coalition government policies from 2010

what inspired coalition government policies?

the new right and neoliberal ideas about reducing the role of the state in the provision of education through marketisation and privatisation

According to David Cameron, prime minister at the time, what was the aim of the coalition’s education policy ?

to encourage “excellence, competition, and innovation”, by freeing schools from the “dead hand of the state” through policies such as free schools and academies

why were there cuts to the education budget ?

as a part of government’s general policy of reducing state spending

Academies

• all schools were encouraged to leave local authority control and become academies.

• Funding was taken from local authority budgets and given directly to academies by central government and academies were given control over their curriculum.

• Labour’s original city academies targeted disadvantaged schools and areas, removing the focus on reducing inequality.

free schools

• set up and ran by parents, teachers, faith organisations or businesses rather than local authority.

• Supporters of free school meal claim they improve educational standards by taking control away from the state and giving power to parents.

Allen (2010) argues that research from:

Sweden, where 20% of schools are free schools, shows that it benefits children from highly educated families. Other critics claim that free schools are socially divisive and that they lower standards

Sweden’s international ranking has fallen since their introduction

why does Allen’s research act as a criticism to coalition’s policy ?

because it provides evidence that free schools may increase inequality and fail to benefit disadvantaged students, contradicting its aims

Ball - fragmented centralisation

• Argues that promoting academies and free schools has led to both increased fragmentation and increased centralisation of control over educational provision in England.

• Fragmentation:

• Where the comprehensive system is being replaced by a patchwork of diverse provision, which leads to greater inequality in opportunities.

• Centralisation of control:

• Central government has the power to allow or require schools to become academies or allow free schools to be set up, these schools are funded directly by central government, this reduces the role of elected local authorities in education.

what are the policies introduced by the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition marketisation policies that are aimed at reducing increased inequality ?

• free school meals

• pupil premium

what did Ofsted find that criticises pupil premium ?

found that in many cases pupil premium is not spent on those its supposed to help.

Only 1 in 10 headteachers said that it significantly changed how they supported pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.