Education Policy, Law and Governance in the United Kingdom

Abstract

In this contribution, we present an overview and discussion of the key policies, trends and issues in UK education. The focus in the initial sections is more on the school system of early and compulsory education. Later sections focus also on post-compulsory and higher education, and links to the world of work. There are four home countries in the UK – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – with increasingly divergent education systems. Where possible and relevant we distinguish these systems, especially at the start of the chapter. However, it is not possible within space constraints to provide detailed discussion of the distinctive legislative framework in each home country and for the purpose of this chapter we have focused primarily on England, which is the most populous of the home countries.