ABSTRACT
In common with many other countries, education in the United Kingdom has undergone major change in recent years. Although the 1988 Education Reform Act is now some eight years old the effects of the wide ranging changes which it introduced are still being worked through in many areas of educational provision. The changes have had implications across all phases of education and have impacted upon its provision, content and management. The Act was designed to bring about major structural change (Simon, 1988) to a system which was seen as poorly managed by LEA administrators at some distance from schools and colleges, as failing to ensure all pupils received a curriculum which would equip them adequately for life after school and denied parents both a choice in the education of their children and a voice in its management (Knight, 1990). Any piece of legislation which set out to tackle these major issues collectively would necessarily be of substantial scale and scope.
