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Over 80,000 children in England were being looked after in Local Authority care in 2020 and a further 40,000 people were defined as 'care leavers'. Although a significant body of research highlights the prevalence of educational low achievement in the care experienced population, official government figures show that around 13% of care experienced pupils progress to higher education by the age of 19. In a climate of 'widening participation' in which universities encourage inclusion and student diversity, this research invited students with a care background to discuss their experiences of settling into university life. Data was collected using in-depth interviews with 42 students from four universities and an online survey completed by 192 students in 29 universities in England and Wales. Findings revealed that although care experienced students overcome significant challenges to progress to higher education, over half considered dropping out. Others reported feeling isolated and inadequately supported, both financially and pastorally, by their institution. This paper uses a lens of resilience to consider the environmental factors that impact upon student transitions, and concludes that universities must act to balance inequalities in order to appropriately welcome and appreciate care leavers for the skills and experience they bring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The month in which we are born affects our experience of and progress through the education system and is known as the relative age effect. This study reports on a project in which the author conducted mixed methods research into the impact of different birth months on enrolment patterns and participant experiences within further education in England, a neglected sector for this research area. This paper challenges the current view that the negative impact of being born later in an academic year cohort dissipates with age. Analysis of the findings shows that enrolment patterns are skewed towards the summer months for those entering the further education college in the study and that the month of May should be included in the definition of summer months. Summer-born study participants were aware of their relative age at a social and physical level, but made no connection to their academic progress. This paper argues that relative age is a significant driver for enrolment to and, therefore, subsequent performance within further education, which should be monitored alongside other better known disadvantage factors, with the aim to reduce and eliminate this systemic disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) reforms in England, requirements for assessing application in science increased. Setting examination questions in context facilitates testing application as students need to apply what they know and understand to a particular situation. This research explored the nature of the contexts used in reformed GCSE combined science examinations and compared contexts used in a specification which specifically emphasises contextualised learning to those in other specifications. Eight combined science specimen examination papers were selected, including four from GCSE Twenty First Century Science (21C). A qualitative coding frame was used to code each contextualised item. Various strategies for testing in context were present. Contextual features that might risk introducing construct-irrelevant variance were infrequent but may suggest areas for attention in setter training. 21C papers included a higher proportion of items with detailed contexts and a higher proportion of items set in science-related adult/professional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine education policymaking in England during the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on the period from 2020 to 2022. We argue that the pandemic, while obviously damaging materially, economically and psychologically, seemed to have provided a rare opportunity for a step change, a chance to recalibrate and reconsider values assumed as 'truths'. However, policymaking in England appears to have been driven by a desire to return to normal as soon as possible or to double down on control. Through a rigorous policy analysis of two specific areas of policy - initial teacher education and inspection - we review policy and ministerial speeches, as well as academic papers, media articles and social media blogs published from the start of the pandemic in England, to analyse the extent to which policy formation was reactive in an attempt to maintain a steady state and return as quickly as possible to pre-pandemic normality and to previously stated intransigent policy positions. We suggest that this policy formation reflects a broader trend in policymaking, which seeks to use power and sustain privilege, underpinned by a constructed evidence base, to present a particular 'truth' about what needs to be done to improve education outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional in-school approaches focus on using consequences for managing pupil behaviour. Within published literature, concerns have been raised about the effectiveness and negative impact of punitive approaches. This systematic synthesis explores the perspectives of children and young people (CYP) in secondary schools on in-school punitive behaviour management policies and practices. Papers are evaluated using an adapted version of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (2019) and study findings are analysed using thematic synthesis. The findings highlight CYP's thoughts on the fairness and consistency of punitive consequences, the impact of these on academic development and emotional wellbeing, and the limited long-term effectiveness of such approaches. CYP explain their need to feel listened to, understood and supported with their behaviour and emotions. Implications of these views for school staff, educational professionals and education policy makers are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite extensive research on attainment grouping, the impact of attainment grouping on pupil attainment remains poorly understood and contested. This paper presents evidence from a study conducted with 2944 12–13 year olds, from 76 schools in England, who were allocated to between‐class attainment groups ('setting') in English and mathematics over the first 2 years of secondary schooling. After controlling for prior attainment, pupils in the top set performed significantly better than pupils in the middle and bottom sets in both English and mathematics. The findings indicate a widening gap in attainment, especially in the case of English. Findings, especially in the case of mathematics, provide more evidence of a relative benefit for pupils placed in top sets than a relative detriment for those in bottom sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Instability often overshadowed young people's experiences of being in care. • Disrupted schooling could have a devastating impact on academic confidence. • School was frequently described by participants as a key source of support. • Stigmatisation was a significant theme in participants' narratives of school. • Narratives often painted a complex picture of instability, educational struggle, and perceived failure. • The societal imperative to be resilient and self-reliant had the effect of responsibilising participants. Research highlights a plethora of negative outcomes for care leavers and it is widely accepted that children in care are likely to have lower educational attainment than their peers. Rather than concluding that these figures can be attributed directly to being 'in care', scholars have indicated that