Reforms that have changed the face of British education: 1944: Conservatives create tripartite system of grammar, technical and modern secondary schools with pupils selected by the 11-plus exam. 1965: Under Labour most local education authorities switch to a comprehensive school system. 1972: Compulsory leaving age raised from 14 to 16. 1988: Conservatives introduce a compulsory national curriculum; standardised assessment at seven, 11, 14 and 16, and publishing of school results allowing parents to compare schools' performance via league tables. Parents allowed to choose which school to send their child to and schools funded according to the number of pupils they attract. 1997-2007: Labour introduces compulsory numeracy and literacy hours in primaries; introduces performance pay for teachers; provides free nursery education for all; expands specialist secondary schools from 196 to 2,800, establishes Beacon schools to share good practice; replaces failing schools with city academies free of local authority control and helped by sponsors; plans to raise leaving age to 18 by 2013.
