Under the leadership of Tony Blair New Labour committed itself to raise standards, tackle educational failure and use education to combat disadvantage. This paper examines New Labour's approaches to school improvement, particularly the origins and enactment of "zero tolerance" strategies, the different groups of schools identified as needing remedial action, different intervention strategies for poorly performing and failing schools including inspection, Fresh Start, Academies and the London Challenge. It explores evidence of their impact on school improvement, educational standards and equity. (Contains 3 figures.)