The government published an interim equality impact assessment of its proposals (made in November 2010) for increased fees for higher education students. It said that measures were in place that were expected to 'assist in preventing' any worsening of the existing participation gap between lower and higher socio-economic groups. But it said that there might be a negative impact on part-time students.
Source: Urgent Reforms to Higher Education Funding and Student Finance: Interim Equality Impact Assessment, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Impact assessment | Guardian report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2010-Dec
A briefing paper examined the likely impact of the government's proposals for higher university fees on access to higher education and the goal of widening participation.
Source: Sue Hubble, The Government's Proposals on Higher Education Funding and Student Finance and their Impact on Access to Higher Education, Standard Note SN/SP/5791, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Dec
A study found that students from comprehensive schools were likely to achieve higher class degrees at university than independent and grammar school students with similar A-levels and GCSE results.
Source: Catherine Kirkup, Rebecca Wheater, Jo Morrison, Ben Durbin and Marco Pomati, Use of an Aptitude Test in University Entrance: A validity study, Sutton Trust
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Dec
A research note examined the issues raised by the coalition government's proposed 'pupil premium' in England (under which schools would be given additional funding linked to the admission of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds). The pupil premium would only add to a substantial already-existing premium associated with pupils eligible for free school meals, and was therefore a less radical policy than sometimes portrayed. Although freeing schools from local authority influence, a national funding formula could be seen as a centralization, and mechanization, of decisions hitherto negotiated locally.
Source: Ben Durbin, School Funding and the Pupil Premium: What changes will the new system bring?, National Foundation for Educational Research
Links: Note | NFER press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2010-Dec
An article examined trends indicating that higher numbers of young British men and women of Pakistani origin were pursuing higher education compared with their white peers. Insufficient attention had been given to the relation between education and ethnicity, and particularly the role of 'ethnic capital' in ameliorating social class disadvantage.
Source: Bindi Shah, Claire Dwyer and Tariq Modood, 'Explaining educational achievement and career aspirations among young British Pakistanis: mobilizing "ethnic capital"?', Sociology, Volume 44 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Dec
A report set out case studies of education/training providers who were working successfully to close the gap for young people aged 14-19 coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Source: Improving Outcomes for Disadvantaged Young People: Case studies of effective practice, Young People's Learning Agency
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Dec
A think-tank report said that students from private schools were 55 times more likely to be given a place at Oxford or Cambridge University, and 22 times more likely to go to any top-ranked university, than state school students who were eligible for free school meals. The government's new 'national scholarship programme' would have little impact on access to the most prestigious universities. Access agreements between universities and the regulator (OFFA) should include an explicit commitment to proven outreach work such as summer schools and mentoring schemes. Universities should agree targets with OFFA for a five-year period, covering a basket of new measures for widening participation in higher education more generally, and ensuring fair access to their own university.
Source: Responding to the New Landscape for University Access, Sutton Trust
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | Million+ press release | UCU press release | Times Higher Education report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Dec
The Northern Ireland Executive published an independent review of the initiatives to encourage wider participation in higher education. The review recommended that the Executive should continue to encourage increased representation of under-represented groups, and to place greater emphasis on improving retention.
Source: FGS McClure Watters, Project Review of Widening Participation Funded Initiatives, Northern Ireland Executive
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Dec
A paper examined the literature on school choice, and its effects on social and ethnic segregation between English schools. It found that the evidence concerning whether 'school choice' legislation had acted to increase or decrease the socio-ethnic mix within schools was open to multiple interpretations.
Source: Rich Harris, Segregation by Choice? The debate so far, Working Paper 10/251, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol
Links: Working paper
Date: 2010-Dec
An article said that pupils from higher socio-economic status backgrounds, and also pupils with no special educational needs, were more likely (over and above the effect of attainment) to be assigned by their school to higher sets and less likely to be assigned to lower sets.
Source: Daniel Muijs and Mairead Dunne, 'Setting by ability – or is it? A quantitative study of determinants of set placement in English secondary schools', Educational Research, Volume 52 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Dec
A think-tank report said that the government's proposals for higher student fees were more progressive than the existing system or that proposed in the Browne report: the highest-earning graduates would pay comparatively more on average, while lower-earning graduates would pay back less. But the new system was less transparent, more complex, and generated 'perverse' incentives.
