One of the areas in which CfBT has published most influentially
is the funding of education. CfBT contributes to the debate about
how education should be funded in England, for example how to fund
the post-16 skills agenda, as well as contributing to the debate on
how to fund education in resource poor countries using public
private partnerships (PPPs).
Published Research Reports
Funding the Pupil
Premium
This report is primarily about raising
funding for a pre-16 Pupil Premium rather than distributing funding
through a pre-16 Pupil Premium. Discussion of the distribution of
funding concentrates on the argument that at 14 the Pupil Premium
should be paid to disadvantaged young people attending FE colleges
as well as schools.
Instinct or Reason: How education
policy is made and how we might make it better
(2010)
This report investigates the factors that lie behind the
formation of educational policy. It is based on discussions with an
expert group, a desk based literature review (including academic
research and politicians' memoirs), interviews with stakeholders
and an extended process of draft revision. The study looked at
policy changes across a range of policy areas to help give a
representative view.
Funding upskilling and
reskilling in the 21st century (2009)
‘Funding Upskilling And Reskilling In The 21st Century: From
Personal Pension Accounts to Personal Skill Accounts’ argues a new
idea for funding upskilling and reskilling is needed for the 21st
Century, and that this policy makers should look to pension policy
for inspiration. The author suggests a national system of
compulsorily funded personal skill accounts where employees
contribute 1% of national insurance, employers contribute 0.75% and
the taxpayer contributes the equivalent to 0.25%.
Should we end the Education Maintenance
Allowance? (2009)
This report, by independent education
consultant Mick Fletcher, suggests that EMAs have been a successful
innovation that could form the basis for a future integrated system
of support for 14-19 year olds. The author argues that despite
proposals to raise the participation age, and despite the current
crisis in public finances, that EMAs should not only be maintained,
but also be increased and extended to all learners. These changes
could be broadly cost neutral if the lower band allowances were
abolished and Child Tax Credit threshold was aligned with EMA.
Public-Private Partnerships in Basic
Education: An International Review (2008)
This report examines the international
experience with PPPs at the Basic Education level. Several
forms of PPP are highlighted, including private philanthropic
initiatives, private sector management initiatives, private school
funding programmes (e.g. subsidies and vouchers), adopt-a-school
programmes and school infrastructure partnerships. The report
also draws a number of lessons for the design and implementation of
PPPs, based on the review of international experience with
PPPs.
Level playing
field? The implications of school funding (2007)
The research report, undertaken by the Institute of Fiscal
Studies (IFS) on behalf of CfBT Education Trust, discusses the
following questions: How have overall levels of public spending on
education and schools in the UK evolved in recent years? How does
the English school funding system allocate money to individual
schools? How redistributive is the school funding system, and to
what degree do funding variations reflect educational needs and
parental background? What incentives do state schools face to
attract new pupils and to improve school quality?
Archive Research Reports