Over the past two decades there has been substantial expansion of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provision. This has led to significant expansion of the role of the private sector. Alongside this, there is a substantial evidence base about the importance of highquality, pedagogically appropriate provision, delivered by highly skilled…

In the decades after the Second World War, the British Government had a democratic, independent and locally administered education service that was recognised as crucial to the post-war political, moral and economic recovery of the country. However, since that time, the independence of schools and local communities has been increasingly usurped,…

The global capitalist crisis is impacting dramatically across nation states and their economies. Although a complete collapse of the system appears to have been avoided by decisions to take co-ordinated interventionist action to shore up short term demand, governments have generally rejected the more radical actions required to address the…

The last government's emphasis on results statistics--implicit in its systems for holding teachers to account--as the be-all-and-end-all of a good education, reflected the largely undebated victory of one set of possible aims for schooling over another. Pragmatism beat idealism, as schools' priorities were reshaped along similarly calculating…

This article reviews the development of Private Finance Initiative schemes in the United Kingdom, and reflects on how profitable opportunities for private financiers and construction companies were created at the expense of the public sector. (Contains 72 notes.)

Early Years provision in England has historically been fragmented and under-funded. In seeking to address this situation, New Labour has developed a range of Early Years initiatives with the principal aim of tackling poverty and disadvantage. This article traces the recent history of Early Years provision and critically explores the extent to…

While there has been a tradition of all-age schooling within the private sector it has not, until recently, been typical in state schools. However, there appears to be a growing trend in which all-age schools, i.e. schools that comprise multiple phases (usually primary and secondary) are becoming more popular. This article summarises the main…

Both main UK political parties lend enthusiastic public support to academies, in the name of supporting the nation's poorest pupils. But Gordon Brown's Labour is, in reality, unsure about this undemocratic model while the Tories may well in the future exploit academy "independence" for retrograde ends. Two contemporary case studies from…

In this paper the author discusses the involvement of private corporations in administering educational exams. Specifically described are the company, Pearson Plc, a multi-national publishing and media conglomerate, and owner of Edexcel, one of England's three remaining "unitary awarding bodies." The intensification of the involvement of…