In England, Education Investment Areas (EIAs) are educationally underperforming areas prioritised for extra funding and support by the British government, with the intention of improving standards. They were introduced in 2022 as part of the

levelling-up policy of the British government "Levelling up" is a political policy first articulated in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto that aims to reduce the imbalances, primarily economic, between areas and social groups across the United Kingdom. It seeks to do so without acting to ...

. There are currently 55 Education Investment Areas; 24 of these have been designated as Priority Education Investment Areas, sharing an additional fund of £40 million.

Characteristics

Alongside further government support and funding, Education Investment Areas benefit from a number of perks. Their

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

are to be given £30 million over a three-year period to fund opportunities and care for children with

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in ...

Retainage Retainage is a portion of the agreed upon contract price deliberately withheld until the work is substantially complete to assure that contractor or subcontractor will satisfy its obligations and complete a construction project. A retention is money ...

will be enforced on successful teachers in a bid to keep them teaching important school subjects. The areas will also be preferred for the establishment of

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

specialist schools Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

with free school status. Underperforming schools in Education Investment Areas (153 schools in February 2022) will be brought under the control of successful multi-academy trusts. From September 2022, Education Investment Areas will be at the forefront of the government's plan to have all schools become

academies An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

by 2030. The government is expected to cooperate with

dioceses In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

, academy trusts and local authorities with the intention of encouraging further academisation in these areas. Each area will also have a plan for developing multi-academy trusts which will be drawn up by Autumn 2022. In October 2022, 29 local authorities were revealed to have expressed their interest in creating new multi-academy trusts during the government's "test and learn" exercise held in July, which allowed all local authorities in the country to announce their interest. The government was most enthusiastic to work with those authorities deemed to be "high performing", particularly those in the Education Investment Areas, and 17 of them were in one of the areas. 33% of English

are Education Investment Areas.

Historical precedents

Education Priority Areas

The Labour government of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

introduced Education Priority Areas (EPAs) in the late 1960s. Located in areas of deprivation, these were schools prioritised by the government for construction funding. They were based on findings from the

Newsom Report The Newsom Report of 1963 is a United Kingdom government report, entitled ''Half our Future''. It argued that the future of the country depended on better education for “pupils of average and less-than-average ability”. The report was produced ...

and proposed in the

Plowden Report The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council For Education (England) into Primary education in England. The report, entitled ''Children and their Primary Schools'', reviewed primary education in a wh ...

. The Plowden Report advised that around 10% of Britain's deprived areas be recognised as Education Priority Areas, a proposal that received

bipartisan support Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find c ...

in parliament. Despite this, a proper initiative never materialised, and over 500 individual primary schools became Education Priority Areas instead. Their teachers were given extra pay. Education Priority Areas reached their peak in the early 1970s and had swiftly declined by the beginning of

Margaret Thatcher's premiership Margaret Thatcher's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 4 May 1979 when she accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, and ended on 28 November 1990 upon her resignation. She was elected to the pos ...

. The last priority areas were phased out after 1987.

Education Action Zones

The Labour government of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

introduced Education Action Zones (EAZs) through the

School Standards and Framework Act 1998 The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government led by Tony Blair. This Act: * imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes. * abolished grant-maintained schools, introducing ...

. They centred around groups of local schools in deprived areas and were supposed to improve educational standards in cooperation with local businesses. 25 zones were designated in the 1998/1999

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

, benefitting from £750,000 annually. They had to raise £250,000 through

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

sponsorship every year. These zones were governed by Education Action Forums,

charitable organisations A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

made up of trustees from schools and businesses. The forums employed staff, agreed plans for improvement with the Department for Education and Skills and were led by

directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

. 47 more zones were formed in 2000, with a lifespan of three to five years. After they expired, the zones either joined the

Excellence in Cities The Excellence in Cities (EiC) programme was launched by the UK's Labour Party (UK)#New Labour (1994–2010), Labour Government in March 1999 to raise standards and promote inclusion in Inner city, inner cities and other urban areas. Initially tar ...

programme or became new "Excellence Clusters". Applications for specialist school designation from these zones were prioritised against those from the rest of the country. Schools located in these zones were allowed to disregard the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with Federated stat ...

Opportunity Areas

The

Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Min ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

introduced Opportunity Areas (OAs) in 2016, after an announcement from Education Secretary

Justine Greening Justine Greening (born 30 April 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, Secretary of State for Transport ...

in October. They were socially immobile areas that received priority from the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

and had within them cooperation between local businesses, charities and educational institutions. Six were established in 2016, an amount that doubled in 2017. The areas shared an additional fund of £72 million, with the intention of boosting employability and standards in education. Another £3.5 million was allocated to these areas by the government through a partnership with the

Education Endowment Foundation The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is a charity established in 2011 to improve the educational attainment of the poorest pupils in English schools. It aims to support teachers and senior leaders by providing evidence-based resources designed ...

, for the establishment of new research schools; schools that implemented the foundation's research to boost teaching standards. The areas were expected to expire in 2020, but the government announced an £18 million fund to continue support until August 2021. Another extension for 2022 was also announced, although they were soon incorporated into the new Education Investment Areas later that year.

References