the matter is more complex, drawing attention to circumstances which pre-date or supersede entry into care. This paper seeks to highlight the experiences of those care leavers who bucked the trend and achieved sufficient qualifications to study in higher education. Despite achieving well academically, our research shows that young people in care still struggled to manage the academic pathway between care and university. This paper draws on evidence collected from 234 care experienced students in England and Wales to consider the educational challenges faced by those without familial support. Findings revealed that instability, stigma and poor institutional support were significant barriers in participants' educational journeys. We consider the impact of narratives of 'meritocracy' and 'resilience' on interpretations of educational success for care leavers. We conclude that caution should be exercised when celebrating individual successes, and greater attention should be paid to structural and systemic barriers to educational achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores practice examples relating to young people's transitions from care to adulthood. It discusses examples drawn from young people's pathways to adulthood, leaving care law and policy and participation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the research evidence on promoting the resilience of young people from care to adulthood, by proposing a framework for evaluating the impact of practice. It is suggested that practice should be interrogated in respect of the contribution made to stability and continuity, educational achievement, involving young people, preparation and support into adulthood, and health and well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an independently evaluated randomised controlled trial of a self-affirmation intervention, replicating earlier studies, mostly conducted in the US with ethnic minority students. Self-affirmation theory suggests that some stigmatised groups, such as those from ethnic minority or poor families, face stereotype threats which undermine their academic performance. Engaging in value affirmation writing activities when such threats are most salient can give individuals a positive sense of value, negating harmful feelings, and fostering academic learning. The present study, involving 10,807 pupils aged 14 to 16 in England showed that the intervention can be successfully replicated with children from low socioeconomic backgrounds in England. The analysis showed positive effects for the intervention group. Pupils who completed more exercises also performed better. The findings are worth consideration given that it costs virtually nothing and does no harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the implications of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) for secondary school physical education (PE) departments and their teachers. The EBacc is a key performance measure that is published annually for each school, which privileges a particular set of traditional academic subjects, and in doing so, marginalises other subjects, including PE. At the same time as responding to this performance measure, secondary schools in England are required to respond to a wider set of policy reforms and innovations. This can sometimes result in overlap, collision and policy clash. For example, while PE is being sidelined and PE staffing reduced by the EBacc, there is national concern surrounding issues of fitness, health and well-being that schools are expected to address and which are often traditionally seen as the responsibility of PE departments. A reduction in their staffing will inevitably have consequences for their ability to respond in meaningful ways to such non-academic policy imperatives. Drawing on a study of the impact of recent curriculum and accountability reforms in English secondary schools (Neumann, E., Towers, E., Gewirtz, S., & Maguire, M. 2016. A curriculum for all? The effects of recent Key Stage 4 curriculum, assessment and accountability reforms on English secondary education. London: National Union of Teachers), this paper presents evidence of the marginalisation of PE and PE teachers' ensuing concerns about their job security. It also explores changes that have been made to the PE curriculum in an attempt to make the subject more academically demanding and considers what this means for PE teachers and their students. The authors conclude that if PE is going to contribute to broader fitness, health and wellbeing agendas, then there is an urgent need for a renewed debate – that reaches beyond PE communities and constituencies – about what PE is for, why it is important and how it can be better supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper challenges the notion that quantitative data – as a numeric truth – exist independent of a nation's political and racial landscape. Utilising large-scale national attainment data, the analysis challenges the belief that 'White working class' children in England, especially boys, are 'the new oppressed' – as a former equality adviser has publicly claimed. The analysis applies Quantitative Critical Race Theory, or 'QuantCrit', an emerging quantitative sub-field of Critical Race Theory in education. The paper argues that far from being 'oppressed', White boys continue to enjoy achievement advantages over numerous minoritised groups; especially their peers of Black Caribbean ethnic origin. Additionally, the analysis uniquely exposes racialised trends of 'equivalency' in core subject qualifications, whereby minority ethnic children are over-represented in certain lower-status qualifications that are counted as equivalent in education statistics but not in the real world labour market. The analysis concludes that knowing misrepresentations of quantitative data are at the heart of an institutional process through which race and racism are produced, legitimised and perpetuated in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Ability' or attainment grouping can introduce an additional label that influences teachers' expectations of students in specific attainment groups. This paper is based on a survey of 597 teachers across 82 schools and 34 teacher interviews in 10 schools undertaken as part of a large-scale mixed-methods study in England. The paper focuses on English and mathematics teachers' expectations of secondary school students in lower attainment groups, and explores how low-attaining students are constructed as learners who benefit from specific approaches to learning justified through discourses of nurturing and protection. The authors argue that the adoption of different pedagogical approaches for groups of low-attaining learners to nurture them may in some cases be fostering dependency on teachers and cap opportunities for more independent learning. Furthermore, more inclusive whole-school learning-culture approaches may better allow for students across the attainment range to become independent learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share the ways in which student and learning support at the University of Sunderland has embedded and matured a new outcome-centered performance model – the Quality Model – in order to create an agile evidence-base of value, outcome and impact evidence. The authors will also share how, having established the fundamental principles regarding value and impact capture in our library setting, the concepts and approaches have also been developed and applied successfully within the context of multi-converged service delivery across the wider student and learning support service, using the AMOSSHE Value and Impact Toolkit.Design/methodology/approach The authors’ approach will be illustrated