Education picture

Educational Timeline

  • The Education Act 1944

    The Educational Act of 1944 laid the foundation for education in England today. It decreed that all children were to have free compulsory secondary education made available to them. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 were to be sent to primary schools and children between 11 and 15 were to go to secondary school. They would go to secondary schools which would be based on their abilities and aptitudes. Grammar school fees would be abolished and elementary school would be phased out.
  • Change in school leaving age

    The compulsory school leaving age rose from 14 to 15 in 1945.
  • Schools

    The 1950s and 1960s saw a move towards the comprehensive school system.
  • The Beloe Report

    The Beloe Report, which was released in 1960, introduced CSEs (Certificate of Secondary Education). These new exams were to be suitable for children aged 16 and cater to pupils that could not take GCEs.
  • Change of government

    The newly elected government was a change from Conservative to Labour. The Labour manifesto contained a commitment to ending 11+ selections, in order to make sure that there were equal opportunities for all pupils in secondary education.
  • ILEA

    The ILEA (Inner London Education Authority) was created and they started to develop their own policies on teaching English as a second language. This was due to the fact that there was no central policy to meet the needs of pupils whose native tongue was not English. At this time, there was dispersion of 'immigrant' pupils so that there would be no 'high immigrant' schools.
  • 11+

    In January 1965 the House of Commons called for 11+ selections to be abolished.
  • The Plowden Report

    The Plowden Report was created to challenge the traditional approach to education. The main points of the Plowden Report were the ever more active role of the PTA; nursery education became more popular; there was more focus on the transfer from primary to secondary school and 'immigrant' and 'handicapped' children were introduced into ordinary schools.
  • School leaving age

    In 1972 the school leaving age rose to 16.
  • APU

    1974 saw the creation of the APU (Assessment of Performance Unit) by DES to promote the development of new assessment methods and monitoring achievements.
  • DES circulars

    In both 1965 and 1975 the Labour government issued DES (Department of Education and Science) circulars asking Local Authorities to submit plans to reorganise all secondary schools to make them comprehensive schools.
  • 'Immigrant' children

    It became illegal to disperse so-called 'immigrant' children.
  • The Bullock Report

    This report recommended changes to the curriculum. These changes were for more ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity.
  • Education Act 1976

    This Education Act gave the Secretary of State for Education the authority to make Local Authorities to submit plans.
  • Ruskin Speech

    The Ruskin Speech was a speech by the Labour Prime Minister of the time James Callaghan. He called for the development of a core curriculum. He questioned the standards in education and articulated the purpose of education. He was concerned about the transfer from school to the workplace and wanted to work on that aspect.
  • Multi-ethnic Education Policy Statement

    The ILEA developed an equal opportunities policy. The policy looked at combatting racism, sexism and class prejudice.
  • The Warnock Report

    The Warnock Report focused on Special Educational Needs.The Report replaced the work 'handicap' with the broader concept of SEN. It called for more effective assessment of children with SEN and more support for their parents. It also asked for more provision for children with special needs.
  • Changes to examinations

    Both 'O' Levels and CSEs were abolished.
  • Education Act 1980

    This Education Act meant that schools no longer have to provide free milk and school dinners to the pupils. Independent schools have to be registered. Parents have more choice of which school their child could go to.
  • Education Act 1981

    The Education Act of 1981 meant that the Local Authorities had to identify the special needs of children. They had to set up assessment procedures in order to identify which children may have had learning difficulties. SEN pupils had to have a statement of SEN which has to specify how their needs are to be met.
  • The Swann Report

    The Swann Report talked about education for all children. It focused on not only the education for minorities but making sure that education was accessible for all children.
  • White Paper 1985

    The White Paper criticised the education service and how the standards were so low. It also describes the weaknesses in the curriculum and assessment. It also proposes changes to the curriculum - its needs to be broader, more balanced, relevant and differentiated.
  • Education Act 1986

    This Act seeks to change management in schools to see if it leads to improvement. It also abolished corporal punishment in schools.
  • National Curriculum

    In 1987 the National Curriculum for 5-16 year olds was published.
  • Education Reform Act 1988

    The aims of the Act are to improve the quality of education and raise the standards achieved by pupils and to extend freedom of choice in education.Religious education was made compulsory. It became possible to opt out of Local Authority control. The ILEA was abolished.
  • The 'Three Wise Men' Report 1992

    The 'Three Wise Men' Report was focussing on primary teaching. They were concerned that primary school teachers were not subject specialists and this was shown in the falling standards in literacy and numeracy. They recommended that there should be 4 teaching roles for teachers: specialist; generalist; sem-specialist and generalist-consultant and that primary school teachers need to be a combination. Headteachers need to monitor in-service training.
  • Education Act 1993

