Education Policy: New Labour 1997 | Sociology for GCSE/IGCSE - Year 11 PDF Download

Introduction

The Labour government under Tony Blair (1997–2007) prioritized education as a central policy area to enhance economic competitiveness and social equity.

Raising Standards

New Labour aimed to elevate educational standards to build a skilled workforce capable of competing in the global knowledge economy. Key policies included:

• Providing nursery places for all 3- and 4-year-olds.
• Reducing primary school class sizes.
• Focusing on core skills like literacy, numeracy, and IT.
• Establishing specialist schools, where 10% of students were selected based on aptitude in subjects such as sports, technology, or languages.
• Modifying league tables to include 'value-added' data, reflecting student progress.
• Setting more performance targets for schools.
• Placing underperforming schools in 'special measures' to drive improvement.

Reducing Inequality

To promote equal opportunities and improve educational experiences, particularly for disadvantaged groups, New Labour introduced:

• The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), providing financial support to low-income students to encourage continued education post-16.
• The Aim Higher programme, designed to boost aspirations among disadvantaged students and increase their participation in higher education.
• The Sure Start programme, offering affordable early years education, childcare, and parenting support for families with preschool children.

Evaluation

While these policies aimed to support disadvantaged students, critics argue they disproportionately benefited the middle classes. The introduction of university tuition fees was seen as a barrier for students from lower-income backgrounds, potentially contributing to the persistent attainment gap between working-class and middle-class students during New Labour’s tenure.

Promoting Diversity and Choice

New Labour sought to address diverse student needs through increased choice. However, these policies were criticized for continuing the marketisation of education initiated by the Conservatives in 1988. Key measures included:

• Expanding specialist schools, which, despite raising standards, were criticized for disproportionately admitting middle-class students.
• Introducing academies, where underperforming comprehensive schools were removed from local authority control and funded directly by the government and sponsors. These 'city academies' were allowed to select a portion of their students.