with two case studies, the first focusing on the university library services and the second on the student counseling service.Findings The findings will reveal that by establishing an outcome-focused model, the authors have been able to apply it across a converged service in order to generate the evidence required to articulate the value and impact of our key service objectives.Originality/value As a performance approach, the Quality Model is an original concept in that it is a self-formed model designed to meet the strategic needs of the University of Sunderland. It differs from many performance models in that it is founded on a holistic approach to service culture and customer-relationship management and is based upon strategic marketing principles. The AMOSSHE Toolkit is a pre-existing toolkit which is fully referenced in the paper. The Quality Model and AMOSSHE Toolkit are of particular relevance as many higher education services are increasingly challenged to demonstrate their value and impact and the outcomes their services deliver. This calls for a strategic approach to managing qualitative evidence. Therefore, although bespoke, the approach is transferable to the strategic priorities of other HE settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary meritocratic education discourse in England positions schools as 'engines of social mobility', responsible for enabling students' educational 'success' regardless of their circumstances. Building on critiques that characterise meritocracy as a neoliberal cultural motif that legitimates inequalities, and the capabilities approach, this paper investigates the challenges of navigating meritocratic expectations in practice by drawing on qualitative and photovoice interviews conducted with teachers and students at a highly rated London school serving a disadvantaged community. While many participants endorsed meritocratic narratives, all expressed doubts that the school could 'make up for' the significant structural disadvantages faced by many students. This led our participants to describe challenges associated with meritocratic discourse, including: the stresses of meeting these expectations; uncertainty about attributing responsibility for 'failure'; and questions about what could and should be done in practice to enable disadvantaged students to 'succeed'. We argue that meritocratic rhetoric imposes significant burdens on students, teachers and schools by holding them responsible while obscuring the role that social inequalities play in shaping students' educational opportunities. Greater critical discussion in schools could help students and staff to challenge meritocratic education discourse and to negotiate its expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a large study of family literacy provision in England, which was carried out between July 2013 and May 2015. It explored the impact of classes on parents' relations with the school and their children, and their ability to support their children's literacy development. The study involved 27 school-based programmes for pupils aged between five and seven, and their parents. It used mixed methods, which involved surveys of 118 parents and 20 family literacy tutors, telephone interviews with a sub-sample of 28 parents, analysis of teaching plans and observations of classes. Findings showed that parents wanted to learn the ways the school was teaching their child to read and write, and by demystifying school literacy pedagogies and processes the programmes developed greater connectivity between home and the school, and parents felt more able to support their children's literacy development at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much outreach work now focuses on the most educationally disadvantaged localities in England, identified by the government-funded National Collaborative Outreach Programme as target wards. This study explores the underlying reasons why these districts return rates of young higher education participation that are not only comparatively low but lower than expected once prior attainment is taken into account. It does so by gathering the perspectives of careers practitioners, teaching professionals and learners from a sample of target wards in the county of Essex in southeast England. Underpinning the insights of these individuals, the study draws on quantitative evidence that highlights some key differences between these districts and other localities across Essex. Attention then turns to identifying current school-based practices and outreach activities considered by those surveyed to have had a positive impact on the progression outcomes of the young people from these neighbourhoods who do go on to university, as well as new initiatives that have the potential to do the same for others. Whilst adopting a case-study approach, the paper concludes by suggesting that the findings should be of wider interest, including for those seeking to address geographical differentials in higher education participation in other parts of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarise the results of a review of the literature linking parental involvement in their child’s education to attainment at or before primary school. Design/methodology/approach – The search involved nine electronic databases supplemented by other sources, and yielded 4,898 apparently relevant reports. Of these, 127 were reports of attempted evaluations to see whether enhancing parental involvement led to higher attainment outcomes for children. Findings – None of these studies was a large, robust evaluation. The overwhelming majority (121/127) reported research with serious limitations, and they were almost equally divided between those claiming success and those saying that the intervention had been ineffective or harmful. Of the remaining six, three offered positive outcomes, and these were generally complex interventions in which parental involvement was only part of a package of measures taken to improve results. Originality/value – Therefore, the paper has three main messages for an area where practice and policy interventions abound. Research has to improve greatly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between the characteristics of the home learning environment (HLE) and students’ academic attainments in secondary school in England at age 14 and 16. Design/methodology/approach – This research study uses multilevel statistical models to investigate the strength and significance of relationships between various measures of the HLE at ages three, six, 11 and 14, and students’ academic attainment in secondary school. Findings – Multilevel models show that early years HLE and specific dimensions of later HLE are positive predictors of students’ later academic attainment at age 14 and 16, when the influence of various individual, family and neighbourhood characteristics are controlled. Originality/value – The paper presents unique findings on the role of the HLE in shaping students’ academic success at secondary school, including a range of measures of the HLE obtained at different ages. The results show that the early years HLE measured at age three continues to show effects on later attainment, over and beyond the effects of later HLE and other significant influences such as family socio-economic status and parents’ qualification levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the impact of the Beacon schools initiative on the social and academic characteristics of secondary schools in England. The Beacon schools programme ran from 1998 to 2004 and epitomised the (then) Labour government’s focus on school improvement through diversity, collaboration and partnership. This paper looks at variation in the academic and