Privatisation of education in the English school system

In England, there is significant involvement of “private” entities in publicly funded schools, with clear evidence of “privatization”. This article argues that the privatization of education services in the English context raises issues regarding accountability, costs, transparency and public process. In the first section, an overview of the English school system, past and present, is provided. Drawing on academic literature and documentary analysis, the sections that follow analyse three different types of privatisation: academies, outsourcing and the “Private Finance Initiative”.