Explanatory note

This Order brings into force on 31st March 1990 three of the remaining provisions of the Education Reform Act 1988 not yet in force.

The first is section 24, which enables the Secretary of State to make an order directing that the provisions of sections 5 and 10(2)(b) of the 1988 Act (relating to courses leading to external qualifications) shall apply in relation to pupils up to and including the age of 18 and to specified institutions of further education.

The second is section 209, together with the consequential repeal of section 8(2) and (3) of the Local Government Act 1974 which that section replaces. Section 209 requires the Secretary of State to reimburse local education authorities for the whole of their expenditure on mandatory awards under section 1(1) of the Education Act 1962 (c. 12) for persons attending first degree courses and comparable courses. Under the 1974 Act reimbursement was limited to 90 per cent. of the amount disbursed.

The third is paragraph 106 of Schedule 12 which substitutes a new paragraph 16 for paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 (c. 61). That paragraph makes provision for new schools corresponding to that in section 115 of the 1988 Act, relating to the determination of the dates of school terms and holidays and the times of school sessions.

The Order also amends Schedule 5 to the Education Reform Act 1988 (Commencement No. 4) Order 1988 and provides for subsections (1) to (9) of section 152 of the 1988 Act to come into force, in so far as they relate to institutions of further and higher education which were maintained by the Inner London Education Authority on 22nd December 1988, on 1st April 1992 instead of 1st April 1990.