Education Act

Status of the bill: Enacted

Main purpose of the bill:

To improve behaviour in schools and the accountability of schools, to tackle bureaucracy, and to give schools greater freedom over the curriculum.

Main points of the bill:

Provides schools and local authorities with greater freedom to decide how to carry out their work by reducing unnecessary bureaucratic burdens.

Expands the Academies programme with provisions for 16-19 year olds and alternative provision Academies.

Improves schools' accountability through more focused Ofsted inspections and wider powers for intervention in under-performing schools.

Abolishes five arm's length bodies: the General Teaching Council for England, the Training and Development Agency for Schools, the School Support Staff Negotiating Body, the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency and the Young People's Learning Agency for England.
(where any of their functions need to be continued, these will be discharged by the Secretary of State.)

Requires Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, to ensure that standards of English qualifications are comparable with qualifications awarded outside the UK.

Provides teachers with increased authority to discipline pupils and ensure good behaviour.

Introduces an entitlement to free early years provision for disadvantaged two year olds.

Enables a real rate of interest to be charged on higher education student loans.

Allows fees for part-time undergraduate courses to be capped.

Progress of the bill:

The Education Bill was presented to Parliament on 26 January 2011.

Commons:
First Reading: 26.01.11 Second Reading: 08.02.11 Committee Debate: 01.03.11 03.03 11 08.03.11 10.03.11 15.03.11 17.03.11 22.03.11 24.03.11 29.03.11 31.03.11 05.04.11 Report Stage: 11.05.11 Third Reading: 11.05.11

Lords:
First Reading: 12.05.11 Second Reading: 14.06.11 Committee Stage: 28.06.11 30.06.11 04.07.11 06.07.11 11.07.11 13.07.11 18.07.11 20.07.11 12.09.11 14.09.11 04.10.11 Report Stage: 18.10.11 24.10.11 26.10.11 01.11.11 Third Reading: 09.11.11

Ping Pong: 14.11.11 Royal Assent: 15.11.11