social characteristics of the 322 secondary Beacon schools over a nine-year period. The findings show that Beacon schools were among the most advantaged state schools in England and while they continue to outperform the general school population, the data suggest that the performance gap has decreased and there is little evidence that Beacon status conferred an advantage on schools, in terms of standard measures of academic success. The Beacon school initiative exemplifies some of the key issues with policy based education reform. First, its emphasis on collaboration provokes tensions between schools that are increasingly in competition with each other. Secondly, clearly defined and measurable medium and long term outcomes for the initiative were not prescribed, thus making it difficult to determine the efficacy of the intervention. Finally, that the initiative did not appear to have any appreciable effect on the social and academic characteristics of the Beacon schools raises issues about the usefulness of externally prescribed interventions and the potential that they have to make a real difference to educational equity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

At a time when the contemporary landscape of teaching is populated with successive and persisting government policy reforms that have increased teachers’ external accountabilities, work complexity, and emotional workload, understanding why and how many teachers are able to sustain their capacity to be resilient and continue to work for improvement is an important quality retention issue. The purpose of this paper is to build upon but take further current understanding of resilience in teachers by exploring in greater depth the nature of resilience in teachers as a relational concept and the ways in which it may be related to the learning and achievement of their pupils. The empirical basis of the paper draws upon analyses of twice yearly semi-structured face-to-face interview data from 300 teachers in different phases of their careers in 100 primary and secondary schools in England over a consecutive three-year period. Through these analyses, the paper contributes additional empirical evidence to the emerging but still limited literature on the factors which influence teachers’ capacity to be resilient. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implication of the findings for the quality retention of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A much larger proportion of English 14-year-olds expect to apply to university than ultimately make an application by age 21, but the proportion expecting to apply falls from age 14 onwards. In order to assess the role of socioeconomic status in explaining changes in expectations, this paper applies duration modelling techniques to the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, analysing transitions in young people’s expectations both from being ‘likely to apply’ to being ‘unlikely to apply’ and vice versa. Young people’s socioeconomic background has a significant association with changes in expectations, even after controlling for prior academic attainment and other potentially confounding factors; in addition, young people’s backgrounds affect their responsiveness to new evidence on academic attainment at age 16. This suggests more could usefully be done to maintain the educational expectations of academically able young people from less advantaged families, especially providing guidance on how to view new academic results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the context of the international problem of 'early school leaving', this paper explores the issue of sustained participation in upper secondary education in England. It focuses in particular on the position of middle attainers, who constitute a large proportion of the cohort and whose progress will be vital in realising the government's goal of 'Raising the Participation Age' to 18 by 2015. The paper draws on evidence from national research undertaken as part of the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training in England and Wales and analysis of New Labour and Coalition policy between 2000-2012. It uses a three-year local study of 2400 14- and 16-year-olds in an established school/college consortium to illustrate the effects of policy and practice on middle attainers. We argue that this important group of young people was 'half-served' by New Labour, because of its incomplete and contradictory 14-19 reforms, and is now being 'overlooked' by Coalition policy because of its emphasis on high attainers. We conclude by suggesting a range of measures to support the 14+ participation, progression and transition of middle attainers in the English education and training system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of widening participation policy and how it is enacted institutionally is a central concern to Higher Education. It is not simply about the admission of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but also ensuring that these students complete their courses successfully. This work therefore goes far beyond those departments tasked with access and outreach and has implications for staff across all academic and support service areas. The way in which national policy is interpreted and translated into local policy can therefore affect the whole institution. To bring a spotlight on these issues, this paper will focus on a case study of a single elite institution in England. Focusing primarily on selection of students, it will examine how selection measures can in fact reproduce inequalities. It will therefore demonstrate how this programme may not improve access to Higher Education but instead focuses on ensuring that students already on a path to Higher Education choose this institution in preference to others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a description of the background characteristics and attainment profile of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in England, and of those missing a value for this variable. Free school meal eligibility is a measure of low parental income, widely used in social policy research as an individual indicator of potential disadvantage. It is routinely treated as context for judging both individual and school‐level attainment, as an indicator of school composition, and has been proposed as the basis for the pupil premium funding policy for schools. Knowledge of the quality, reach and limitations of FSM as an indicator is therefore fundamental to accurate decision‐making in a number of important areas. This paper uses a national dataset of all pupils (PLASC) for 2007. It looks at the relationship between different indicators of pupil background and attainment to help decide how useful FSM remains in relation to its suggested alternatives, and how to handle the crucial question of missing data and to describe more fully than previously the national picture of who is eligible for free school meals. The results show that, while the distinction between take‐up and eligibility has been eroded, FSM remains a useful and clear stratifying variable for pupil attainment patterns in school, linked to type of school attended, school mobility, living in care, special needs, first language and minority ethnic group. The pupils missing FSM values fall into two groups, based largely on their type of school and how long they have been there. One group attends fee‐paying schools and is most similar to non‐FSM pupils elsewhere and could be aggregated with them in future analyses that do not want to omit them. The remaining missing FSM pupils form a deprived and perhaps super‐deprived group. These should not be omitted, nor assumed to be like non‐FSM pupils, as currently