Shaping Futures: How Education Policy Can Transform Children's Lives
By Julia Trowbridge
Introduction
The government’s actions have significant implications for students and their educational experience, as government policy dictates the funding, regulations, and curriculum of schools. It is critical to understand the positive impacts of educational policy, particularly in a time where its value is debated, as seen by Donald Trump’s executive order last week that works to eliminate the Department of Education in the United States. Inequality, for instance, remains a prominent issue in educational policy and is central to current school-related legislation, for policy can work to amend problems such as the significant discrepancy in academic achievement and absenteeism between students with different levels of privilege.
Significance of Educational Policy
The structure and rules of all schools are established by the government in hopes of improving the education and lives of students. In England, schooling processes are dictated by established systems such as the National Curriculum and new policy initiatives. The implementation of policies around promoting school lunches and healthy diets, for instance, has been a key focus in the United Kingdom over the past twenty years. The process and eventual positive outcome of such policies illustrates the challenges and importance of educational policy.
Free School Meal Policy
The creation of local “Universal Free School Meal”, or UFSM, policies across London between 2010 and 2014 exhibits how a governmental policy about schooling can benefit students. A study done by the Institute for Social and Economic Research from the University of Essex explained how policies that ensure all students receive a free school lunch improve academic and student health experiences.
Not only did the average rate of students who chose to receive school lunch unsurprisingly increase but so did the rate of students who had previously qualified for a free lunch, indicating that such a policy encouraged all students to eat lunch. Additionally, the policy had academic and health benefits, for reading test scores improved by 4% for impacted Year 6 students and decreased obesity rates. The most prominent result, however, was that the longer students were exposed to free meal programs, the greater improvements they exhibited. These policies create even more benefits the longer they are used, demonstrating the value of government action in long-term student success.
Current Status of Free School Meal Programmes
The current government is working to establish free breakfast programs for students across England, as the previous iteration only impacted some schools. These breakfast clubs would provide a healthy breakfast for all primary school students and run before the school day, also giving parents half an hour of free childcare. 750 schools across England will begin the program this spring. A study by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association explains that a healthy breakfast, and eating breakfast in general, is important for students’ nutrition and growth. Meanwhile, research by the British Nutrition Foundation suggests that increased access to breakfast can be critical to students’ cognitive function and help alleviate inequality between students of different backgrounds. The introduction of free breakfast clubs, thus, will likely have a significant positive impact on students, as they will benefit from better nutrition and cognitive ability.
Challenges of Educational Policy
There are many inherent difficulties to implementing policies such as universal free meals. These policies are typically quite expensive, as they must apply to the whole student population, and their results are often difficult to display, for it is difficult and timely to quantify academic improvement. For instance, the impact of the free school meals programme would likely be minimal after a year, even if it produced profound changes over a long period of time. Thus, this policy can often be seen as a large expense with minimal outcome, even if it significantly improves the quality of education. These complexities ensure that education remains a critical point of contention between political parties, which can create volatile changes that significantly impact student experiences.
Methods of Educational Policy
Legislation is the primary way the government can regulate the educational experience, as it provides rules and guidelines for how schools operate. However, the passage of legislation is often a challenging process, particularly because many issues are politicised and debated by different parties. Bills are constantly edited and even discarded during their time in Parliament, but understanding the key concepts of recent educational bills can depict the relevant policy subjects, current attitudes, and opportunities for change.
Legislation in Progress
A bill is currently in the House of Commons that could provide significant change to the education system. The “Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill” was introduced in late 2024 and focuses on improving children's experiences in many areas, including at school. The House of Commons passed the bill on the 18th of March, so it is currently about to enter the House of Lords, where it will be debated and potentially edited.
The bill has quite significant implications for the lives of children as it stands now. Notable changes include safeguarding always involving education agencies and the implementation of a permanent position in each district to establish that “children with a social worker and children in kinship care” have specific people ensuring their educational welfare, regardless of whether they are currently in care or not. Other important changes include registration and stricter rules for home education, rules about establishing breakfast clubs, and efforts to decrease uniform costs. Overall, if passed, the bill works to eliminate inequalities in education by lowering costs and ensuring standards are met across different types of schooling.
Previous Legislation about Schools
The Conservative Party’s “Schools Bill”, one of the most recent parliamentary bills about education, failed in 2022 during the Committee stage in the House of Lords. It suggested a similar overall goal of “[raising] education standards”, with particular rules about registering students not in official schools and establishing large academy networks of all schools. However, significant debate within the House of Lords forced significant edits to the bill and its eventual abandonment.
Other Educational Policy News
The National Curriculum Review
The National Curriculum Review was announced in July and began by asking for feedback on the educational experience in Autumn. It promises change to schooling practices for many students in England through revision to the National Curriculum, which is the set of requirements that ensures that all students receive a standard education through regulated subject material and time expectations.
Potential Impacts of the Review
The review, run by the Department of Education and the first of this size in a decade, will examine the effectiveness of the curriculum and incorporate potential improvement. It aims to change the schooling system to be more inclusive by providing opportunities for all students to excel in school and throughout future careers. A notable change will include academies adopting the national curriculum, as all state schools are currently expected to do.. A report will be released later this year, with an interim report likely being released in the winter months.
Conclusion
Educational policy allows for the regulation of schools and provides opportunities to better the educational experience of all students. It can prove quite successful, as seen by the free school meals programme, but is often a long and indirect process that allows for significant debate on its value. However, it persists as the most effective way to challenge problems and inequalities in the education system, for it establishes substantial and secure solutions. The current opportunities for change include the National Curriculum Review and the “Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill”, which, if successful, will work to eliminate inequality in the system and protect children.
References:
Breakfast for health in children. (2023, November 23). British Nutrition Foundation. https://www.nutrition.org.uk/news/the-importance-of-breakfast-for-school-children/
Breakfast Habits, Nutritional Status, Body Weight, and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents. (2005, June). Journal of the American Dietetic Association. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002822305001513
Department for Education. (2014, December 2). National curriculum. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum
Department for Education and The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP. (2024, July 19). Government launches Curriculum and Assessment Review. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-curriculum-and-assessment-review
Department for Education. (2025, January 28). Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024: Policy summary. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-2024-policy-summary
Department for Education and The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP. (2025, February 23). First schools confirmed for landmark free breakfast clubs. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-schools-confirmed-for-landmark-free-breakfast-clubs
Faguy, A. (2025, March 20). Trump signs order to dismantle US education department. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07zpmzxln1o
Farquharson, C.; McKendrick, A.; Ridpath, N.; & Tahir, I. (2024, June 6). The state of education: what awaits the next government? Institute for Fiscal Studies. https://ifs.org.uk/publications/state-education-what-awaits-next-government
Holford, A. & Rabe, B. (2024). The impacts of universal free school meal schemes in England. Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex. https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/files/misoc/reports/Impact-of-the-UFSM-schemes-in-England.pdf
Orme-Paul, J. (2025, January 31). The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024 – 2025: What changes can we expect? https://www.hilldickinson.com/insights/articles/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-2024-2025-what-changes-can-we-expect
Shearing, H. (2022, December 7). Schools Bill Scrapped, Education Secretary Says. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/education-63887910
