The school system in England


1. The funding and regulation of schools
2. The assessment of schools
3. The assessment of pupils
4. Types of school in the state sector
5. Alternative types of school
6. Proposals for change

The funding and regulation of schools


Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
The Secretary of State for Education is responsible for education policy in England. The DfES is responsible for:

It has control over changes in the educational system and funding structures.

Local Education Authorities
Each council or local authority in the UK has a Local Education Authority and they are primarily responsible for public spending on schools. The government is very keen for authorities to distribute money directly to schools to spend as they wish. So education authorities have a more strategic than operational role within schools.

Local education authorities’ duties towards schools can be divided into five areas:


How exactly funding for schools works
Local education authorities have two budgets: a Schools Budget and an LEA Budget.

The Schools Budget covers pupil costs while the LEA Budget relates to other key LEA functions such as providing adult education and training. After the education authority has used up its share of the Schools Budget the remainder is given to schools in the form of 'budget shares'. The power to spend these 'budget shares' is delegated to the school’s governing body.

In effect, schools do not have to use the services provided by education authorities, such as catering, security, grounds maintenance, ICT support and cleaning services. They can go to alternative providers from the community if they are cost-effective and competitive.

School governing bodies
All publicly-funded schools have a governing body. These are made up of parent representatives, the head teacher, serving teachers, governors appointed by the local education authority and members of the local community. They are responsible for the main policy decisions within schools including:

In practice, much of this comes down to head teachers. Governing bodies take a largely strategic role. They will set the aims and objectives for a school and monitor progress. They are also responsible for implementing the recommendations of inspection reports and are required to make these reports and their action plans available to parents.

Funding for schools in deprived areas
Education Action Zones are clusters of schools in deprived areas. They work in partnership with the local education authority, parents, businesses and a host of community organisations to boost their performance. They receive £500,000 a year for five years.

 

The assessment of schools


Ofsted: school inspections
The Independent Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial government department headed by the chief inspector of schools. Their job is to inspect all state schools and report on standards of achievement.

Its role also includes the inspection of further education, local authority children's services, teacher training institutions and some independent schools. During 2001, Ofsted became responsible for inspecting all 16 to 19 education and for the regulation of early years childcare, including childminders.

League tables
The government publishes league tables of all schools in England. These publicise the performance of each of the schools. League tables are also published on the basis of A and AS-level and GCSE results.


The assessment of pupils


Curriculum and examinations
The national curriculum is compulsory in all state schools throughout England. It is formulated and monitored by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England. The aim of the curriculum is to raise standards and to ensure that schools around the country are following the same courses.


The national curriculum also brought in key stage tests which mean that pupils are assessed at various stages throughout their education. These national curriculum tests are popularly known as 'Sats' even though the proper term would be 'national curriculum' or 'key stage' tests.

Key stages
Under the National curriculum, as a result of the Education Reform Act 1988, four Key Stages were established. These are:

Key Stage 1: 5 to 7 years old
Key Stage 2: 7 to 11 years old
Key Stage 3: 11 to 14 years old
Key Stage 4: 14 to 16 years old

 

Types of school in the state sector


The types of school in England are defined by who employs the staff, controls admissions and owns the land and buildings. There are four categories of mainstream primary and secondary school in England. Secondary schools can also specialise further to become faith schools or city technology colleges, for example.

The four types of mainstream school:
 

Community schools: These were previously county schools. The LEA employs school staff, owns the school lands and buildings and decides the arrangements for admitting pupils.

Foundation schools: Many of these were formerly grant maintained schools. The governing body employs the school staff and has primary responsibility for admissions. The school land and buildings are owned by the governing body or a charitable foundation.

Voluntary Aided: Many of the voluntary aided schools are church schools. The governing body employs the staff and decides admission arrangements. The land and buildings are normally owned by a charitable foundation.

Voluntary Controlled: These are almost always church schools and the lands and buildings are almost always owned by a charitable foundation. The LEA employs the school staff and has responsibility for admissions.

 

Pre-school education
Between the ages of two and five, children attend pre-school. The government’s Sure Start scheme provides free nursery education for all four-year-olds and an increasing number of three-year-olds. The government is working with local authorities to develop a network of children’s centres dealing with early education, childcare and family and health services.

 

Primary Education
Children start primary school education in the term after the child’s fifth birthday. Primary schools are divided into the infants (five to seven) and the juniors (seven to 11).

Welsh can be taught as a first and second language from primary school level. Most primary schools are run by the board of governors under Local Management of Schools scheme.