happens in official school performance figures in England in a way that disadvantages schools with very deprived intakes. The proposal here is that missing FSM pupils in state‐funded institutions should be treated in future as a third distinct group. If these issues about missing data are resolved, and other limitations accepted, FSM remains a better indicator of low socioeconomic status than the current alternatives discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Against a background of research and national statistics that consistently show that educational participation and achievement of young people in and leaving care is significantly lower than is the case for the non-care population, previous research has shown the positive impact that social, leisure and informal learning activities can have on the educational participation and achievements of young people, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The UK: Care Matters Green Paper stated that involvement in leisure and social activities can have a positive impact on the self-esteem of young people in and leaving care and upon their educational attainment and later success in the labour market. This paper reports on the English results of a cross-national study of young people from a public care background and their pathways to education in Europe. Using case study examples it explores the impact that social, leisure and informal learning activities can have on educational participation and educational pathways of young people in and leaving care. The paper argues that, in view of these findings, encouraging and supporting young people in and leaving care into these types of activities should be a priority for social care professionals, carers and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine ethnic inequalities in educational attainment in England and Wales. I focus on the two main educational transitions in England and Wales: the transition at age 16, from compulsory to post-compulsory education, and the transition at age 18, from school to university. I take into account the distinction made by Boudon (1974) between ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ effects, and ask how far overall ethnic inequalities in educational attainment can be attributed to primary or secondary effects. The paper first assesses the extent of gross ethnic inequalities in the chances of making each transition, before asking how far the picture is altered by controlling for social class background. I then determine the relative importance of primary and secondary effects in creating ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. Results show that both primary and secondary effects are operating to produce ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. In general, where ethnic groups are disadvantaged relative to the white majority, this is due to their lower average levels of performance. But conditional on their performance, ethnic minority students are much more likely to choose to make educational transitions, suggesting that if performance effects were eliminated, all ethnic minority groups would be advantaged relative to the white majority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing initially on evidence assembled by the Cambridge Primary Review, and acknowledging Maurice Galton’s trenchant critiques of recent educational policy, this paper tracks the rise and decline of the flagship standards agenda which was launched by the Blair government in 1997 and came to dominate the work of England’s primary schools during the next 13 years. The official claims about educational standards are assessed against the evidence, as are contingent claims about the regime’s efficacy. The analysis finds both positive and negative outcomes from Labour’s reforms, but also methodological problems, collateral damage, a suspect definition of ‘standards’ and a corrosive political discourse that has frustrated the proper pursuit and application of evidence. England’s experience is then placed in an international context: first, by reference to the increasing use of high stakes testing in the United States and elsewhere; second, through the quest for ‘world class’ standards and schooling to which, prompted by the international surveys of student achievement, more and more governments are signing up, often copying each other’s policies in the hope of outperforming them. Not only is the phrase ‘world class’ almost meaningless in practice but it is also informed by a supremacist mindset which is at odds with twenty-first century global imperatives and sensibilities, and by international comparisons which make indefensibly selective use of such evidence as is available to explain why some countries outperform others. Although the initial focus is on the period 1997–2010, the paper ends by warning that the conditions exposed here are unlikely to be unique to the government that was defeated in the 2010 general election. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In both England and France, looked after children are more likely to have problems in school, experience relatively low levels of academic achievement and drop out early from education in comparison with other children. Children in residential care in both countries also tend to represent those in most need. This paper is based on a comparative study into the education of children in residential care in France and in England, with a specific focus on identifying positive responses and initiatives. The research seeks to compare and transfer ideas about how to address the issue of educational engagement and school 'dropout' in children's residential care. The study is conducted within a consideration of both national care systems and public policies. One of the objectives is to identify protective factors and good practice with respect to the promotion of school engagement and positive achievement within the residential care systems for children in England and France. This paper will present the first results and analysis of this research, which compares how both countries respond nationally and locally to the needs of these children. The research took place in two French departments (departements) between 2008 and 2009 and in two English county local authorities between 2009 and 2010. The research includes observations and secondary data analysis as well as interviews with children and professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By critically engaging with relevant debates on social capital, socio-economic mobility and educational aspirations amongst minority ethnic groups, the focus of this paper is to examine the processes and mechanisms in the accumulation of social capital, to demonstrate how, in particular, two sets of interpersonal relationships (between siblings and between co-ethnic peers) facilitate educational aspirations amongst an ethnic group that has traditionally been perceived to be underachieving. It highlights the complex interplay within the home and between the home and the community, and the potential implications that these have for shaping the educational aspirations of young Pakistani Muslim men and women. This paper draws on empirical research conducted with the Pakistani Muslim 'community' in inner-city Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK; a northern-English city that has experienced large scale public disturbances in 1995 and 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that, in contrast to the great reports such as Crowther, Newsom Robbins and Plowden, recent government papers relating to educational in England pay little attention to values that should shape the standards to be achieved, the knowledge to be transmitted and the virtues to be