education Politicians say that accountability keeps the teaching profession on its toes and drives up standards. According to…

  • Education Policies – A Summary

    The main aims, policy details and evaluations of the main waves of UK education policy – including the 1944 Butler Education Act, the introduction of Comprehensives in 1965, the 1988 Education Act which introduced marketisation, New Labour’s 1997 focus on academies and the 2010 Coalition government’s Free Schools. 

  • Outline Three Ways in Which Schools Have Become Increasingly Privatised in Recent Years (6)

    Privatisation involves the transfer of public assets to private companies This is an example of a possible 4 or 6 mark question for the A Level sociology paper 1 education exam, possible answers below… Marketization = exogenous privatisation, or introducing the principles of the free-market, private sector into how schools are run. This involved giving parents…

  • The Neoliberal Approach to Education Reform

    Stephen Ball argues that there are four central mechanisms through which neoliberalism has transformed the British education system (these are also the mechanisms of public service reform more generally): Top down performance management Greater competitivenss and contestability Choice and voice Measures to strengthen the capability of public servants to deliver improved public services  All of…

  • The Prevent Agenda – Arguments For and Against

    The Prevent Agenda is a recent social policy which requires schools (among other public bodies) to assist the government in preventing people from being drawn into terrorism, which is worth looking at because it’s relevant to several areas of the A level syllabus – education, crime and deviance, ethnicity, and social policy. The Prevent duty:…

  • Grammar Schools – Arguments For and Against

    Grammar schools have been in the news this week – Theresa May’s plans to reintroduce grammar schools is actually one of the most unpopular policies in her party  but despite this opposition, and more opposition from nearly everyone who knows anything about education, she seems hell-bent on bringing the grammar school back into the state system,…