Abstract
The reduction of socio-economic inequalities in school outcomes was a major priority of the Coalition Government in England from 2010–15. In this paper we examine the Coalition's policies and spending, including an analysis of the distributional effect of its pupil premium policy. We also look at trends in outcomes up to 2014. We find that although the pupil premium had a modest overall effect of distributing more money to schools with poorer intakes, this was nested within a wider set of policies which have disadvantaged low income families and children, and that there is evidence of socio-economic gaps widening on some indicators.
Highlights
The Coalition’s term of government between 2010 and 2015 was remarkable for the scale and pace of its reform in education: the transformation of the school system, the extensive reform of curriculum and assessment at all levels, and the overhaul of teacher training.This was an exceptional period of policy and one characterized largely by conflict with ‘the educational establishment’ – namely, teacher unions and education academics.In this paper we focus only on one part of this policy: the attempt to reduce socio-economic inequalities in educational outcomes
We focus on socioeconomic inequalities, principally because the work derives from a project looking at the impact of policy changes on poverty and inequality.This is not to deny the existence or importance of other educational inequalities – such as between students of different genders, ethnic origins, and learning needs – there has been noticeably less policy focus on these in recent years
We have examined the distributive effect of the pupil premium showing that, overall, it has had a redistributive effect on school funding – some schools with very disadvantaged intakes have seen their funding reduced
Summary
The Coalition’s term of government between 2010 and 2015 was remarkable for the scale and pace of its reform in education: the transformation of the school system, the extensive reform of curriculum and assessment at all levels, and the overhaul of teacher training.This was an exceptional period of policy and one characterized largely by conflict with ‘the educational establishment’ – namely, teacher unions and education academics. The Coalition’s term in office has been marked by, on the one hand, the high profile introduction of a redistributive funding mechanism and increased targeting of effort on individuals from poorer families, and on the other, a set of wider social policies which have had the effect of reducing the incomes of such families and the wider services available to them, along with changes to curriculum and assessment to increase academic content and make examinations harder It is an approach which relies heavily on an academic-focused school system to rescue low income students and provide them with access to improved life chances, rather than one which invests in the foundations of secure childhoods, putting students in a better position to learn and to make choices.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
