Education Policies

Question 1

Define ‘government policy’.

Answer 1

A declaration of a government’s political activities, plans and intentions, often relation to a cause with the intent to change things.

Question 2

Give 3 examples of what education policies are designed to do.

Answer 2

1) Improve standards
2) Save money
3) Create greater equality

Question 3

Give an example of a Marxist perspective on education policies.

Answer 3

They believe that these policies benefit the middle class more and so further reinforces class inequality whilst continuing to promote the myth of meritocracy.

Question 4

What did the 1944 Butler Education Act introduce?

Answer 4

The tri-partite system providing free secondary education for everyone.

Question 5

How does the tri-partite system work?

Answer 5

Results of the 11+ exam determined which of the following institution the child would attend:

• Grammar schools
• Technical schools
• Secondary modern schools

Question 6

Define ‘parity of esteem’.

Answer 6

The equality of opportunity between children in education.

Question 7

Give 3 criticisms of the 1944 Butler Education Act.

Answer 7

1) 11+ tests were seen as not a true measure of intelligence due to being young
2) Fewer places were available for girls due to them doing better so there would be no parity of esteem
3) The test lowers the self-esteem of children who failed and so would decrease their motivation to improve their ability

Question 8

Who introduced comprehensive schools in 1965?

Answer 8

The Labour government.

Question 9

What did comprehensive schools involve in 1965?

Answer 9

• The 11+ exam was abolished to increase parity of esteem and meritocracy as all children would be educated at the same type of school regardless of ability
• Many new teachers were trained in a more broad range of subjects
• Admissions to schools were based on geographical catchment areas

Question 10

Give 3 criticisms of the 1965 Comprehensive Schools.

Answer 10

1) Lowered standards disadvantaged the more intelligent students who would have done better at grammar schools
2) Poor discipline made progress slow
3) Less successful than grammar schools

Question 11

Give an advantage of the 1965 Comprehensive Schools.

Answer 11

It addresses children who were previously disadvantaged and so increases meritocracy and social mobility.

Question 12

Which government came to power in 1979 and what was their aim?

Answer 12

The Conservatives aim was to produce more employable young people to stop students who were leaving school and going on the dole.

Question 13

What did vocationalism involve in 1980?

Answer 13

• It provided education to serve the need of the industry by teaching specific skills for specific jobs
• They were designed to appeal to the ‘less academic’ students
• These vocational courses involve some time in a work placement and some time in college

Question 14

Give 2 criticisms of the 1980 Vocationalism.

Answer 14

1) Working class students are more likely to follow a vocational path and so this decreases social mobility
2) Finn (1987) says that the working class get trained, and the middle class get educated - providing cheap labour

Question 15

Give 2 advantages of the 1980 Vocationalism.

Answer 15

1) Provided something for less academic students so that it would end the ‘something for nothing’ dependency culture
2) It increases opportunity for people who would not have succeeded in a more academic environment

Question 16

What did the 1988 Education Reform Act involve?

Answer 16

• This introduced marketisation, choice, competition and diversity
• It put schools in competition with each other by allowing parents access to information about performance and enabling them to choose which schools their children should go to
• Schools which fail to meet the required standards by having good grades and enough pupils would get shut down
• Some schools were granted more money from the government
• The national curriculum was introduced which schools had to follow
• SATs were introduced for ages 5,7,11, and 14

Question 17

Give 5 criticisms of the 1988 Education Reform Act.

Answer 17

1) The national curriculum reduced choice of what could be learnt and became ethnocentric
2) Schools in middle class areas were seen as better than schools in working class areas and so disadvantaging the pupils in w/c areas that would go to those schools
3) Schools that attract more advantaged pupils would be seen as better due to the increased grades they produce
4) Introducing choice of schools to go do disadvantages working class because they may be in an area with a bad school but don’t have enough money to pay for travel to a better school or to move into a better catchment area
5) People thought that SATs were happening when children were too young and so would not be a true measure of their ability

Question 18

What did phasing out student grants in 1996 involve?

Answer 18

• Due to the increase in people who went to university it caused a funding crisis
• Student grants were frozen and people were encouraged to take out low loans to fund their living costs while their tuition fees were continued to be paid by their Local Education Authority (LEA)

Question 19

Give a criticism of the 1996 Phasing Out Student Grants.

Answer 19

It disadvantaged working class people as those who may be intelligent enough to go to university would be deterred by the thought of debt.

Question 20

Which government came to power in 1997 and what was their aim?

Answer 20

New Labour’s aim was to improve education and create greater educational opportunities for all.

Question 21

What did the introduction of tuition fees in 1998 involve?

Answer 21

• Targets were introduced to expand higher education so that up to 50% of school leavers could undertake degree level study
• Tuition fees started at £1000 per year that increased to £3,000 in 2003

Question 22

Give a criticism of the 1998 Introduction of Tuition Fees.