Source: Haroon Chowdry, Lorraine Dearden and Gill Wyness, Higher Education Reforms: Progressive but Complicated with an Unwelcome Incentive, Briefing Note 113, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Briefing Note | Summary | Public Finance report
Date: 2010-Dec
The government announced that the total funding available for the 'pupil premium' (extra money targeted at pupils in England from deprived backgrounds) would be £625 million in 2011-12, rising each year until 2014-15 when it would be worth £2.5 billion. The level of the pupil premium would be £430 per pupil and would be the same for every deprived pupil, no matter where they lived.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 13 December 2010, columns 70-71WS, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Hansard | ASCL press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2010-Dec
Researchers found that children growing up in Sure Start local programme (SSLP) areas were less likely to be overweight than comparable children in non-SSLP areas, and had better physical health. Mothers in SSLP areas reported: providing a more stimulating home learning environment for their children; providing a less chaotic home environment for their children; experiencing greater life satisfaction; engaging in less harsh discipline; experiencing more depressive symptoms; being less likely to visit their child's school for parent/teacher meetings or other arranged visits.
Source: National Evaluation of Sure Start, The Impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on Five Year Olds and Their Families, Research Report RR067, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | NIACE press release | Guardian report | Community Care report | Nursery World report
Date: 2010-Nov
A briefing paper examined the government's proposed reforms of higher education fees in England, how these compared with the Browne review recommendations and with the existing system, and how they would affect universities and public spending.
Source: Paul Bolton, Changes to Higher Education Funding and Student Support from 2012/13, Standard Note SN/SG/5753, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Nov
An article said that widening participation was unlikely seriously to dilute the overwhelmingly middle-class complexion of higher education. Any further expansion would instead strengthen the role of higher education as a distinctive and normal middle-class life-stage. Higher education was strengthening, and would continue to strengthen, the distinction between an upper-middle class and the rest of the middle class.
Source: Ken Roberts, 'Expansion of higher education and the implications for demographic class formation in Britain', Twenty-First Century Society: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences, Volume 5 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Nov
Researchers examined the characteristics and quality of group childcare settings used by children in areas served by Sure Start local programmes, and the relationships between pre-school childcare quality and child outcomes.
Source: Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky, Kristen MacPherson and Andrew Cullis, The Quality of Group Childcare Settings Used by 3-4 Year Old Children in Sure Start Local Programme Areas and the Relationship with Child Outcomes, Research Report RR068, Department of Education
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
The government announced an increase in fees for higher education in England (in response to an official review published in October 2010). There would be a new 'graduate contribution threshold' of £6,000 per year (almost double the existing amount). In exceptional cases, universities would be able to charge higher contributions, up to a limit of £9,000, subject to meeting conditions on widening participation and fair access. Students from families with annual incomes of up to £25,000 would be entitled to an increased student maintenance grant. Graduates would not make a contribution towards tuition costs until they were earning at least £21,000 per year, up from the existing £15,000. A real rate of interest would be charged on loan repayments, up to a maximum of retail price inflation plus 3 per cent.
Source: Debate 3 November 2010, columns 924-946, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Hansard | DBIS press release | Conservative Party press release | HOC briefing | Browne report | ASCL press release | ATL press release | BMA press release | CBI press release | GuildHE press release | HEFCE press release | ICG press release | IFS press release | Million+ press release | NIACE press release | NUS press release | NUT press release | OFFA press release | UCU press release | UUK press release | Voice press release | Times Higher Education report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Public Finance report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report said that the government's proposals for increasing higher education fees were likely to have an adverse impact on social mobility and participation, and would lead to 60-65 per cent of graduates being worse off than under the existing system – with the greatest impact on middle-income earners.
Source: Fair, Progressive and Good Value?, Million+/London Economics
Links: Report | Million+ press release | Bedfordshire University press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Nov
An article examined the interface between policy, implementation, and use of services in the context of a multi-ethnic Sure Start programme. The depiction of parents as active and aspirational agents tapped into a 'social investment' agenda: but it conflicted with the 'constrained agency' in practice of many local mothers.