nourished. Whilst legislation over the past 60 years has promoted a vision of 'education for all', what has predominated has been a concept of learning restricted to that which privileges the small number who can perform well within a narrowly defined understanding of academic studies. It is argued that the need to measure and standardise performance has resulted in a marginalisation of the broader vision of learning, which should be pursued in order to enable us to live fully human lives. Such an approach will require a transformation of educational ideals and refusal to accept the reductionist practices inherent in the language of performance management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines linguistic diversity among minority ethnic undergraduate students categorised as from widening participation backgrounds in a new university in London. All students are British born and educated and from working-class families. The paper considers how the students negotiate multilingual and bidialectal identities within the context of an academic writing programme regarded as providing English language remediation. Firstly, there is a consideration of how the students position their heritage languages in relation to English. It identifies three key ways in which the students adopt multilingual identity positions in the academic community, showing how these allow the students to display weaker to stronger affiliation to heritage languages in the setting. Secondly, there is an exploration of how the students adopt bidialectal identity positions to contrast the 'posh' (standard English) practices of the academic community with the 'slang' (vernacular English) language practices of their peers. It considers ways in which the 'posh/slang' binary enables the students to establish social networks and negotiate their positioning as in need of English language remediation. The paper argues for an imagining of English-medium universities as multilingual spaces in which the linguistic diversity of non-traditional minority ethnic students is viewed primarily as an asset, rather than as a problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects upon the nature of a target-setting and mentoring scheme in an 11-16 school in England, through a series of retrospective interviews with students who continued into further education. It considers the extent to which the initiative impacted both upon students' formal academic achievement at 16+ and upon the subsequent longer-term aspirations of these students. Interviews with students who achieved considerable 'value-added' in their GCSE examinations suggested that the impact of mentoring was strongest amongst those students who came from homes where there was less expectation of them participating in further and higher education, and that this effect was not differentiated according to gender. The paper suggests that longer-term transformation of students' aspirations, and the challenging of gendered course and career stereotypes, will only be achieved if schools adopt a more holistic and proactive approach to careers education and to widening participation for their students, and that the absence of such proactivity will limit the longer-term gains initiated by successful mentoring activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social class attainment gap in education is now attracting an increased level of concern. Despite the efforts of the British New Labour government to address the continuing underachievement of working class pupils in England, there has been little progress. This paper reports on one aspect of a wider research study carried out in an Initial Teacher Education department in which this persistent educational problem was explicitly addressed. In this study student teachers were prompted to explore their own understandings of social class and underachievement by acting as school-based researchers. The data collected by the student teachers revealed both silence and resistance surrounding social class in educational contexts. They identified social class and underachievement as overlapping constructions that were inextricably linked to the perceptions and practices of the teacher. Importantly, in reflecting on their experiences of the research process the student teachers were able to identify significant implications for their own future professional practice. This paper concludes by emphasising that Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provides an important context in which to raise social class issues and to ensure that student teachers are effectively prepared to recognise and address the institutional barriers to learning faced by underachieving working class pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England, government initiatives to recruit more ethnic minority teachers into mainstream schools have met with only limited success. One important reason for this may be that the factors that contribute to their distinctive professional skills and identities, and their potential to help raise the achievements of ethnic minority pupils, are not well understood. These factors are complex and, as yet, under-researched. This paper presents evidence from interviews with bilingual primary teachers which illustrates their views on issues of bilingualism, language choices and pedagogy in multilingual classrooms and the importance of recognising community resources. An extended example of teacher-pupil interaction from a complementary classroom setting, showing codeswitching between English and Punjabi, is analysed and discussed using a sociocultural theory of learning which recognises the inseparability of language, culture and context and places emphasis on culture. This keys into broader ideas about 'culturally responsive pedagogies'. It begins to show how codeswitching, as part of an 'additive bilingual' pedagogy, may have the potential to raise pupils' achievements. Finally, while the focus of the paper is on bilingual teachers, the important roles played by all teachers in their pupils' success is recognised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses national assessment and examination data sets in England to test the claim that networked learning activity contributes to raising standards of attainment. Results for primary and secondary schools involved in the large and innovative network learning community (NLC) programme in England funded by the National College for School Leadership are compared with the national patterns for all schools across 2003 to 2005. The results indicate that there has been considerable variation in the extent of improvement in attainment results over the three years. Improvement patterns for NLC schools are generally in line with the rising national trend. There is no convincing evidence that NLC primary schools as a whole have improved more rapidly or narrowed the attainment gap in relation to national results between 2003 and 2005. For secondary schools there are some indications for Key Stage 3 that the change in English results shows greater improvement than the national pattern for a majority of schools, but this is not the case for maths or science. The paper also examines the results of a survey of NLC participants' perceptions. These show that most have a generally positive view of the professional learning promoted, the improvement of practice in their schools and the impact on pupil engagement and motivation, but that perceptions of the influence on pupil attainment and behaviour are somewhat less favourable, Again there is considerable variation amongst respondents suggesting that both involvement in and the influence of NLC activity varies within and between schools and individual networks. Heads and deputies