Blair's Education Reforms 1997

It became the mantra for a fresh start in the nation’s schools.

“Education, education, education” was the war cry from Tony Blair when New Labour came to power in the spring of 1997, and it was to go on to define Blair’s next two terms in office.

Labour’s 1997 landslide victory saw the government dramatically increase spending on schools and implement far reaching structural overhauls.
There was to be a 50% rise in per-pupil funding, 35,000 more teachers and tens of thousands of new teaching assistants.

New Labour devised numerical and literacy targets to measure progress and enforce strict accountability. And Tony Blair was to go on to introduce Academies to replace failing inner city schools.

There was an ambitious target to get 50% of young people under 30 into some form of higher education. Yet maintenance grants were ultimately abolished and upfront tuition fees costing thousands were introduced.

It all lead to one of the biggest shake ups in education of recent times.

Joining presenter Kirsty Wark are a group of politicians and civil servants who were tasked with introducing change, including Sir Michael Barber, Tony Blair’s schools "supremo"; Estelle Morris, who went on to become Secretary of State for Education; Sir Alisdair McDonald, a pioneering head teacher in London; Sir Mike Tomlinson, a deputy at Ofsted in 1997; and the then Secretary of State for Education, David Blunkett.

Producer: Howard Shannon
Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4