Source: Tricia Hamm, 'Examining "social investment" policy in a multi-ethnic Sure Start area: staff perspectives', Social Policy and Society, Volume 9 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
The coalition government announced that £7 billion (over 4 years) would be allocated to a 'fairness premium' in the education budget. All disadvantaged children aged 2 would be given an entitlement to 15 hours per week of pre-school education. A 'pupil premium' would also be created for disadvantaged children, giving schools additional funds to offer targeted help to every pupil eligible for free school meals.
Source: Speech by Nick Clegg MP (Deputy Prime Minister), 15 October 2010
Links: DE press release | ATL press release | Daycare Trust press release | IFS briefing | IFS press release | Liberal Democrats press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | NCMA press release | NUT press release | Children & Young People Now report | Times Higher Education report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Oct
A new book examined the development of children's centres. It looked at the challenges faced by children's centres; how to tackle social issues through the medium of children's centres; achieving effective multi-agency working and true collaboration; the essentials of leading and managing children's centres; the benefits of early intervention; and how to effectively deliver healthcare, education, and children's services.
Source: Carole Beaty, Integrated Children's Centres: Overcoming barriers to truly integrated services, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Oct
The coalition government announced (in its 2010 Spending Review) that spending on schools in England would increase by 0.1 per cent each year in real terms over the period to 2014-15. But £2.5 billion would be diverted to a 'pupil premium' targeted at disadvantaged pupils; capital spending would by cut by 60 per cent; grants to higher education would be cut by 40 per cent; and the educational maintenance allowance would be scrapped in favour of 'targeted support'.
Source: Spending Review 2010, Cm 7942, HM Treasury/TSO
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | HMT press releases | DE press release | DBIS press release | ALP press release | AOC press release | ASCL press release | ATL press release | Deloitte press release | Guild HE press release | Million+ press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | NIACE press release | NUS press release | NUT press release | PwC press release | TSN press release | UCU press release | UUK press release | Times Higher Education report | Guardian report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Children & Young People Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2010-Oct
A report examined ways of raising funding for a pre-16 pupil premium for children from disadvantaged backgrounds in England, and how it could be done fairly in the context of the fiscal deficit. It proposed introducing a means test for child benefit for children up to the age of 16.
Source: Mark Corney, Funding the Pupil Premium: Fairness for young people and parents, CfBT Education Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Oct
An article examined how the efforts exerted by children, parents, and schools affected the outcomes of the education process, using data from the National Child Development Study. Parents' efforts towards their child's educational achievement was crucial – playing a more significant role than that of the school or child, and reinforcing educational inequalities.
Source: Gianni De Fraja, Tania Oliveira and Luisa Zanchi, 'Must try harder: evaluating the role of effort in educational attainment', Review of Economics and Statistics, Volume 92 Number 3
Links: Abstract | Leeds University press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Oct
A new book said that universities and colleges were often unsystematic in the ways in which they identified schools and colleges for outreach work and other initiatives aimed at widening participation.
Source: Alexander Singleton, Educational Opportunity: The geography of access to higher education, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper examined the relationship between children's cognitive abilities and their parents' socio-economic position.
Source: Claire Crawford, Alissa Goodman and Robert Joyce, Explaining the Socio-Economic Gradient in Child Outcomes: The intergenerational transmission of cognitive skills, Working Paper 10/16, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Date: 2010-Sep
Researchers estimated the intergenerational correlation of over 60 outcomes targeted under the government's 'Every Child Matters' agenda. There were very strong correlations between parents and children in their educational aspirations and expectations, specifically their desire to gain education over and above the legal requirement. There were also some patterns of correlations in health outcomes. This suggested that if policy could alter parents' attitudes towards education, good behaviour, and decisions to smoke or drink, there might be an impact on the choices of the next generation.
Source: Jo Blanden, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Emma Tominey, Research on the Intergenerational Links in the Every Child Matters Outcomes, CEE Special Report 005, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper urged the new coalition government to balance its desire to increase school autonomy through academies and free schools with measures to reduce the attainment gap between pupils from poor and better-off backgrounds.
Source: Ensuring Less Privileged Pupils Benefit from the Government's School Reforms, Sutton Trust
Links: Paper | Children & Young People Now report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper said that a lottery system for awarding secondary school places had failed in one of its key aims – to give children from poorer backgrounds equal access to top schools.