generally have more favourable views than other respondents. It is concluded that the main benefit of networked learning has been to enhance professional practice but that caution should be exercised in making claims concerning the potential role of networked activity in raising attainment. While some schools and networks have shown marked improvement across a range of outcomes, the findings indicate that there is no overall NLC effect on attainment outcomes; rather, there is considerable variation at the school level within and between networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the results of an 18-month study at Brunel University that aimed to explain the significant gendered differences in academic performance amongst geography students. Male students are doing considerably less well than their female peers, being awarded far fewer first class and upper second class degrees, a phenomenon that cannot be accounted for by A-level entry grades. This paper draws on interviews with students which suggest that differences in achievement are explained by the fact that males and females perform the role of student in very different ways. While females are generally performing the role of hard-working, dedicated and focused student, males seem to be identifying with a 'macho' culture that glorifies sporting prowess and socializing at the expense of academic study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a UK survey of GCSE examination results for children from schools throughout England who had lost a parent (n = 73) or sibling (n = 24) through death to establish whether this had a long-term impact on school performance, levels of anxiety and self-esteem, and school attendance. Participants were matched for school, age, gender and ethnicity, and a smaller group for socio-economic status. The Speilberger Anxiety and Coopersmith self-esteem inventories were administered alongside a customised family history questionnaire. Bereaved participants underachieved significantly depending upon age, gender, and parents' employment history. There was also a significant rise in anxiety among the parentally bereaved group. School attendance seemed unaffected. Childhood bereavement appears to be a robust factor in underachievement. The totality of the survey findings is discussed prospectively in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the possible impact of market forces on educational attainment in secondary schools in England and Wales. One of the main arguments made by market advocates in favour of extending programmes of school choice was that this would drive up standards. However, despite 12 years of relevant experience in the UK, it remains very difficult to test this claim. This paper examines some practical difficulties before presenting three possible models for considering changes in educational standards over time. The results are inconclusive, possibly even contradictory. The measures, such as GCSE and A levels, extending back to 1988 and beyond, have clearly increased in prevalence. In terms of these measures, students from state-funded education have also reduced the 'gap' relative to those from fee-paying institutions. However, it is not clear that either of these developments is market related. In addition, there is no evidence yet that these improvements indicate any breakage in the strong link between the socio-economic background of students and their school outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the activity of three secondary school mathematics departments in England in self-initiated states of change that led to overall improvements in students' achievements when compared to previous cohorts. This took place without intervention and without their participation in external projects. They provide examples of departments that can work effectively on their own development, and hence, their work adds to our knowledge of the potential for development through collaboration. The departments were monitored over 3 years, and data were analysed using the lens of activity theory. In contrast to departments in many studies, these departments worked overtly on mathematics pedagogy through the shared production and discussion of resources, shared planning and task design. Also in contrast to several other studies, they developed distinct ways to handle differences of subject knowledge among the teachers in the department. Their focus changed during the study from developing resource banks to supporting students' learning through hybrid teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between stream placement and the academic progress made by children in England in Year 2 of primary school, drawing on data from the longitudinal Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). The MCS is a sample of 19,000 children born across the UK around the turn of the century and their families. Academic progress was compared between children in England in the ‘top’, ‘middle’ or ‘bottom’ streams, and among the majority of non-streamed children. Multiple regressions took into account child, family and school characteristics and showed that stream placement significantly impacted on the academic progress made by children. Children in the ‘top’ stream achieved more and made significantly more academic progress than children attending schools that did not stream, while children in the ‘middle’ or ‘bottom’ streams achieved less and made significantly less academic progress. The reasons for this and the educational implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in Mathematics and Science Study are two highly respected studies of school pupils' academic achievement. English policy-makers have been disappointed with school children's performance on these tests, particularly in comparison to the strong results of young people from East Asia. In this paper, we provide new insight into the England-East Asia gap in school children's mathematics skills. We do so by considering how cross-national differences in math test scores change between ages 10 and 16. Our results suggest that, although average math test scores are higher in East Asian countries, this achievement gap does not increase between ages 10 and 16. We thus conclude that reforming the secondary school system may not be the most effective way for England to 'catch up' with the East Asian nations in the PISA math rankings. Rather, earlier intervention, during pre-school and primary school, may be needed instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are long-standing achievement gaps in England associated with socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity and gender, but relatively little research has evaluated interactions between these variables or explored school effects on such gaps. This paper analyses the national test results at age 7 and age 11 of 2,836 pupils attending 68 mainstream primary schools in an ethnically diverse inner London borough. The groups with the lowest educational achievement and poorest progress were both Black Caribbean and White British low SES pupils. White British middle and high SES pupils made substantially more progress than White British low SES pupils, significantly increasing the SES gap over time. However low and high SES Black pupils made equally poor progress age 7–11. School effects on pupil progress were large, but there was no evidence of differential school effectiveness in relation to SES, ethnicity or gender. Low SES pupils in the more effective schools performed significantly better than high SES pupils in the less effective schools, but all pupils (both low and high SES) benefit from attending the more effective schools and so these schools do not eliminate the SES gap. The limits to