Primary Schools and Opting out: Some Policy Implications

Significant differences in perceptions between teachers in primary and secondary grant-maintained schools are reported and analysed. Parents were more frequently involved in promoting opting-out in primary schools, primary teachers had more favourable attitudes to the grant-maintained school policy and, in primary schools, grant-maintained status delivered improvements in classroom conditions, most notably reduced class size and increased para-professional support in classrooms. The findings are discussed in terms of the management of primary schools, of theorising about reputation management in grant-maintained schools, and of the explicit objectives of the grant-maintained policy. It is further suggested that the evidence provided about grant-maintained primary schools could be used to inject new life into a policy faltering in secondary schools.