Education Policy: The 1988 Education Act (AQA A Level Sociology): Revision Note

Education policies 1979-1988

• Following the 1979 election, the Conservative government, led by Margaret Thatcher, introduced major changes to education policy

• The focus shifted from promoting equal opportunities to emphasising marketisation, parental choice, and competition

  • These are key features of New Right (opens in a new tab) ideology

Key developments and the Education Reform Act

• 1979: Thatcher becomes Prime Minister, promoting greater parental choice

• 1980s: Introduction of ‘new vocationalism’

  • These were schemes designed to prepare young people for work, as it was argued that unemployment was caused by a skills crisis

    • E.g., YTS and GNVQs

• 1988: The Education Reform Act (ERA) introduces key reforms to endorse marketisation, parental choice, and competition:

  • National Curriculum: All state schools must follow a set programme of subjects

  • Standardised testing: SATs and GCSEs introduced to measure performance

  • Ofsted inspections: External assessments of school performance begin

  • League tables: School performance is ranked and published to encourage competition and parental choice

  • Selection: Schools could select a portion of their intake

  • City Technology Colleges: Set up in inner-city areas to raise standards and increase parental choice

  • Diversification: More school types introduced, including grant-maintained schools with control on marketing, admissions, and selection

Criticisms of the Education Reform Act (1988)

• Overemphasis on testing

  • The ERA introduced frequent testing (e.g., SATs and GCSEs), which placed pressure on students and teachers

  • Critics argue this led to "teaching to the test", where lessons focused on exam performance rather than deep understanding or creativity

• Flawed market principles

  • The education system was framed as a market, with schools competing for pupils

  • However, parents don’t pay fees, so the concept of a true market based on price and choice doesn’t fully apply

• Unfair school practices

  • To boost league table performance, some schools excluded low-achieving pupils to protect their image

  • This practice prioritised results over inclusion, disadvantaging vulnerable or struggling students

• Restricted parental choice

  • Although the ERA promised greater choice, popular schools filled up quickly, leaving many parents unable to access their preferred school

  • In reality, parental choice was limited by catchment areas, availability, and oversubscription

Marketisation and parentocracy in education

• The 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) introduced the concept of marketisation - the idea that schools should operate like businesses in a competitive market

• Schools were expected to compete for students and funding, and parents were given more consumer-like power to choose where to send their children

  • This increase in parental choice over education is referred to as parentocracy

• New Right thinkers supported marketisation, arguing that

  • Competition between schools would raise standards

  • Parents, as “customers”, would drive improvement by choosing the best-performing schools

  • Underperforming schools would be pressured to improve or face closure

Key features of marketisation

School promotion

• To attract students, schools began marketing themselves through:

  • Websites showing exam results, Ofsted reports, and curriculum details

  • Prospectuses highlighting facilities, subjects, and school culture

  • Social media presence and open evenings to engage prospective parents and showcase strengths

League tables

• Published annually by the Department for Education, league tables show how schools perform in GCSEs, SATs, and other national tests

• These enable parents to compare schools based on exam success and make informed choices

• Schools ranked higher in the tables are more likely to attract applications and funding

Types of schools

• There is a wider range of types of schools for parents to choose from, such as free schools, faith schools, and specialist schools

• Parents were no longer limited to the local catchment area, enabling them to shop around for schools that suited their child’s needs or talents

Formula funding

• Schools receive funding based on how many pupils they enrol

• Popular schools attract more students, leading to more funding and better facilities

• This can result in a cycle of success where well-funded schools continue to thrive

• Businesses may also sponsor schools, offering resources or work experience

Open enrolment

• Successful schools are allowed to expand up to their physical capacity

• This gives more students access to high-performing schools and encourages schools to grow and improve

Criticisms of marketisation and parentocracy

• New Right policies on education, particularly those emphasising marketisation and parentocracy, have been criticised

  • A two-tier education system

    • The 1988 ERA allowed schools to select students, leading to a hierarchy of schools

    • Top-performing schools were able to attract better pupils, while lower-ranked schools were left with students rejected elsewhere

  • Social class inequality

    • Ball, Bowe and Gewirtz (1994) argue that marketisation policies have reinforced middle-class advantage

    • High-achieving schools tend to cream-skim the most academic students, often from middle-class families, and are less likely to admit students with learning difficulties

  • Parentocracy is a myth

    • Parental power is not distributed equally

    • Middle-class parents can use their economic capital (e.g., moving to better catchment areas), cultural capital (understanding how the system works), and social capital (networks and influence) to secure places at the best schools

  • Inequalities between schools

    • Marketisation has widened the gap between schools in affluent vs disadvantaged areas

    • Schools in middle-class areas attract more funding, better facilities, and high-quality teachers

    • In contrast, schools in working-class areas may enter a self-fulfilling cycle of decline, where poor results lead to falling applications and reduced funding, making improvement even harder