 

Secondary Education
Secondary education is compulsory until the age of 16. Within the four categories of school, community schools, foundation schools, voluntary aided and voluntary controlled, there are more specialised schools:

Specialist schools: Any maintained secondary school in England can become a specialist school in areas such as technology, languages, sports or arts. The schools meet full national curriculum requirements, but have a special focus on the chosen speciality. They raise £50,000 from private sector sponsorship and prepare plans for improvements in teaching and learning.

The Labour government wants all schools to become specialist schools, specialising in one particular subject by 2008. Already existing specialist schools are being encouraged to take on another specialism.

The idea is that by specialising in one subject, standards increase across the curriculum. So, even if a school specialises in arts, science provision will not be affected.

Academies: The government wants to replace weak and failing schools with 'academies'. These are schools that are state funded and free to students but they have much more independence than most secondary schools.

They are established by sponsors from business, faith or voluntary groups working with the community, and they can be more flexible with their curriculum and staffing to meet local needs. They were originally set up as a way of bringing high-quality schools with heavy investment in facilities and technology to disadvantaged areas. A private organisation must put in £2m and the government will provide the remaining £20m or so.

The Labour government has set a target of 200 city academies by 2010.

Grammar schools: Some local authorities still run a selective secondary school system with grammar schools. Pupils in these areas will sit a test at the age of 11 called the 11-plus test. The results of this test will determine whether they gain entry to the local grammar school. There are around 150 state grammar schools in England. There has been some debate about whether to stop admission by academic ability, but no steps have been taken.

City technology colleges: These are funded directly by the government and offer a wide range of vocational qualifications alongside A-levels or equivalents. They teach the national curriculum and focus on science, mathematics and technology.

Faith Schools: Faith schools are schools with a religious character. Any new faith schools must have the agreement of parents and the local community, and be approved by the LEA. Nearly half of faith schools are voluntary controlled. They teach the locally agreed religious syllabus and the LEA is the admissions authority. Voluntary aided faith schools are responsible for setting their own admissions policies and teach religious education according to their religious precepts. Faith schools admit pupils on religious affiliation but many admit those who are not of the school faith.
 

Special Needs: An estimated one in five children has some form of special educational need. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 asserts the right of children with physical or behavioural problems to be taught with mainstream classes. As a result special schools for children with mild or moderate difficulties are being closed. There are still about 1200 special schools for pupils with special needs. Some of these are run by voluntary organisations and others are in hospitals.

Pupil Referral Units: Pupil Referral Units are a type of school established and maintained by LEAs. They provide education to children who may not otherwise receive a mainstream education. A PRU might include teenage mothers or pupils excluded from school, for example. The aim of these units should be getting pupils back into mainstream education. They are run by a management committee made up of a range of people from school governors to representatives from social services.



 

Alternative types of school


Independent schools
Independent schools are fee-charging schools. They are known as private schools and sometimes as “public schools”, even though they do not exist within the state sector. They don’t receive any public funds and are governed and managed by special trusts. They are not obliged to teach the national curriculum but most of them do enter the same public examinations.

Independent primary schools fall into two main categories: pre-prepatory, for ages two to seven and junior or preparatory schools to ages 11-13. The ‘prep’ school is devoted to preparation for the Common Entrance examination, which is required for many independent secondary schools.

Rudolf Steiner Schools
Steiner schools have a very distinctive philosophy, curriculum and teaching methods for pupils. They place the emphasis on the holistic development of the child including their “spiritual, physical and moral well-being” as well as academic work. Formal learning begins later than in conventional schools and there is a great emphasis on creative and artistic environments. They are self-governing and most schools operate as a co-operative without a head-teacher.

Foreign language schools – Lycees
There are schools, largely aimed at the children of foreign diplomats that teach in a foreign language. The French Lycee is one such school: it has an English as well as a French stream.

Montessori schools
Montessori schools are nursery schools that follow the philosophy laid down by Maria Montessori, an influential thinker about childhood education. She observed that given the right environment, children could develop beyond conventional expectations. In a Montessori classroom children are encouraged to choose the activity they wish to partake in and complete it in their own time. Once they are used to making their own choices, they are naturally attracted to what will best serve their educational needs.

Proposals for change

The Labour government implemented its five-year plan in 2005. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats also launched their proposals, but would need to win the next general election before they could put their plans into practice.

Labour
The government’s five year strategy for education plans are to:


Conservatives
The Conservative proposals for education policy include:


Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats unveiled their ‘pupils' guarantee’ which promises:

 

 

sources & credits:

1. text was extracted from The School System in England © BBC 2006