Edexcel A Level Sociology Paper 1 May 2024
Exam Review Questions and Answers 100%
Pass
1. Issues that educational policy is a response to:: - Equal
Opportunities
- Selection and Choice
- Control of education
- Marketisation and Privatisation
2. Meritocracy: Individuals should achieve their status in life
through their own efforts and abilities, rather than it being
ascribed at birth by their class background.
3. 1944 Education Act: The Tripartite System: CONSERVATIVE
GOVERNMENT
Children in their final year of primary school had to take the 11+
exams, based on which they were selected and allocated to
three different types of secondary school, supposedly according
to their aptitude and abilities:
- Grammar Schools: Pupils who passed the 11+ were considered
to have academic ability and were offered an academic
curriculum and access to non-manual jobs and higher
education. Mainly middle class.
- Secondary modern schools: Pupils who failed the 11+ were
considered non-aca- demic so offered a practical curriculum and
access to manual work. Mainly working class.
- Secondary technical schools: Pupils who failed the 11+ but
displayed artistic abilities where sometimes offered accesses to
technical schools, but since these were very rare, in practice
the education system was more bipartite than tripartite.
4. The Comprehensive School System: LABOUR GOVERNMENT
Aimed to overcome the class divide of the tripartite system and
make education more meritocratic. 11+ exams were to be
,abolished along with grammar and secondary modern schools
and replaced by comprehensive schools. They would provide
students from all social backgrounds with the same educational
experience, to help reduce class differences in achievement.
However, it did not exclude streaming and could not prevent
labeling in schools, which means that the achievement gaps still
existed among different social classes. Also, it was left to the
local education authorities to decide whether to "go compre-
hensive" and not all did. Therefore, the grammar/secondary
modern school divide still exists in many areas of the country
and so does the class divide in pupils achievement.
5. Marketisation: CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT
Process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and
competition between suppliers into areas of the state. It has
created an "education market" by reducing
, direct state control over education and by increasing competition
between schools and parental choice of school.
6. Marketisation:
Central ideas focused on ways in which education would
follow the business model:: - Turning schools into businesses
that control their own budget which they receive directly from
the central government. These schools are in competition with
each other to attract more pupils and generate more revenue to
further improve quality.
- Changing the way schools were funded so that a school was paid
for each individual pupil and therefore successful schools would
have more money and failing schools less.
- Providing consumers (parents) the information based on which
they could compare performance between different providers
(schools) through league tables and Ofsted reports.
- Allowing private companies to part-finance state schools and
offer different curric- ula and timetables according to needs and
demands of the local businesses.
- Allowing parents, faith or community groups to set up free
schools, designed to meet the specific needs of the local
communities (e.g., Hindu, Islamic, Christian, etc.).
7. The Education Reform Act 1988: CONSERVATIVE
GOVERNMENT
Introduced by Margaret Thatcher. Embraced neoliberal values
and the new right ideas about competition and choice as ways of
raising educational standards.
Schools have to attract customers (parents) by competing. Those
that provide customers with what they want will thrive and those
that do not will "go out of business".
8. Policies to promote marketisation of education include:: -
Publication of league tables and Ofsted inspection reports that
rank each school according to its exam performance and give
parents the information they need to choose the right school.
Exam Review Questions and Answers 100%
Pass
1. Issues that educational policy is a response to:: - Equal
Opportunities
- Selection and Choice
- Control of education
- Marketisation and Privatisation
2. Meritocracy: Individuals should achieve their status in life
through their own efforts and abilities, rather than it being
ascribed at birth by their class background.
3. 1944 Education Act: The Tripartite System: CONSERVATIVE
GOVERNMENT
Children in their final year of primary school had to take the 11+
exams, based on which they were selected and allocated to
three different types of secondary school, supposedly according
to their aptitude and abilities:
- Grammar Schools: Pupils who passed the 11+ were considered
to have academic ability and were offered an academic
curriculum and access to non-manual jobs and higher
education. Mainly middle class.
- Secondary modern schools: Pupils who failed the 11+ were
considered non-aca- demic so offered a practical curriculum and
access to manual work. Mainly working class.
- Secondary technical schools: Pupils who failed the 11+ but
displayed artistic abilities where sometimes offered accesses to
technical schools, but since these were very rare, in practice
the education system was more bipartite than tripartite.
4. The Comprehensive School System: LABOUR GOVERNMENT
Aimed to overcome the class divide of the tripartite system and
make education more meritocratic. 11+ exams were to be
,abolished along with grammar and secondary modern schools
and replaced by comprehensive schools. They would provide
students from all social backgrounds with the same educational
experience, to help reduce class differences in achievement.
However, it did not exclude streaming and could not prevent
labeling in schools, which means that the achievement gaps still
existed among different social classes. Also, it was left to the
local education authorities to decide whether to "go compre-
hensive" and not all did. Therefore, the grammar/secondary
modern school divide still exists in many areas of the country
and so does the class divide in pupils achievement.
5. Marketisation: CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT
Process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and
competition between suppliers into areas of the state. It has
created an "education market" by reducing
, direct state control over education and by increasing competition
between schools and parental choice of school.
6. Marketisation:
Central ideas focused on ways in which education would
follow the business model:: - Turning schools into businesses
that control their own budget which they receive directly from
the central government. These schools are in competition with
each other to attract more pupils and generate more revenue to
further improve quality.
- Changing the way schools were funded so that a school was paid
for each individual pupil and therefore successful schools would
have more money and failing schools less.
- Providing consumers (parents) the information based on which
they could compare performance between different providers
(schools) through league tables and Ofsted reports.
- Allowing private companies to part-finance state schools and
offer different curric- ula and timetables according to needs and
demands of the local businesses.
- Allowing parents, faith or community groups to set up free
schools, designed to meet the specific needs of the local
communities (e.g., Hindu, Islamic, Christian, etc.).
7. The Education Reform Act 1988: CONSERVATIVE
GOVERNMENT
Introduced by Margaret Thatcher. Embraced neoliberal values
and the new right ideas about competition and choice as ways of
raising educational standards.
Schools have to attract customers (parents) by competing. Those
that provide customers with what they want will thrive and those
that do not will "go out of business".
8. Policies to promote marketisation of education include:: -
Publication of league tables and Ofsted inspection reports that
rank each school according to its exam performance and give
parents the information they need to choose the right school.