Answer 22

It disadvantaged working class people as those who may be intelligent enough to go to university would be deterred by the thought of debt.

Question 23

What did the introduction of EMAs in 1998 involve?

Answer 23

• Tested benefits of £10-£30 for full time students in further education which was paid directly to the student
• The cut-off point was household income over £31,000
• The aim was to raise participation rates in post compulsory education from deprived backgrounds as it was linked to attendance and attainment

Question 24

Give 2 advantages of the 1998 EMAs.

Answer 24

1) The Institute for Fiscal studies compared how students entitled to EMA in 9 urban LEA’s fared compared to 9 similar LEA’s who were not entitled to it. they found the scheme had been successful in all aims
2) It made it more likely for working class students to increase attainment by trying harder and so increases social mobility

Question 25

What did the introduction academies in 2002 involve?

Answer 25

• Poorly performing schools were awarded academy status
• They are independent, state funded schools outside the control of local authorities and are managed by a team of private sponsors
• Governors are responsible for employing staff, performance management, etc

Question 26

Give 3 criticisms of the 2002 Academies.

Answer 26

1) Image of the academy became more important than the learning that takes place inside
2) Successful schools will select pupils who are most likely to do well to better their image
3) Stephen Ball (1994) said that not all parents have the choice such as working class parents

Question 27

Give an advantage of the 2002 Academies.

Answer 27

Research by the LSE suggests that the academies opened under new labour saw improvements in their GCSE results with an extra 3% of pupils achieving 5 or more A* - C grades.

Question 28

Which government came to power in 2010 and what was their aim?

Answer 28

The coalition government’s aim was to reduce spending on education.

Question 29

Give a criticism for the coalition government’s aim.

Answer 29

Some critics argue that some of their policies disadvantage poorer students and schools in deprived areas - increasing social class inequality.

Question 30

What did the increase in tuition fees in 2011 involve?

Answer 30

• The EMAs were scrapped in 2011

- Tuition fees rose to £9,000 per year

Question 31

Give 2 criticisms of the 2011 Increase in Tuition Fees.

Answer 31

1) Amount of student debt expected to be written off is 10x greater, this would deter working class people from attending university as they don’t want debt
2) The increase in debt will create a debt burden on the country with only 30% of students who leave university being able to pay off all their debt

Question 32

Give an advantage of the 2011 Increase in Tuition Fees.

Answer 32

There is no noticeable difference in enrolment number which means that it has not affect those who want to go to university.

Question 33

What did the introduction of free schools in 2011 involve?

Answer 33

• Funded by the government but aren’t run by the local council and so have more control over how they do things
• They’re all-ability schools and so can’t use academic selection processes like grammar schools
• They can set their own pay and conditions for staff
• They can change the length of term time and school days
• They don’t have to follow the national curriculum
• They can be set up by groups like: universities, businesses, community and faith groups, etc

Question 34

Give 4 criticisms of the introduction of Free Schools.

Answer 34

1) Not following the curriculum could lead to an increase or decrease in knowledge on subjects compared to people learning the national curriculum
2) New Right believe it leads to lower standards
3) Gillborn and Youdell say schools are more likely to ration resources to benefit higher achievers to increase their standards
4) Ball (1994) said they send more time and money on marketisation to attract higher achieving pupils and so decrease their standards due to not focusing on their pupils

Question 35

Give an advantage of the introduction of Free Schools.

Answer 35

Due to not needing to follow the national curriculum, free schools that were setup by faith schools can focus the education in that direction or more general schools can increase variety of what is learnt to decrease ethnocentrism of the curriculum.

Question 36

Give 3 key criticisms of the New Right Policy.

Answer 36

1) Stephen Ball studied the effects of education reforms and found that middle class parents were usually skilled at choosing schools compared to working class parents who didn’t have enough time and money to choose schools that would have improved their children’s quality of education
2) Less attention was paid to children with special needs as schools spent more time trying to attract more intelligent pupils to increase their standards and popularity
3) Due to spending more time and money on marketisation to attract the higher achievers it disadvantages working class children and so decreases social mobility as those who may achieve highly might not be in the catchment area

Question 37

Give 2 key criticisms of the New Labour Policy.

Answer 37

1) Tomlinson (2005) said that the reintroduction of selection favoured middle class due to narrow focus on league tables trying to improve the image with higher achieving pupils
2) Trowler (2003) said that New Labour underestimated the degree to which inequality in society prevents equality of opportunity in education as working class people are less likely to get the same opportunities as middle class people due to having less money to pay for travel or moving house or extra tuition or the academic institution itself

Question 38

Give an advantage of the New Labour Policy.

Answer 38

McKnight (2005) said that the overall standards rose as GCSEs also improved as well as the small reduction in class differences showing that, whilst it was small, there was an increase to social mobility.