The latest round of reports, published by the Cambridge University-basedreview on 29 February, tackled funding, governance and administration,quality assurance, and the impact of reform.
Research briefing 10/1, The Funding of English Primary Education, foundthat school expenditure per primary pupil had risen substantially inrecent years, but the spending gap between primary and secondary pupilshad grown since 2002/03.
Co-author Anne West, from the London School of Economics, said,'Children aged 11 are getting more money than children aged ten. Thereisn't a good educational reason for older children getting more thanyounger children. In fact, early achievement is a big predictor of laterachievement. The inequality is historically rooted but it does not needto be as persistent as it is.
'It is very hard to shift the funding gap because of centralgovernment's funding system.'
In comparison with 23 other Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment countries, the UK had a mid-level expenditure on primaryschool funding and the proportion of GDP spent on primary schools.
Other discussions brought up in this round of Primary Review reportsincluded the emergence of a 'state theory of learning'. This refers tothe intervention of central government in teaching practice, via thecurriculum and repeated high-stakes testing of pupils. The reports saidthat this is based on the idea of raising standards, but questionedwhether it is right or sensible.
Further Information: www.primaryreview.org.uk.