The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher was strongly influenced by New Right ideas and these were put into practice in the far-reaching Education Reform Act of 1988. The act included a number of high-profile initiatives such as: the National Curriculum (all pupils learning the same subject content at the same time); SATs tests; GCSEs; league tables; more parental choice; budgeting powers for head teachers; funding per pupil. Together these established a market mechanism in the education system where (in theory at least) parents had information about schools (league tables and inspection reports) could choose where to send their children and the schools that attracted parents attracted funding. Therefore there was an incentive to get the best exam results and for schools to compete against each other. (See marketisation)