This paper explores the discussion of conservative ideas about secondary education in England between 1979 and 1986. Education policy in England underwent major reform thirty years ago in terms of provision, curriculum, funding and management; similar education reform trends also emerged globally in this period.  In England, three successive Conservative Governments introduced these reforms from 1979-1988. City Technology Colleges (CTCs), proposed in 1986, embodied many of these changes. CTCs were a new type of school within the state system, with control over their own funding, admissions and operations; they were intended to have a technology focus within a broad curriculum and were partially funded and managed by industry sponsors (Walford & Miller, 1991; Whitty, Edwards, & Gewirtz, 1993).

The CTCs were established in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but owing to difficulties in obtaining industry sponsors and locating sites for the schools the number of schools never exceeded fifteen. As a specific policy initiative some consider the CTCs as a failure. Historians, however, note the symbolic importance of the CTCs as a representation of many of the key elements of the Conservative approach to education policy in the 1980s (McCulloch, 2002; Simon, 1999). The CTC programme effectively “prepared the way” for many policy elements proposed in the flagship Conservative education policy reform, the 1988 Education Reform Act  (Evans, 1999: 105). The CTCs also have a distinct legacy in their own right, shaping the landscape of education policy to the present day. The CTC legacy can be seen in schools with a particular curricular focus such as the 1992 Technology Colleges programme, later the Specialist Schools programme (Edwards & Whitty, 1997; Exley, 2007; West & Bailey, 2013). The various policy elements of the CTCs can also be seen in the direct funding contracts between the schools and central government and the sponsorship elements of the 2000 City Academy programme, later Academies (Chitty, 2009a; Walford, 2014; West & Bailey, 2013). There are therefore two reasons why the CTC programme is of interest in the study of the history of education: first, because of the relationship of the CTC policy to the general discussion of ideas in an important period of reform, and second, because of the important legacy it had in the policies that followed.

This paper aims to connect the broader 1980s conservative narratives about choice and diversity, the aims and purposes of education, and management and funding,to those that fed specifically into the CTC policy. In order to understand this better, the composite elements of the CTC policy and the ideas referenced by actors introducing the policy are examined to determine how they reflect (or do not reflect) continuity in the ideas and language used throughout this period of change. Historians and educationalists have also attempted to understand where the ideas that underlay the CTC policy came from, in particular the role of key political actors (politicians, advisers and civil servants) and the role of think tanks and pressure group members (Simon, 1999; Walford & Miller, 1991; Walford, 1991; Whitty et al., 1993). This paper therefore also includes an examination in more depth and detail of how the agendas of the different external and internal actors may have influenced what ideas emerged in the CTC policy.

In summation, the question at the heart of this work is: how were prevailing ideas about school-based education utilised by actors with regard to the CTC policy in the 1980s? In specific, how were narratives about choice, the aims of education and the control of schools utilised by actors with regard to the creation of the CTC policy?

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