n order to evaluate the role of neoliberalism in education, one must first consider the apparatus used to enact neoliberal principals. This is widely attributed in the literature to policy (Hill, 2009), and whilst offering a definition of this may appear unnecessary, a lack of unified understanding may limit the clarity of any subsequent discussion or evaluation (Ball, 1994; 2013). Evans et al, (2008) demystifies this concept through the discourse of big-P and little-P policy; the former constructed within government and the latter enacted within localities. Whilst this is useful, the thoughts of Ball (2017) offer necessary enhancement, as big-P policy is no longer only domestic, but is increasingly concerned with the pressures of a globalised educational context. Whilst the relevance of these ideas cannot be understated, discussion around policy must be underpinned by a rhetoric of process, rather than of product (Ball, 2013; Considine, 1994), supplemented by the concept of governmentality (Dean; 2010; Foucault, 1977) and the power of policy to define its subjects (Maguire, Braun and Ball, 2015; Simons, Olssen and Peters, 2009). It is these thoughts that are key to the understanding and evaluation of neoliberal principals in education.

The Foundations of Neoliberalism:

Central to the concept of neoliberalism is the logic of competition (Ball, 2008; Ward and Eden, 2009). Government intervention in the economic marketplace is considered obstructive (Bartlett and Burton, 2016) and it is only free market forces that are considered capable of reacting efficiently to market signals and the needs of the consumer (Hirsch, 2002). This leads to a redefining of the roles of both central government (Bridges and McLaughlin, 1994; Jessop, 2002) and of the individual (Peck and Tickell, 2002) to a context of governance in which individual freedom is sacrosanct (Harvey, 2005). Advancing this, success or failure is devolved from market systems and is attributed solely to individual endeavour (Harvey, 2005), reflecting the governmentality discussed by Foucault (1977) and how relationships between individuals and institutions are engineered and controlled without clear intervention (Ball, 2012; Dean, 2010; Pick and Taylor, 2009).

In relation to the UK, it is the policies implemented under Margaret Thatcher that are widely considered as the birth of neoliberal politics. It was her firm belief that the welfare state had created a society dependent on the government, influenced by the earlier thoughts of Hayek (1944) that such social welfare disables the fr