ABSTRACT
The National Curriculum Council and the School Examinations and Assessment Council are now under new managements. The significant changes are not in personalities but in the backgrounds to appointments. As civil servants have come more and more into the front line of curriculum management, ministers have come to view them in the same suspicious way as they see educational professionals. Much has changed in both local authorities and schools, but not in time to stem a tide which flowed in sympathy with the wider political thrust for choice, consumer rights and participation, although it is likely that parents want involvement rather than the reins of management. The local management of schools, which passed the day-to-day running of schools to heads and governors has been largely successful, although there have been sufficient examples of things going wrong to strengthen the argument for a monitoring and supervisory role.