Source: Rebecca Allen, Simon Burgess and Leigh McKenna, The Early Impact of Brighton and Hove's School Admission Reforms, Working Paper 10/244, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol
Links: Working paper | Bristol University press release | IOE press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Sep
A think-tank report examined what a fair education system would look like, and called for reforms to narrow the gaps in educational attainment and opportunity between different social groups. It was not good enough just to accept educational segregation and seek to compensate those who suffered from it with more funding: the underlying vision had to be one of a greater social mix.
Source: Louise Bamfield and Tim Horton, What's Fair? Applying the fairness test to education, Fabian Society
Links: Report | Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper said that around two-thirds of the socio-economic gap in educational attainment at age 16 could be accounted for by long-run family background characteristics and prior ability. But differences in the attitudes and behaviours of young people and their parents during the teenage years also played a key role in explaining the attainment gap at age 16, and the majority of the small increase in this gap between ages 11 and 16.
Source: Haroon Chowdry, Claire Crawford and Alissa Goodman, The Role of Attitudes and Behaviours in Explaining Socio-Economic Differences in Attainment at Age 16, Working Paper 10/15, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Date: 2010-Sep
A study examined whether changes to the school admissions code in 2003 and 2007 had had any discernible effect on the social composition of English secondary schools. The Codes did appear to have been at least in part responsible for changes in the social composition of pupils at schools that used criteria and arrangements subsequently deemed inadmissible.
Source: Rebecca Allen and Anne West, The Effect of Changes in Published Secondary School Admissions on Pupil Composition, Research Report RR038, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Sep
The watchdog for access to higher education said that, according to commissioned research, disadvantaged young people had not been influenced by the size of bursary on offer when making university choices. In the light of the finding, it would be asking universities to consider diverting some of their bursary money to targeted outreach work with schools and colleges.
Source: Mark Corver, Have Bursaries Influenced Choices Between Universities?, Office for Fair Access
Links: Report | OFFA press release | DBIS press release | Russell Group press release | UCU press release | UUK press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2010-Sep
A report said that children from lower-income families, who were already lagging behind their better-off peers in terms of educational achievement, were also penalized by socially selective school admissions arrangements. Schools should be required to take equal shares of pupils in different ability groups.
Source: Unlocking the Gates: Giving disadvantaged children a fairer deal in school admissions, Barnardo's
Links: Report | Barnardo's press release | BHA press release | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Aug
An article said that the expansion of higher education in the 1980s, combined with New Labour reforms of the 'A-level' examination, had mainly benefited the middle classes and undermined social mobility.
Source: Trevor Fisher, 'The death of meritocracy: exams and university admissions in crisis', FORUM: for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education, Volume 52 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
An article used data from the 'Taking Part' survey of England to analyze the relationship between cultural socialization, educational attainment, and intergenerational social mobility.
Source: Simone Scherger and Mike Savage, 'Cultural transmission, educational attainment and social mobility', Sociological Review, Volume 58 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
A study examined the impact of the 'Aimhigher' programme on learner attainment and progression in England. (Aimhigher was launched in April 2004 with the aim of raising the aspirations, and developing the abilities, of non-traditional entrants to higher education.)
Source: Rowena Passy and Marian Morris, Evaluation of Aimhigher: Learner attainment and progression – Final report, Higher Education Funding Council for England
Date: 2010-Aug
The watchdog for access to higher education said that in 2008-09 higher education institutions spent over one-quarter of their additional fee income on access measures, including over £304 million on bursaries and scholarships for students from lower-income backgrounds or other under-represented groups: this was broadly in line with proportions of expenditure in previous years.
Source: Access Agreement Monitoring: Outcomes for 2008-09, Office for Fair Access
Links: Report | OFFA press release | Guild HE press release | HEA press release | Million+ press release | NUS press release | 1994 Group press release | UUK press release
Date: 2010-Aug
The government began consultation on proposed arrangements for the operation of the 'pupil premium', under which additional funding for more disadvantaged pupils would aim to ensure that they benefited from the same opportunities as pupils from richer families.
