Education Act 2011

Main implications

The act takes the legislative proposals made in the schools White Paper 2010 "The Importance of Teaching" forward. The major implications of the reform with regard to compulsory education are as follows:

- With regard to school discipline, the act gives power to teachers to search pupils for items banned under the school rules and to issue same-day detentions. It also provides better protection for teachers from false allegations made by students;

- It reduces unnecessary bureaucracy by abolishing five bodies (the general Teaching Council for England; the Training and Development Agency for Schools; the School Support Staff Negotiation Body; the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency; the Young Persons' Learning Agency) and transfers those functions that need to be retained to the Secretary of State;

- It removes certain duties from school governing bodies and local educational authorities, including the latter institution's duty to appoint school improvement partners.