2010 coalition government

what was to coalition government

• moved away from a comprehensive education system run by local authorities

• their policies were influenced by neoliberal and new right ideas- reducing the states role in education via marketisation and privatisation

what are academies

• 2010- schools were encouraged to leave local authority control by becoming academies- the central government takes local authority funding and gives it directly to them and allows them to have control over the curriculum

• 2017- 68% of all high schools became academies and some were ran by private education businesses and funded by the state

• HOWEVER- labours original academies addressed disadvantaged schools but the coalitions let any school become an academy- this takes the focus off of reducing inequality which was the previous goal

what are free schools

• schools funded by the state but set up by parents, teachers and faith organisations instead of local authority

• free schools say they improve education standards by taking control away from the state and giving to parents who can create a new school if they’re unhappy with the ones in the area

• HOWEVER Allen- research from sweden (has 20% free schools) shows they only benefit highly educated families

• in england, free schools take less disadvantaged pupils (2011- only 6.4% at bristol free school were eligible for FSM compared to 22.5% of pupils across the city)

what is fragmented centralisation

• Ball- promoting academies/frees has led to increased fragmentation and centralisation over educational provision in england

• fragmentation- comprehensive system is replaced by a patchwork of diverse probation that are usually from private providers → leads to more inequality in opportunities

• centralisation of control- only central government has power to allow schools to be academies/set up free schools → as they are funded directly from the government, the role of elected local authorities is reduced

what are the policies that reduce inequality

• FSM- free school meals for pupils

• pupil premium- money schools get for every pupil from a disadvantage background

• HOWEVER ofsted found that PP isn’t spent on those it’s meant to help → only 1/10 head teachers said it made a huge difference

• cutting of things such as sure start and EMA has reduced WC opportunity