meritocracy policies

Question 1

tripartite system

Answer 1

1944 Con government
- Introduced by the 1944 Butler Act
- brought in to promote a meritocratic system
- Students sat an exam at 10/11 called the 11+
Based on their score, students went to one of three types of school:
* Grammar schools- academic curriculum, prepares students for uni
* Secondary modern schools- non-academic, ‘practical’ curriculum
* Technical schools- provided an education for students good at technology
and engineering.

(-) AO3 it ended up reproducing class inequalities, as middle class students tended to end up in grammar schools, receiving a better education, as their parents could afford private tutors (economic capital) while working class students tended to end up in secondary modern schools and receive a lower standard of education.

Question 2

comprehensive system

Answer 2

• 1965: Labour government
• The aim was to get rid of the class inequalities in the tripartite system
• pupils go to one type of high school (comprehensives), where they would all receive the same education regardless of class background: places at comprehensive schools
  are allocated on the basis of catchment areas

(-) AO3 However, setting/streaming and teacher labelling both reproduced
class inequalities

Question 3

Education Maintenance Allowance

Answer 3

(2001: New Labour government):
Payments to students from low-income backgrounds to encourage them to
stay on after 16 to gain better qualifications

(-) AO3: In 2010 the Coalition government scrapped EMA and replaced it
with bursaries, which fewer students are entitled to.

Question 4

Pupil Premium

Answer 4

(2011: Coalition government): extra money schools receive for each student from a disadvantaged background.

-(-) AO3 Ofsted found that in many cases the Pupil Premium isn’t spent on those
it is meant to help