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Opinion poll finds that the public are dissatisfied with English educational system



An opinion poll has found that the public and parents in particular are dissatisfied with the English educational system, believing that it provides little choice, is too centralised and is run frequently in the interests of politicians, not children. The poll was commissioned by the UK’s thinktank Policy Exchange and conducted by YouGov.

Key results of the poll include:

  • 69% of parents and 64% of the public believe that the national curriculum is manipulated to suit the aims of politicians
  • 75% of parents (70% of the public) want the curriculum to be set primarily by schools themselves 
  • 64% of parents (62% of the public) want teachers to be paid according to their performance
  • only 33% of parents (31% of the public) regard the admissions system as ‘fair’ or ‘quite fair’
  • only 14% of parents felt they had a lot of choice in terms of school for their child.

The results of the poll were released to coincide with the launch of a comprehensive new two part report, Helping Schools Succeed: a framework for English education, which argues that the English education system needs a clear, coherent, education vision. The report’s authors are Chris Davies and Cheryl Lim.

More information: www.policyexchange.org.uk

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