    The Education Act of 1993 made it easier ot opt out of LEAs. Special schools were also allowed to opt out of LEAs. Parents were allowed to take their children out of sex education.
  • The Dearing Report 1994

    The Dearing Report published in 1994 talked about the simplification and clarification of the programmes of study in the National Curriculum. The volume of material to be taught should be reduced.Curriculum needed to be reduced to make it more manageable for schools and give more time for professional judgement of the teachers.
  • Period: to

    Nursery

    This is the period of time that I was at nursery. I attended nursery attached to my primary school.
  • Period: to

    Primary School

    This was my time at primary school. I attended Crowmoor Primary School during this time.
  • Education (Schools) Bill

    This Bill was by the Labour government and aimed to reduce class sizes for 5-7 year olds which was consolidated in The School Standards and Framework Act of 1998 which limited the class sizes of infants to 30.
  • White Paper 1997

    The aims of this paper had to be achieved by 2002. Early years education had to be available for all 4 year olds. The Paper encouraged diversity of teaching styles and improve literacy and numeracy achievements. Schools were to set their own targets to raise standards and school performance tables were created to show the rate of pupil progress.
  • Green Paper 1997

    This Green Paper was created to improve SEN provision in schools. There would be a closer cooperation between special and mainstream schools. There will be earlier assessment to detect SEN. More SEN pupils need to stay in mainstream schools.There should be better support for parents of SEN pupils. Extra funding would be made available to improve access for those physically disabled in the schools. All new teachers would recieve SEN training.
  • The School Standards and Framework Act

    This Act abolished grant-maintained schools. It also set up a procedure where local communities could vote to abolish grammar schools. It introduced an Admissions Code and a Schools Adjudicator to enfoce the abolition of grammar schools.
  • Spending review

    The Spending Review of 1998 allocated £19 billion to education.
  • Sure Start Programme

    This programme was created to bring together nursery, childcare and playgroups with post-natal and other health services. This would ensure for a more cohesive transition for children.
  • Excellence in Cities Scheme

    This EiC scheme was created by the City Learning Centres for ICT based learning. There were specialist schools, learning support units and extra provision for Gifted and Talented children. There were also Beacon School set up, where teachers were given funding to share their good practice with other schools.
  • New Opportunities Fund

    The New Opportunities Fund provided funding for the training of teachers to use ICT in classrooms.
  • Curriculum 2000

    Curriculum 2000 brought in AS examinations.
  • General Teaching Council

    The General Teaching Council was set up in 1998 but only started functioning for September 2000. The aim of the Council was to contibute to the standards of teaching and learning, to maintain good professional conduct between teachers; establish a register for teachers; publish advice on professional development for teachers and produce a Code of Conduct and Practice for Registered Teachers.
  • Internet Connection

    By 2001 86% of primary schools and 98% of secondary schools were connected to the Internet.
  • Education Bill 2001

    This Bill focused on secondary schools. There were more diverse types of schools. It gave schools more freedom with their finances. The 14-19 curriculum was more diverse. It looked to improve the quality and standards of teaching.
  • Green Paper 2002

    The Green Paper suggests that young people have to develop their skills to improve employability. They suggested reforming the qualifications framework for 14-19 year olds; introducing core subjects and 'choice and specialisation' subjects. They also wanted to introduce Modern Apprenticeships.
  • Citizenship

    In September 2002 the subject of Citizenship was made compulsory.
  • Period: to

    Secondary School

    This period of time was whilst I was at secondary school. I attended Belvidere Secondary School. I attained my GCSE's in 2007 and moved onto the Sixth Form College in the local area. This is the time that I will be analysing to see how my education was affected by educational acts and policies at the time.
  • Every Child Matters

    Every Child Matters was introduced in 2003. It dictates that every child should:
    Be healthy
    Stay safe
    Enjoy and achieve
    Make a positive contribution
    Achieve economic well-being
  • Education Act 2007

    This Act is linked to the Every Child Matters policy and introduced school inspections and staff training.
  • National Curriculum Reform

    In 2007 the secondary National Curriculum was reformed. Core subjects remained compulsory. Foundation subjects are compulsory until the end of KS3 and thereafter they are optional.
  • Education and Skills Act 2008

    The Leitch Review proposed that it would be beneficial to the skills levels of young people to keep them in education and training for longer periods of time. It proposed that the school leaving age should be 18.
  • KS3 SATs

    In the summer of 2008 KS3 SATs were abolished.