The government announced that it had approved Primary Capital Programme funding worth £3.55 billion from April 2009. The Programme would involve rebuilding or refurbishing half of all primary schools in England within 15 years.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 12 November 2008, columns 56-57WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCSF press release | TSN press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Nov
A report said that class sizes in United Kingdom primary schools were among the biggest in the developed world. The gulf in standards between the private and state sectors was also wider than in any other country. Overall spending on education in the previous decade had increased significantly: but this had been fueled by more parents paying to educate their children privately.
Source: Education at a Glance 2008, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (+33 1 4524 8200)
Links: Report | OECD press release | DIUS press release | Civitas press release | UUK press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | FT report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report said that local authorities in England allocated only around one-half of the extra resources that central government paid them to educate children from disadvantaged backgrounds to the schools that those children actually attended, choosing to spread the extra resources over all pupils in their area instead.
Source: Luke Sibieta, Haroon Chowdry and Alastair Muriel, Level Playing Field? The implications of school funding, CfBT Education Trust (0118 902 1000)
Links: Report | IFS press release | LGA press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jun
Researchers examined whether the recent increase in school expenditure had made any difference to the attainment of pupils leaving primary school (key stage 2). They found that an increase of £1,000 in average school expenditure per pupil would raise the number of pupils attaining the expected standard at age 11 (level 4) by 2.2, 2.0, and 0.7 percentage points respectively in English, maths, and science.
Source: Helena Holmlund, Sandra McNally and Martina Viarengo, Impact of School Resources on Attainment at Key Stage 2, Research Report 43, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2008-Jun
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the school funding process was not transparent, and was difficult to understand.
Source: Arrangements for School Funding in Wales, Enterprise and Learning Committee/National Assembly for Wales (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | NAW press release
Date: 2008-May
The government announced (in the Budget) that extra money would be given to help under-performing schools in England. £200 million would be allocated to a programme designed to ensure all schools had 30 per cent or more of their pupils reaching the standard of 5 'good' GCSEs including maths and English. The deadline for this target to be achieved would be brought forward a year, to 2011. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Budget 2008: Stability and opportunity – building a strong, sustainable future, HC 388, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Budget Report | Hansard | HMT press release | LGA press release | TUC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
Four linked reports examined the governance, funding, and reform of primary education in England. The United Kingdom came 18th out of 29 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in terms of expenditure on primary education. Central control in key areas of education had been strengthened through a 'state theory of learning' based on the idea that the repeated testing of pupils, a national curriculum, and mandatory teaching of numeracy and literacy would raise standards. Improvements in standards had been achieved by many pupils over two decades of reform: but there had been a decrease in the overall quality of primary education, because of the narrowing of the curriculum and the intensity of test preparation. There was a tendency for 'narrowly-focused inspection' to distort the curriculum.
Source: Dominic Wyse, Elaine McCreery and Harry Torrance, The Trajectory and Impact of National Reform: Curriculum and assessment in English primary schools, Research Survey 3/2, The Primary Review/Faculty of Education/University of Cambridge (01223 767523) | Peter Cunningham and Philip Raymont, Quality Assurance in English Primary Education, Research Survey 4/3, The Primary Review | Philip Noden and Anne West, The Funding of English Primary Education, Research Survey 10/1, The Primary Review | Maria Balarin and Hugh Lauder, The Governance and Administration of English Primary Education, Research Survey 10/2, The Primary Review
Links: Report 3/2 | Report 4/3 | Report 10/1 | Report 10/2 | Review press release | LSE press release | NUT press release | GTC press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2008-Feb
