The Education Reform Act 1988 is widely regarded as the most important single piece of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

since the 'Butler' Education Act 1944.

Provisions

The main provisions of the Education Reform Act are as follows: *

Academic tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

was abolished for academics appointed on or after 20 November 1987. * An element of choice was introduced, where parents could specify which school was their preferred choice. *

City Technology College In England, a City Technology College (CTC) is an urban all-ability specialist schoolWalter (2007), p. 6 for students aged 11 to 18 specialising in science, technology and mathematics. They charge no fees and are independent of local authority ...

s (CTCs) were introduced. This part of the Act allowed new more autonomous schools to be taken out of the direct financial control of

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 ...

. Financial control would be handed to the head teacher and governors of a school. There was also a requirement for partial private funding. There were only fifteen schools that were eventually set up. The successor to this programme was the establishment of

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 philosop ...

. * Controls on the use of the word 'degree' were introduced with respect to UK bodies. *

Grant-maintained school Grant-maintained schools or GM schools were state schools in England and Wales between 1988 and 1998 that had opted out of local government control, being funded directly by a grant from central government. Some of these schools had selective ad ...

s (GMS) were introduced. Primary and secondary schools could, under this provision, remove themselves fully from their respective

local education authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...

and would be completely funded by central

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

. Secondary schools also had limited selection powers at the age of eleven. * ' Key Stages' (KS) were introduced in schools. At each key stage a number of educational objectives were to be achieved. *

Local management of schools Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...

(LMS) was introduced. This part of the Act allowed all schools to be taken out of the direct financial control of

. Financial control would be handed to the

head teacher A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

and governors of a school. For further education colleges, the greater autonomy brought in by the 1988 Act was extended by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 to become complete independence of local authority control, as colleges were 'incorporated'. * 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 state or other ...

(NC) was introduced.

Commencement

Use of the word 'degree'

The Act uses a common technique in UK legislation in that it makes it illegal to offer or advertise any qualification that appears to be, or might be mistaken for, a UK degree. This restriction is then removed in respect of qualifications from bodies on a list maintained by statutory instrument.

Religion

The act required "broadly Christian" acts of worship in schools. The

National Muslim Education Council The National Muslim Education Council is a British charity founded in 1978 by the Union of Muslim Organisations of UK. Its first chairman was Safa Khulusi. Its mission is to "coordinate educational activities with other education charities. To help ...

objected and requested that the wording to be changed to "the worship of the one supreme God".New community, Volume 18, Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick, 1991, p.465. This requirement was built upon in 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, introducin ...

References

{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1988 United Kingdom Education Acts Education in England 1988 in education Reform in the United Kingdom Education reform July 1988 events in the United Kingdom