After placing the education reforms in England in their international context, in this paper I analyse the basis of the reforms in terms of New Right thought and responses to the global economy. I identify an innovation which best typifies the particular combination of New Right thought underlying the reform, the introduction of grant-maintained (GM) schools. These form a major component of the recent diversification of educational provision. It is argued that the spatial unevenness of this diversification, represented by differential GM adoption, has replaced differences in local education authority policies and practices in forming the basis of spatial differentiation in the education service across England. It is argued that GM schools have produced political, educational, and social divisions. These have augmented the tendency for the diversification to lead to social stratification. Having analysed the restructured education system, I critically consider the degree to which it reflects a post-Fordist welfare state.
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