Source: Consultation on School Funding 2011-12: Introducing a Pupil Premium, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | DE press release | ASCL press release | NAHT press release | NUT press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2010-Jul
A briefing paper said that the new coalition government's policy on academy schools – unlike the previous Labour government's policy – was not targeted on schools with relatively disadvantaged pupils. There was a 'serious worry' that this would exacerbate already existing educational inequalities.
Source: Stephen Machin and James Vernoit, A Note on Academy School Policy, PA11, Centre for Economic Performance/London School of Economics
Links: Paper | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Jul
A special issue of a journal examined cognitive capital, with articles on how family hardship affected children's early development, and the relationship between the incomes of the family a child grew up in and their later education level.
Source: Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, Volume 1 Number 3
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2010-Jul
The schools inspectorate for Northern Ireland said that 'satisfactory to good' progress had been made in the early development of Sure Start programme for children aged 2.
Source: An Evaluation of the SureStart Programme for Two Year Olds, Education and Training Inspectorate
Links: Report | NIE press release
Date: 2010-Jul
A paper examined the relative influence of family and neighbourhood on educational attainment, and how this varied by sibling type. Neighbourhood explained at most 10-15 per cent of the variance in educational attainment, whereas the family explained at least 43 per cent.
Source: Cheti Nicoletti and Birgitta Rabe, Inequality in Pupils' Educational Attainment: How much do family, sibling type and neighbourhood matter?, Working Paper 2010-26, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2010-Jul
An article presented data collected in individual case studies that aimed to investigate children and their families who succeeded in educational contexts against the usual 'odds' of disadvantage. Disadvantaged families often had high aspirations for their children and provided significant educational support through 'concerted cultivation'.
Source: Iram Siraj-Blatchford, 'Learning in the home and at school: how working class children "succeed against the odds"', British Educational Research Journal, Volume 36 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jun
A paper examined the extent to which private/state school wage and education differentials had changed over time (by reference to 1958 and 1970 birth cohorts). Private schools had served to reproduce inequalities in society over the period examined.
Source: Francis Green, Stephen Machin, Richard Murphy and Yu Zhu, The Changing Economic Advantage from Private School, DP115, Centre for Economic Performance/London School of Economics
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined ethnicity and low achievement in English schools. Economic disadvantage had a stronger effect on white students than those of ethnic minorities. Attending poorer-quality schools was part of the explanation of differential minority-ethnic performance.
Source: Geeta Kingdon and Robert Cassen, 'Ethnicity and low achievement in English schools', British Educational Research Journal, Volume 36 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jun
A paper used the pupil census in England to explore how family house moves contributed to school and residential segregation. Moving was significantly negatively correlated with school quality, and segregation did increase as a cohort reached age 11. However, this relationship was weak: the increase in segregation was slight, and the quantitative significance of the estimated relationship was low.
Source: Rebecca Allen, Simon Burgess and Tomas Key, Choosing Secondary School by Moving House: School quality and the formation of neighbourhoods, Working Paper 238, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol
Links: Working paper
Date: 2010-Jun
An audit report reviewed the data systems used to support delivery of the Labour government's public service agreement 11 – to 'narrow the gap in educational attainment between children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers respectively' – over the period from 2008.
Source: Review of the Data Systems for Public Service Agreement 11, National Audit Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jun
Researchers examined the barriers and constraints young people faced when deciding what to do at the end of their compulsory schooling in year 11 (age 16). Most young people (86 per cent) did not experience any barriers that stopped them from participating in their choice of learning post-16: but a notable minority (14 per cent) were prevented from doing what they wanted to do, and 63 per cent reported experiencing at least one barrier or constraint. The main barriers and constraints related to finance, transport, availability of provision, and knowledge and awareness of the options available.
Source: Thomas Spielhofer et al., Barriers to Participation in Education and Training, Research Report RR009, Department for Education
Date: 2010-Jun
A new book (based on a series of lectures) said that although the government had made strenuous efforts to improve educational outcomes for looked-after children, the gap in attainment compared with children living in their own homes remained 'obstinately large'. Advances at policy level had been slow to translate into improvements on the ground, and there were stark differences between local authorities with apparently similar populations.
