| Abstract: | This paper reviews the achievements of the Labour government'seducation policy between 1997 and 2001. Tony Blair claimed thathis government would make education a priority. The first partof the paper reviews the scale of education spending in relationto the economy at large and within the education budget. Thesecond part of the paper looks at the productivity of schools.How far have the changes that have affected schools in the past10 years, and in the past 5 years in particular, had an impacton the quality of school achievements? The paper suggests therehave been significant improvements, not just on average butespecially in the gains made in poor areas and in the leastgood schools. Finally the paper discusses the funding of highereducation, the introduction of income-related loans to covermaintenance, and up-front fees. The paper concludes that someserious errors were made in policy design. Even so, the useof the Inland Revenue as the collection agency was a successfulinnovation and should be built upon. |
