1997-2010 Labour party were in
power, lead by Tony Blair till 2007,
under Gordon Brown
"New Labour" - no longer following
traditional Labour Party Policies
Aim was to
reduce
inequality
EMA
Low income backgrounds provided
with payments for students
New deal for
young people
Training & Voluntary
work for unemployed
young people
Aim Higher
Raise aspirations for
those groups that are
under-represented in
higher education,
mostly working class
Education
Action Zones
Deprived areas provided with additional resources
Sure Start
Extra help for pre-school
children in deprived
areas e.g Play Centres
Excellence in
Schools Cities
Disadvantaged inner
city children who
were at risk of
exclusion provided
with mentors and
units
Within education system -
Increase diversity, choice
and competition
focus on the needs of the
individual child and power in
the hands of the parents
Schools having specialist status in particular curriculum
areas.
By 2007, 85% of schools
had become specialist
schools e.g technology, languages and so on
Breaking away from the
oppressive uniformity of old
centralised one size fits all
OSFA- all schools
expected to be the
same
Education becomes customised to
diverse communities
E.g Growth of faith schools for
different religion types
16-18 yr olds education in 2000 -
AS/A2s and key skills and more
vocational skills introduced.
Citizenship education
to make pupils aware
of politics
CRITICISM
Existence of Grammar & fee paying private schools
(Not Abolished)
Over emphasis on targets & league tables.
Only advantage the schools that are able to
attract the most able & highest proportion
of higher class pupils
McKnight et al (2005) - Overall standards have risen, improvements in GCSE'S, Alevel and Key stage
tests and a small reduction in class differences in achievement at school