Education Policy, Law and Governance in the United Kingdom

Abstract

In this contribution, we present an overview and discussion of the key policies, trends and issues in UK education. The focus in the initial sections is more on the school system of early and compulsory education. Later sections focus also on post-compulsory and higher education, and links to the world of work. There are four home countries in the UK – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – with increasingly divergent education systems. Where possible and relevant we distinguish these systems, especially at the start of the chapter. However, it is not possible within space constraints to provide detailed discussion of the distinctive legislative framework in each home country and for the purpose of this chapter we have focused primarily on England, which is the most populous of the home countries. 1. Historical and societal context 1.1 Cornerstones of the present structure In the UK, Acts of Parliament relating to education are increasingly regular, with perhaps increasingly diminishing impact. Looking back over the past 70 years or more, however, two such Acts and a further ongoing process perhaps stand out in their legacy of impact on the present structure of schooling. These are the increasing devolution of policy in the four constituent parts of the UK, the 1944 Education Act, and the 1988 Education Reform Act. By 1900 free elementary education was (near) universal in the UK. In 1944, secondary provision was less homogeneous and the vast majority of children left formal education at or before the age of 14. The Education Act tried to change that, but it also did much more. It was part of a total reform of the welfare state and included wider measures such as free transport to school, free medical examinations for all children at school, and free milk at break times. Local authorities, via their schools, were required to attend to the spiritual, moral, mental and physical development of their charges. This meant, in addition to the provision of milk and hot meals, the inclusion in schools of physical and religious education and a daily act of ‘collective worship’. Local authorities had to ensure the provision of ‘appropriate’ education for all children up to the age of 15, which meant a rapid growth in the size and number of schools. The Act did not specify what type of secondary schools should be provided, but the government at the time made clear that they expected at least three types of schools. Technical schools were, as their name implies, intended to provide a largely non-academic, craft and trade preparation education. Very few of these emerged or lasted and so the system actually became mostly bipartite. Grammar schools were intended for the most academically able (regardless of social origin). Admission was via an examination at the end of primary education - the 11+ - designed to pass around 10% to 15% of each cohort. In fact, considerable variation ensued. Adjustment was made for the sexes, so that girls did not ‘swamp’ the grammar schools. In rural areas some ‘grammar’ schools took 40% to 50% of the cohort because there were not enough local pupils to maintain the five or more schools needed for a 20:80 split, or schools simply adapted to different tracks for pupils deemed of different abilities. ‘Secondary-modern’ schools were intended for the bulk of pupils, who were not considered likely to continue in education past the age o f 15 and so were given a mixed academic, general and vocational curriculum.