Source: Sonia Jackson, Education for Social Inclusion: Can we change the future for children in care?, Institute of Education/University of London
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-May
A new book examined the causes of educational inequality. It said that there was a need for a 'realist' framework that took into account the social influences of early childhood development, the later emergence of social identities, and the nature of the social class impact of educational and career decision-making.
Source: Roy Nash and Hugh Lauder (eds.), Explaining Inequalities in School Achievement: A realist analysis, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-May
A report compared, by ethnicity, the characteristics of the United Kingdom-domiciled entrants to full-time, first degree courses in England in 2002-03 as well as their progression routes through their first degree studies. White finalists were 25 percentage points more likely to get a 'good' degree mark than black finalists, and 20 percentage points more likely than Pakistani and Bangladeshi finalists: some, but not all, of these differences could be explained by the differing profiles of the students.
Source: Student Ethnicity: Profile and progression of entrants to full-time, first degree study, Higher Education Funding Council for England
Links: Report
Date: 2010-May
A report by the watchdog for access to higher education said that participation at the top one-third of selective universities from the least advantaged 40 per cent of young people had remained almost flat since the mid-1990s. Able young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to attain high grades at school than their advantaged peers of comparable ability and less likely to choose GCSE and A level subjects that kept their options open to apply to selective universities. This 'attainment gap' accounted for most of disadvantaged students' under-representation, with disadvantage affecting a young person's educational attainment from an early age. Even when they were highly qualified, students from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to apply to the most selective universities than their advantaged peers.
Source: Martin Harris, What More Can Be Done to Widen Access to Highly Selective Universities?, Office for Fair Access
Links: Report | OFFA press release | DBIS press release | UCU press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2010-May
The education inspectorate in Scotland highlighted the need to ensure that all educational provision for children and young people with social, emotional, and behavioural needs was of a consistently high quality. The quality of young people's learning experiences in off-site facilities was too variable, and there was 'considerable scope' for off-site bases to work more closely with mainstream schools and other partners to deliver better outcomes for children and young people.
Source: Out Of Site, Out Of Mind? An overview of provision for children and young people with behavioural needs in local authority bases and special schools, with examples of emerging good practice, HM Inspectorate of Education in Scotland
Links: Report | HMIE press release
Date: 2010-May
An article examined whether boys' and girls' early educational attainment levels were similarly related to disadvantage in the family environment. The study found lower attainment for both boys and girls in families experiencing socio-economic disadvantage. Early motherhood, low maternal qualifications, low family income, and unemployment most strongly predicted lower scores. Tests for gender interaction showed that boys in families where mothers were young, where they lacked qualifications, or if they were living in poor-quality areas, were more disadvantaged compared with girls in similar circumstances.
Source: Fiona Mensah and Kathleen Kiernan, 'Gender differences in educational attainment: influences of the family environment', British Educational Research Journal, Volume 36 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A paper examined the determinants of higher education participation among individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Poor attainment in secondary schools was more important in explaining lower HE participation rates among students from disadvantaged backgrounds than barriers arising at the point of entry into HE (such as credit constraints). These findings highlighted the need for earlier policy intervention to raise HE participation rates among disadvantaged youth.
Source: Haroon Chowdry, Claire Crawford, Lorraine Dearden, Alissa Goodman and Anna Vignoles, Widening Participation in Higher Education: Analysis using linked administrative data, Working Paper W10/04, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Apr
An article examined the characteristics of effective schools serving socially disadvantaged communities in England. It highlighted the importance of high expectations, and the development of classroom and school-wide systems to translate these into practice.
Source: John Holford, Laura Engel and Helena Pimlott-Wilson, 'Effectiveness, inequality and ethos in three English schools', International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 30 Issue 3/4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A study found that children's levels of achievement were more closely linked to their parents' background in England than in many other developed nations – despite signs of some improvement over the period of the Labour government.
Source: John Ermisch and Emilia Del Bono, Education Mobility in England: The link between the education levels of parents and the educational outcomes of teenagers, Sutton Trust
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | ISER press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Apr
An article examined class differences and similarities in choice of school and choice of childcare. The processes by which working-class parents chose care settings and schools could be seen as less skilled, informed, and careful than the decision-making of many of the middle-class respondents: but there were alternative sets of priorities in play for working-class parents, involving attachments to the communal and the local.
