This paper estimates the impact of the specialist schools programme in England on exam performance at the end of compulsory education (at age 16). Two approaches are used. The first uses pupil level data obtained from the 2003 National Pupil Database. The second uses panel data methods and is...

Britain's education system was radically transformed during the 1990s following the Education Reform Act (1988). The primary objective of these reforms was to raise educational standards through the creation of a quasi-market based upon greater parental choice and the transfer of control over...

This paper investigates the effect of introducing quasi-market forces into secondary education on the allocation of pupils between schools and on the exam performance of pupils. A unique database is used which covers all publicly-funded secondary schools in England over the period 1992-98. We...