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Many of our seminars and public events this year will continue as in person or as hybrid (online and in person) events.

Please check our website listings and Twitter feed @STICERD_LSE for updates.

Unless otherwise specified, in-person seminars are open to the public. Please ensure you have informed the event contact as early as possible.

Those unable to join the seminars in-person are welcome to participate via zoom if the event is hybrid.

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About this event

This seminar assesses what has happened to the compulsory phase of the education system (ages 5-18) under the Conservative government since 2015. Cuts to school funding have dominated the headlines and all major parties are now pledging to reinvest in schools. But what effects have these cuts and funding reforms had on the delivery of education and on outcomes? And has the focus on cuts diverted attention from other policy decisions with more profound and longer term effects? In this paper we review education policy in England since 2015 in the round, considering the effects of policies on the school system, teachers, curriculum and assessment as well as spending. We examine trends in inputs and outputs (such as teachers and school quality) and outcomes (attainment, participation and exclusions). We place particular emphasis on socio-economic and spatial inequalities. On the eve of the General Election, as a new government comes into power, we assess whether the last four years of education policy have made the English education system better and/or fairer.