Education policy is given a high electoral priority by all political parties in Britain. This book shows how political promises can be transformed into actions which affect directly all those involved in education. The first part of the book investigates the period of political consensus and post-war recovery. The second part analyzes the development of the DES from 1964 to the 1990s. The final section explains what the author calls the systems-failure of contemporary British education, and investigates alternative strategies.