Industry News
State school system 'failing'
Posted on 12th March 2008
While independent schools continue to dominate the top of league tables, a new report has suggested that a whole new system of education is needed for the UK's state sector.
Research commissioned by thinktank Policy Exchange indicates that parents are dissatisfied with the current system, which they believe offers little choice.
It found that many parents wanted state schools to adopt teaching and learning practices from the private sector.
Some 75 per cent of parents wanted schools to set their own curriculum, for example, while 69 per cent of parents believed the national curriculum is manipulated to suit the aims of politicians.
In addition, only around one-third of respondents felt that the current admissions systems for state schools are fair.
The report recommends that schools should have more autonomy, as independent schools do.
In the latest Financial Times league table of the UK's top 1,000 schools, nine out of the ten best schools were private.