Market Forces, Choice and Diversity in Education: the Early Impact

This paper provides an overview of some of the findings of a recently completed study of school choice in 33 local schools which may be indicative of the effect of an increase in the marketisation of schools. Since it is unlikely that debate over parental choice can be settled by theoretical argument alone and it may also be too early to understand the full implications of the relevant recent governmental reforms in the UK, results from research in other sectors of education can be used in the interim. The research presented here is partly based upon a limited market model of cheap fee-paying schools. This market has been established for a long time, and so some of the benefits or damage caused by markets in education may already be observable in operation.