School Standards and Framework Act 1998

School Standards and Framework Act 1998

United Kingdom Parliament
Long title	An Act to make new provision with respect to school education and the provision of nursery education otherwise than at school; to enable arrangements to be made for the provision of further education for young persons partly at schools and partly at further education institutions; to make provision with respect to the Education Assets Board; and for connected purposes.
Chapter	1998 c. 31
Introduced by	David Blunkett, Secretary of State for Education and Skills
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Other legislation
Amendments	Education and Inspections Act 2006, Education and Skills Act 2008
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted

The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government of Tony Blair. This Act:

• imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes.
• abolished grant-maintained schools, introducing foundation status.
• provided for a schedule of fully selective state schools (grammar schools), and set up a procedure by which local communities could vote for their abolition. No grammar schools have yet been abolished using this mechanism.
• prohibited the expansion of partial selection.
• introduced an Admissions Code and the office of Schools Adjudicator to enforce this Code and consider objections to admission arrangements.
• expanded on the requirement that "each pupil in attendance at a community, foundation or voluntary school shall on each school day take part in an act of collective worship" of a “wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character” for community schools.

See also

• Education Reform Act 1988
• Education Act 1944

Further reading

• Trowler, P, 1998, Education Policy: a Policy Sociology Approach, Gildridge Press, Eastbourne. ISBN 978-0-9533571-0-9.