Three reports provided findings from research into what influenced attainment and development in 16 year old students in England. The study had found a range of influences, including: individual, family, and neighbourhood characteristics; school quality; and a beneficial impact of early years (pre-school) education on longer-term achievement in exams and subsequent wage levels.
Source: Kathy Sylv, Edward Melhuish, Pam Sammons, Iram Siraj, and Brenda Taggart, with Rebecca Smees, Katalin Toth, Wesley Welcomme, and Katie Hollingworth, Students' Educational and Developmental Outcomes at Age 16: Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16) Project, Research Report 354, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | DE press release | IoE press release
Source: Pam Sammons, Kathy Sylv, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj, Brenda Taggart, Rebecca Smees, and Katalin Toth, Influences on Students' Social-Behavioural Development at Age 16: Effective Pre-School, Primary & Secondary Education Project (EPPSE), Research Report 351, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | DE press release | IoE press release
Source: Pam Sammons, Kathy Sylv, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj, Brenda Taggart, Katalin Toth, and Rebecca Smees, Influences on Students' GCSE Attainment and Progress at Age 16: Effective Pre-School, Primary & Secondary Education Project (EPPSE), Research Report 352, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | DE press release | IoE press release
Date: 2014-Sep
An article examined how educational attitudes and aspirations among 11- to 15-year-olds varied with the local unemployment rate, drawing on data from the British Household Panel Survey. It said that children of highly educated parents with positive educational attitudes reacted more positively to low labour demand than those from less educated families with negative educational attitudes. It discussed the implications for social mobility and educational inequality during recessions.
Source: Mark Taylor and Tina Rampino, 'Educational aspirations and attitudes over the business cycle', Economica, Volume 81 Issue 324
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Sep
A new book examined the lives of young people in the north of England classified as NEET (not in education, employment, or training), or at risk of becoming NEET, and their experiences on the margins of education and employment. The book considered the implications for practitioners and policymakers, evaluated existing policy initiatives, and outlined strategies at local and national government level to improve the lives of NEET young people.
Source: Robin Simmons, Ron Thompson, and Lisa Russell, Education, Work and Social Change: Young people and marginalization in post-industrial Britain, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2014-Aug
A report provided an outline of findings from an online survey of school and college leavers and existing university students on the subject of post-Level 3 options (after completion of 'A' levels or equivalent) and the information and influences that affected them.
Source: Options 2014, The Student Room
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2014-Aug
An article examined class and gender inequalities in the choices and decisions made by young people in their final year of compulsory schooling.
Source: Helene Snee and Fiona Devine, 'Taking the next step: class, resources and educational choice across the generations', Journal of Youth Studies, Volume 17 Number 8
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Aug
A new book examined citizenship and community learning in schools.
Source: Ian Davies, Vanita Sundaram, Gillian Hampden-Thompson, Maria Tsouroufli, George Bramley, Tony Breslin, and Tony Thorpe, Creating Citizenship Communities: Education, young people and the role of schools, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2014-Aug
A think-tank report examined how young people thought they could be better supported in developing healthy and positive relationships. A survey had found that eight out of ten young people said it was too easy for them accidentally to see pornography online, 70 per cent thought that pornography was damaging views of sex or relationships, almost half said that sharing photos or videos with sexual content was part of everyday life for teenagers, and over 70 per cent of young women felt that pornography had led to pressures on them to act or look a certain way. The survey had also found very high levels of support for school-based sex and relationship education and advice. The report recommended that: sex and relationship education should be taught in every school by specialists, and widened in scope; that there should be a single source of advice and support for parents, educators, and young people, through family information services; and that local authorities' responsibility for public sexual health for young people should be broadened.
Source: Imogen Parker, Young People, Sex and Relationships: The new norms, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | Summary | Guardian article
Date: 2014-Aug
A report examined young people's perspectives about the cost of going to school. Key findings included: that some subjects cost more to study as they required extra materials; 27 per cent of students on free school meals (FSM) chose not to study arts or music due to the associated costs; the price of food left many young people going hungry during the school day; school trips were prohibitively expensive, such that 57 per cent of low-income students and 28 per cent of better-off students had missed at least one trip; cost prevented some students from having a full school uniform, or books and other equipment for study; 9 per cent of young people did not have access to a computer at home, or were denied internet access; and costs of after school clubs and other activities, or the cost of associated transport, was prohibitive for 19 per cent of young people on FSM, 12 per cent of young people from low-income families, and 19 per cent of young people from better-off households.
Source: Rys Farthing, The Costs of Going to School, from Young People's Perspectives, British Youth Council/Child Poverty Action Group/Kids Company/National Union of Teachers
Links: Report | NUT press release
Date: 2014-Apr
The inspectorate for education and children's services examined the work by London colleges to re-engage young people in education and training. The research focused on identifying successful curriculum delivery models and aimed to identify factors that enabled or hindered effective practice. The report said that the welfare of individual students was paramount to success, with colleges describing a process of creating a 'team around the student' of support services targeted at the individual student's needs and aspirations. Barriers identified by the research included a lack of effective information sharing between agencies, and the benefits system.
Source: Supporting Young People to Participate in Education and Training: An AoC/Ofsted project reviewing factors that help or hinder young people aged 16 to 18 living in London to participate in education, employment or training, HMI 140039, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | Supplementary report | OFSTED press release
Date: 2014-Feb
A report examined nine school-based programmes to support students aged 14-16 who were at risk of temporary disconnection from learning. It examined how the schemes were run, and the types of students involved with the schemes, in order to create a baseline of evidence to inform a longitudinal study about the impact of such programmes.
Source: Kelly Kettlewell, Eleanor Stevens, Clare O'Beirne, and Helen Everett, School Approaches to Supporting Students to Remain Engaged at Key Stage 4: Baseline case study report, National Foundation for Educational Research
Links: Report
Date: 2014-Feb
