This thesis presents an examination of the policy process in education, focusing on the London Challenge as an exemplifying case study. The policy problem of the London Challenge was the poorer performance of London secondary schools . compared to other regions and considerable between-school variation. Social polarisation was intensified by the relationship between education, 'place' and social disadvantage and so the London Challenge was designed to intervene in this situation. A critique of the London Challenge policy over the course of its eight year life is presented in the thesis, identifying that a significant shift in the leadership of the policy - from policy-maker to practitioner - took place as it evolved, altering the character of the policy. The thesis finds that practitioners, especially headteachers, played a central role in the success of the London Challenge because they re-shaped the policy as they implemented it. An examination of the policy process of the London Challenge follows, together with an empirical study in this thesis. They show that there was a gradual ceding of power from policy-makers to headteachers and London Challenge advisers who led the policy's implementation. It created a 'high trust I high accountability' model for education policy-making which paired professional autonomy and expertise with accountability to government for improvement in London's secondary schools. This took place within a framework of conditions that required shared moral purpose, strong leadership, high challenge with an openness to supportive and fair datainformed scrutiny and a regional commitment to collegial partnership. The thesis concludes that what can be learned from the London Challenge is that 'mature' self-improving education systems should provide the right conditions for headteachers to act as system leaders with the transformative power to create and lead education policy to the benefit of all a region's schools and its children.

This thesis is concerned with post-primary education in West Ham 1918-39, with particular reference to secondary education. The realities of local educational experience are set against a background of educational acts an economies. The economic difficulties of the 1920s and the Depression of the 1930s were keenly felt in West Ham despite the efforts of the predominantly Labour council to mitigate poverty. A gap sometimes existed between the educational opportunities Labour councillors wished to provide and those they were able to provide. Generally a pragmatic approach was taken and certainly a secondary education was not seen as essential for all. Chapter One outlines West Ham's pre-1918 history and growth with reference to local politics and immigrant and religious groupings. West Ham's interwar history is told in greater detail. Chapter Two relates the difficulties encountered by the West Ham Education Committee in its decision to establish compulsory continuation schools, not least from the parents of West Ham. West Ham was one of the few areas in the country which succeeded in implementing compulsory continuation education albeit for a limited period. A section on technical education is also included in this chapter, although detailed treatment is hampered by a scarcity of records. Chapter Three examines West Ham's secondary school scholarships in the context of the national situation. West Ham's higher elementary/central school scholarships are subjected to the same scrutiny. Each of West Ham's secondary schools shared a broadly similar curriculum and ethos. Chapter Four highlights these similarities but also points out differences. Of the five interwar secondary schools, two catered for girls, one for boys and two were mixed. Two of the secondary schools were Catholic institutions, although both accepted non-Catholic pupils. Three of the schools were aided and two municipal. A section is included on West Ham's higher elementary/central schools but records are less full than those for the secondary schools. Chapter Five compares and contrasts West Ham's interwar secondary school system with that in East Ham, its sister borough. Chapter Six discusses both the economic and cultural factors underlying local attitudes to post-compulsory schooling. The main conclusions drawn relate to these attitudes which militated against any easy acceptance of such education as necessarily beneficial.