Source: Carol Vincent, Annette Braun and Stephen Ball, 'Local links, local knowledge: choosing care settings and schools', British Educational Research Journal, Volume 36 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A paper reviewed research literature on the dynamics of learning throughout the life course: changing constellations of risk and opportunity in early childhood; the transitions from secondary, further, and higher education into employment; the opportunities for different groups of adult workers to engage in lifelong learning; and the changing fortunes of older people. The evidence pointed to the need to consider heterogeneity in life and work experiences, the need for more flexible and diversified life course models, and the need for broader definitions of 'successful' transitions and outcomes, taking into account variation in resources among different subgroups of the population.
Source: Karen Evans, Ingrid Schoon and Martin Weale, Life Chances, Learning and the Dynamics of Risk throughout the Life Course, LLAKES Research Paper 9, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Apr
A report said that neighbouring comprehensive schools in England could differ considerably in their social and ethnic composition – mainly due to the effects of parental choice. Leading comprehensive schools were more socially exclusive and less ethnically diverse than the remaining grammar (selective) schools. It said that ballots should be used as part of the admissions process for oversubscribed schools.
Source: Alan Smithers and Pamela Robinson, Worlds Apart: Social variation among schools, Sutton Trust
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | New Start report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Apr
The percentage of young entrants to full-time first degree courses who came from state schools rose from 88 per cent in 2007-08 to 88.5 per cent in 2008-09. The percentage from 'low participation neighbourhoods' rose from 9.7 per cent to 10.1 per cent. But there were 23 higher education institutions where students from the lowest-income groups made up less than 5 per cent of the intake.
Source: Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK 2008/09, Higher Education Statistics Agency
Links: Report | HESA press release | UUK press release | Russell Group press release | Million+ press release | GuildHE press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2010-Apr
An article developed a case for reconsidering the role of schools in education policy. Considerable amounts of the variation in pupil performance might in fact derive from factors based upon variations in parents' ability to 'buy in' support and enrichment of various kinds for their children.
Source: Stephen Ball, 'New class inequalities in education: why education policy may be looking in the wrong place! Education policy, civil society and social class', International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 30 Issue 3/4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
An article examined the motivations and aspirations shaping mothers' school choices.
Source: Andrew Wilkins, 'Citizens and/or consumers: mutations in the construction of concepts and practices of school choice', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 25 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A think-tank report said that giving schools extra funds in return for taking pupils from low-income groups (as proposed by opposition political parties) would lead to only a 'modest' reduction in the attainment gap between rich and poor.
Source: Haroon Chowdry, Ellen Greaves and Luke Sibieta, The Pupil Premium: Assessing the Options, Commentary 113, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Report | IFS press release | CPAG press release | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report said that students from private schools were more likely to study for a postgraduate degree than state school students, even though students from the same class and background from state schools were more likely to get a good university degree than similar students at private schools.
Source: Stephen Machin and Richard Murphy, The Social Composition and Future Earnings of Postgraduates, Sutton Trust
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | Times Education Supplement report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report used data collected in the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England and matched data from the National Pupil Database in order to investigate what contributed to gaps in key stage 4 attainment (age 16) between pupils with different characteristics – including eligibility for free school meals, and ethnicity. The document also presented findings relating to pupils with different aspirations with respect to whether they wanted to stay in full-time education once they had reached age 16.
Source: Identifying Components of Attainment Gaps, Research Report RR217, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Date: 2010-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs called on the government to resist short-term financial pressure to reduce the number of Sure Start centres or the range of services that they offered. Only a universal service could ensure that all vulnerable children got the access they needed; and the wide range of support and activities provided to families was a vital feature of the programme. Stable funding was essential. Most centres had been in place for less than four years, and evaluations of their impact would therefore only be meaningful over the long term.
Source: Sure Start Children's Centres, Fifth Report (Session 2009-10), HC 130, House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report | 4Children press release | Guardian report | BBC report | New Start report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined some of the ways that affluence and disadvantage influenced children's educational attainment. It focused on a broad set of factors, varying across childhood. The aspirations, attitudes, and behaviour of both parents and children played an important part in explaining why poorer children typically did worse at school.