change that may be achieved by schools alone are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apparently sophisticated school performance measures have been used to claim that giving schools autonomy from local government control improves pupil exam performance. This paper explores the extent to which inferring causality between autonomy and pupil achievement is reasonable given that pupils are not randomly assigned to schools and schools do not randomly acquire autonomous status. Rich administrative data and the Longitudinal Survey of Young People in England are used to evaluate whether school performance measures are confounded by pupil characteristics that explain both the chances of attending an autonomous school and academic achievement. The assignment of grant-maintained (and thus now foundation) status through a vote of parents is used to compare school that just did, and just did not, gain autonomy over a decade ago. These alternative estimation strategies suggest there is little evidence that foundation status casually yields superior school performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In contrast to other medical specialties, trainees in Geriatrics have historically provided an increased contribution to clinical workload in General Internal Medicine and a reduced output of academic achievements. More recently, development of non-clinical skills has been recognised to have similar importance to clinical skills and the South East (SE) London Geriatrics Training Programme has thus supported trainees in applications for Out of Programme (OOP) opportunities to optimise career progression. Methods: Doctors who had undertaken specialist registrar training in the SE London Geriatrics Training Programme at any time between 2011 and 2019 were sent a questionnaire to assess whether they had completed time OOP and whether they had been awarded research grants, published papers in peer-reviewed journals, had abstracts accepted for presentation at conferences, and/or published book chapters during their training programme. Chisquared and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare data between registrars who had completed time OOP and those who had not taken time OOP. Results: 77 (24 male; 53 female) registrars completed training in the SE London Geriatrics Training Programme between 2011 and 2019. 71 registrars (92%) completed the questionnaire, of whom 31 (44%) completed time OOP. In total, registrars were awarded 15 research grants, published 86 papers in peer-reviewed journals, had abstracts accepted for 184 conference presentations and published 20 book chapters. A notably increased proportion of registrars who took time OOP had an output of research grants, papers published in peer reviewed journals, abstracts accepted for presentation at conferences and/or book chapters respectively compared with registrars who had not taken time OOP (23% vs 5% ; 61% vs 23%; 84% vs 33%; 45% vs 5%). This equated to a combined academic output in 94% of registrars who completed time OOP compared with 48% who did not (p <0.001). Conclusions: A very strong association existed between registrars in Geriatrics taking time OOP and academic achievement substantiating the training programme’s aspiration to support development of non-clinical skills that may be helpful to trainees in their future careers. It would be worthwhile further work being undertaken in this area in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – There has been little research on the education of looked after children over the current school leaving age of 16, although the underperformance of this cohort at Key Stage 4 (age 14-16) has been the subject of considerable academic commentary. This paper aims to contribute to understanding of the ways in which looked after young people nearing the end of compulsory education can be supported and encouraged to continue in education and training. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews were undertaken with 12 designated teachers for looked after children and four virtual school heads, as part of the first stage of a three-year longitudinal study following 20 looked after children in England from years 11-13 (ages 15-18). Findings – Participants identified particular challenges in ensuring a successful educational transition for looked after young people in year 11 and expressed concern at the cumulative effect of multiple transitions at this stage on young people's lives. There appears, however, to be an increasing focus on and commitment to giving young people a "second chance" to acquire qualifications commensurate with their potential post-16. The comparative advantages and disadvantages of school and further education colleges for this cohort at Key Stage 5 are considered. Practical implications – The implications of the forthcoming extension of the school leaving age for professionals supporting looked after young people post-16 are discussed. Originality/value – The designated teacher for looked after children became a statutory role in 2009, and to date there has been little research on the role of these professionals, or the work of virtual schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a Gini-type index for measuring ‘attainment equity’ in schools; that is to say, how far a school (or group of schools) is from having a ‘fair’ proportion of its examination success attributable to a fair proportion of its student population. Using data from the National Pupil Database, the Index is applied to more than 20,000 students with matched attainment records at KS2 and KS4 in two ‘statistical-neighbour’ local authorities in England, capturing the extent to which they are meeting a public policy notion of equity. It is then combined with existing contextual value added measures to analyse school and local authority performance in terms of both attainment equity and context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Aims/background: The retention of student nurses continues to concern the education sector internationally. Evidence shows that individual factors are correlated with a high risk of attrition, including age, disability, entry qualifications, financial issues, and placement experience. This paper is a report of a study that aimed to examine factors connected to progression and attrition by mapping student characteristics against Year 1 progression data. Method: The study used a retrospective cohort design. Students within five cohorts in a single University in the north of England were invited to be included (n =807). Quantitative data were collected from the University''s information system (October 2009–January 2010). Of the total potential participants, 695 were included (13.8% excluded). Multinomial logistic regression was used to ascertain factors that predicted progression. Results: As age on entry increased, the likelihood of non-progression from year one became less: i.e. older students appeared to be more likely to progress than their younger counterparts (p <0.001, likelihood ratio chi-square test). Students who lived away from the local area outside term-time were significantly less likely to progress than those whose term-time and holiday domicile were the same (p =0.007, likelihood ratio chi-square test). Students with dependents or previous care experience seemed more likely to progress than those without, although this was not statistically significant in a multivariable regression model. Conclusion: With the changing demographic profile of students, the new ‘all-graduate’ programmes need to consider student characteristics that are correlated with likelihood of progression and not just focus on those that precipitate exit. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]