Government Agencies in United Kingdom

The Department of Education and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills are the two principal public bodies in the education system. The Department for Education which is responsible for education up to pre-university level works to enhance the focus on all aspects of policy affecting children and young people, as part of the UK Government’s aim to deliver educational excellence. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills is responsible for higher education. The other key public agencies are OFSTED – the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills – which regulates and inspects education institutions, to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages; and the Skills Funding Agency, which funds and regulates adult further education and skills training in England.

Public spending on education was 5.6% of GDP in 2009.

Educational reforms in England and Wales in the 1980s and 1990s have created a national curriculum with a uniform programme and allowed schools to manage their own budgets. In the same period throughout the country there has been a massive increase in university education, with all the former polytechnics becoming full universities. Payments by university students towards tuition fees were introduced in 1998. About 6.5% of children attend the 2,500 independent fee-paying schools.

On taking office in May 2010, the coalition government set about establishing a new type of publicly-funded all-ability school – the ‘free school’. The government invited charities, universities, businesses, teachers and groups of parents to submit proposals, with the aim of seeing the first such schools opening in September 2011. Of more than 300 proposals received by February 2011, 30 were approved to proceed towards opening. In June 2012 a further 68 free schools were expected to open in September 2012 and beyond.