Improving the Quality of Physical Education? The Education Reform Act, 1988, and Physical Education in England and Wales

Abstract

The Education Reform Act (ERA) 1988 represents the most significant piece of legislation to have entered the education system in postwar Britain. Although all its “effects” have yet to materialize, this paper argues that aspects of ERA legislation will have a very damaging impact upon both the level and quality of PE provision in some state schools. The tone of this paper is necessarily speculative; but the analysis, based on the authors' ongoing research in primary and secondary schools, will suggest that ERA may exacerbate social and educational divisions within the education system and make it very difficult for some teachers to provide a quality “PE for all.”