Educational Policies & The Structure of Britain's Education System (AQA GCSE Sociology): Flashcards

Grammar schools provided an academic education for the more academic children, around 20% of students.

A comprehensive school is a non-selective school that students of all abilities attend, introduced in 1965.

With no entrance exams, the comprehensive system is fairer for late developers, and no child is labelled a failure.

False.

Comprehensives take students from the local neighbourhood, and setting or streaming reflects social class differences.

Vocational education refers to work-related qualifications and training for students aged 14-18.

Examples of vocational qualifications include NVQs, applied A levels and Diplomas, T Levels and apprenticeships.

An apprenticeship combines employment with training and study.

The growth of vocational education reflects the functionalist belief that education must supply the skills and expertise needed by business and the economy.

False.

Marxists see vocational education as having less prestige, preparing working-class children to be exploited as workers.

Critics compare vocational education to the tripartite system because students who do not succeed academically are relegated to lower-status vocational training, as they were in that system.

Home schooling is where children are taught at home by their parents, sometimes with tutors, rather than at a state or independent school.

False.

The number increased, from 116,000 in 2021-22 to 126,000 in 2022-23.

Parents may feel school teaching methods are wrong for their child, their child may be unhappy at school due to bullying or anxiety or they may have religious reasons.

Concerns about home schooling include the quality of home tuition and children's social development, and there is no regulation of home education.

De-schooling is Illich's idea that the education system should be abolished, with students learning through self-directed learning networks.

Illich argued that schools encourage passive conformity instead of helping children become creative, independent thinkers.

Sands School is democratic: students and staff run it together, there is no headteacher and there are no compulsory classes.

The National Curriculum required students to study English, maths and sciences.

The Act introduced national tests at the end of key stages, such as SATs and GCSE exams.

The National Curriculum aimed to measure students' performance against national targets, so parents and schools know whether a child is at the expected level for their age.

Marketisation is where schools are run like businesses, competing with one another for students, while parents have more choice.

League tables are statistical data, published by the Department for Education, that compare the exam performance of schools.

Schools promote themselves through their website, a prospectus, social media and open days.

Schools are funded according to the number of students they attract, so popular schools receive more funding.

Parentocracy is where parents, as consumers of education, have greater power, such as choosing a school and challenging school policies.

False.

Ball, Bowe and Gewirtz argue marketisation has reinforced the advantages of middle-class parents, leading to social class inequality.

Critics argue that schools increasingly teach to the test to look good in league tables, which may stifle critical thinking.

Pressure to perform well in SATs and GCSEs can cause pupils stress.

The Act has improved GCSE results, and no later government has changed its core principles.

New Labour aimed to create a skilled labour force to compete in the global knowledge economy.

Policies included nursery places for all 3-4 year olds, smaller primary class sizes, more targets and placing failing schools in special measures.

Specialist schools could select 10% of their students based on aptitude in the school's specialist subject, such as sports or languages.

New Labour changed league tables so that schools had to publish value-added data on how well a child progressed through school.

The Education Maintenance Allowance was a payment to students from lower-income families to encourage them to stay in post-16 education.

Aim Higher aimed to raise the aspirations of disadvantaged students and encourage them to go on to higher education.

Sure Start supported families with preschool children through affordable early years education and childcare and by raising parenting aspirations.

False.

Critics argue that the policies benefited the middle classes, so a high attainment gap between classes continued.

Tuition fees have deterred students from disadvantaged backgrounds from entering higher education.

City academies were failing comprehensives taken out of local authority control, funded by the government and sponsors, which could select part of their intake.

False.

New Labour's policies were criticised for continuing the marketisation of education that began in 1988.

Free schools and the pupil premium were introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government.

New-style academies do not have to follow the National Curriculum and have more control over teachers' pay, term times and the length of the school day.

A converter academy is a high-performing school that chose to convert to academy status.

Failing schools are shut down or taken over by sponsored academies or Multi Academy Trusts.

A free school is a government-funded school set up by groups such as parents, teachers, charities or businesses, outside local authority control.

Critics argue free schools disadvantage the poorest children because they appeal more to middle-class parents and poach pupils from local schools, reducing their funding.

The pupil premium is extra funding schools receive for each student eligible for free school meals or previously looked after, to reduce the attainment gap.

Schools can use pupil premium funding for one-to-one tuition, revision guides and funding school trips for disadvantaged students.

False.

Pupil premium funding may instead be used to cover budget cuts in other areas.

Academies and free schools are more likely than other schools to employ unqualified teachers.

Supporters argue that choice and diversity in education help to meet the needs of individuals.