ABSTRACT
From the Conservative Party Manifesto of 1979 to the passing of the 1993 Education Act, the rhetoric of raising educational standards has led the way to an increasingly centralised system, with a declining role for both local education authorities and institutions of teacher education. Where does policy for disabled students and those who experience difficulties in learning fit in? Does it? People complained that the 1988 Education Reform Bill was out of step with the spirit of the 1981 Act and its support for a more integrated system. Margaret Peter takes a different view and argues that it is the 1981 Act that is out of step with the sequence of legislation passed since 1979.
