Outline Some of the Ways in Which Government Educational Policies May Have Affected Social Class Differences in Educational Achievement (12 Marks)

257 Words2 Pages
There are many different governmental educational policies that have been enforced over the years that have affected social class differences in educational achievement. The ongoing trend is that people from lower class backgrounds tend to underachieve compared to those from middle/higher class backgrounds. An example is the increase in higher education fees up to £9,000 a year. This increase in fees excludes people from working class backgrounds to attend university as they can’t afford to. This means working class students are disadvantaged when looking for jobs as higher paid jobs usually require qualifications at degree level, which means they are forced to look for lowly paid, usually primary or secondary sector jobs. Another policy is that of Private Education. This is seen as the most prestigious way of being educated and often provides the better education. However, this is because they are fee paid schools which means they are unaffordable by working class families, which excludes them from getting the best education possible, meaning there is a distinct difference in educational attainment across classes. However, a positive example of state policies enforced to reduce social class differences in achievement include Bursaries from universities, and Sure Start which is a programme to improve early education and childcare by offering two years free childcare to all 3 and 4 year olds. As well as this, New Labour have enforced the Excellence for Cities Programme, the EMA (although recently cut) and created Academies to ensure people of different classes receive equal opportunities to those of higher
Open Document