Source: Alissa Goodman and Paul Gregg (eds.), Poorer Children's Educational Attainment: How important are attitudes and behaviour?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | JRF press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report explored evidence for the impact of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, including the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, on educational attainment outcomes in deprived areas. There was 'consistent evidence' of positive impacts for pupils in treatment groups in both key stage 3 (age 14) and key stage 4 (age 16) outcome measures – though they were sometimes relatively small. Policy impact appeared to increase over time.
Source: Kate Wilkinson, Adam Whitworth and David McLennan, Evaluation of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal: Improving Educational Attainment in Deprived Areas, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
The government announced that it was ending the 'Gifted and Talented programme' aimed at giving support to exceptionally able pupils.
Source: Statement by Diana Johnson MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools) to the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, 1 February 2010
Links: Statement | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Feb
A report examined interventions and outcomes in the field of education under the New Deal for Communities programme.
Source: Geoff Fordham with Elaine Batty, Beverly Cook, Rachael Knight-Fordham and Sarah Pearson, Improving Attainment? Interventions in education by the New Deal for Communities programme, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2010-Feb
A report used individual-level longitudinal data to analyze the impact of the New Deal for Communities programme on educational attainment for children living in NDC areas between 2002 and 2007. Although there was little evidence of programme-wide change, significant changes in attainment could be seen in some sub-groups and in some NDC partnerships.
Source: Kate Wilkinson and David McLennan, Narrowing the Gap? Analysing the impact of the New Deal for Communities programme on educational attainment, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Oxford University press release | Telegraph report | Times Education Supplement report
Date: 2010-Feb
A report said that ethnic minorities were better represented in higher education than their share of the general population.
Source: Race into Higher Education: Today's diverse generation into tomorrow's workforce, Business in the Community
Links: Report | Summary | Million+ press release | BBC report | Personnel Today report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Feb
An article examined the persistent social phenomenon of segregated schooling in England, whereby children from families with broadly the same characteristics of wealth, education, and social networks were more likely to be educated together and therefore separately from children from more socially distant groups.
Source: John Coldron, Caroline Cripps and Lucy Shipton, 'Why are English secondary schools socially segregated?', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 25 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jan
A study examined the role and importance of finance in the decision-making process of English-domiciled people from different groups who were considering entering full-time higher education. Financial factors tended not to dent higher education aspirations among those planning to apply: they tended to be outweighed by a range of non-financial factors. Insofar as finance was important in decision-making, it was in determining where to apply and study rather than what to study or whether to study at all.
Source: Thomas Usher with Susanna Baldwin, Miranda Munro, Emma Pollard and Freddie Sumption, The Role of Finance in the Decision-Making of Higher Education Applicants and Students, Research Paper 9, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report | UCU press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jan
A study examined whether there were 'true' differences in educational attainment at key stages 3 and 4 between rural and urban areas, and the factors that particularly affected attainment in rural areas. Attainment among rural pupils was found to be virtually no different from that of urban pupils, after adjusting for social class.
Source: National Centre for Social Research, Educational Attainment in Rural Areas, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jan
A study found that there had been a 'substantial and sustained' increase in the higher-education participation rate of young people living in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England since the mid-2000s. Young people from those areas were 30 per cent more likely to enter higher education than they were five years previously. Participation rates had also increased in advantaged neighbourhoods over this period, but less rapidly.
Source: Mark Corver, Trends in Young Participation in Higher Education: Core results for England, Higher Education Funding Council for England
Links: Report | HEFCE press release | OFFA press release | UUK press release | UCU press release | Million+ press release | GuildHE press release | Times Higher Education report | BBC report | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Jan
A study examined the difference in education staying-on rates between rural and urban areas. Young people in rural dispersed areas and rural village areas were significantly more likely to participate in post-compulsory education than young people in urban areas.
Source: Andy Dickerson and Steven McIntosh, Post-16 Educational Choices in Rural Areas, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jan
A new web resource mapped ethnic segregation in England's schools. The resource made it possible to look in detail at segregation in each local authority in England, and to follow trends over the previous seven years.
Source: Press release 20 January 2010, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol
Links: Bristol University press release | Measuring Diversity website | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jan
