Better schools for all? Introduction to National Institute Economic Review February 2018

In recent years, governments have spent considerable time, effort and political capital on education reforms in the expectation that pupil attainment will improve.Since the mid-1990s reforms in England have focused on school governance issues, notably the weakening of local government control over schools via the academy system; greater pay flexibility for teachers – even within local authority controlled schools; reforms to the teacher training and recruitment systems; and pedagogical innovations in the classroom. Since Theresa May became Prime Minister there has been an increased focus on the value of grammar schools and selection more generally, issues that were last discussed seriously over thirty years ago.