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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]

This paper discusses the challenges facing a national evaluation of an early years intervention programme, Sure Start Children's Centres (SSCCs), that was implemented across England in the first decade of the 21st century. The paper describes the rationale for the evaluation's mixed methods research design and the ecological theoretical approach adopted. It investigates the SSCC policy aim of combatting the 'impact' of multiple disadvantage on outcomes for families, parents and children. Based on a clustered sample (2,600 families) it provides evidence of statistical effects for different user groups, including non-users. It points to the complexities in evaluation in non-experimental interventions where there was an emphasis on services to meet local needs and where families could choose which services to access and change patterns of service use over time. The paper synthesises findings and considers how complex, volatile and uncertain environments affected SSCC provision, particularly linked to a change of government and austerity policies after 2010. The paper identifies lessons learned, explores implications for future early years interventions in uncertain times, and proposes alternative approaches to evaluation (a realist approach based on mixed methods and theoretically driven models) where randomised experimental designs are inappropriate for the evaluation of certain complex policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin is currently being trialled as a subject in 40 state secondary schools in England. This paper focuses on one of the justifications of this trial: that teaching Latin in state secondary schools provides students with cultural capital which in turn counters social injustice. By taking the example of Latin as a starting point, I reach two conclusions about cultural capital. The first is that providing students with cultural capital can be good for some individuals, and so justified on a case‐by‐case basis depending on context. However, this justification does not hold for curriculum policy making. My second conclusion is that in the long term, pursuing cultural capital as part of curriculum policy exacerbates the social injustices it purports to address. Wherever an activity is introduced for the sake of cultural capital rather than its educational value, educationally valuable activities risk being pushed off the curriculum, potentially degrading the educational value of the curriculum. In the case of teaching Latin, it may provide benefits to particular students, but as part of curriculum policy it risks exacerbating social injustices and undermining the educational value of school curricula. Going beyond the place of Latin on the curriculum, I argue that all appeals to cultural capital provide a poor basis for curriculum policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of low attainment in mathematics has been an increasingly prominent feature of the policy discourse in England over the last 60 years; however, evidence from comparative studies indicates that little progress has been made in finding a solution. In this paper, we analyse the changing policy discourse of low attainment in mathematics through the main reports and speeches published in England, beginning with the Newsom Report, Half Our Future, in 1963, and continuing to the present day. We chart the evolving perspectives on the nature of ability, expectations, curriculum ideology and frame of reference through the changing language used in these documents, noting tensions and inconsistencies which arise through continuing lack of clarity about definitions and assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, in England, there is widespread concern that careers education (information, advice and guidance) is relatively poorly resourced in schools and there is much debate about its current effectiveness. In this paper, we investigate students' views on careers education provision and their satisfaction with this provision. The work draws on data collected via a national survey of over 13,000 Year 11 students aged 15/16 years and in-depth longitudinal interviews conducted with 70 students from this cohort (aged from 10 to 16 years). Our findings show that there is clear student demand for 'more and better' careers education and we conclude that some schools may not be meeting the statutory requirement to provide impartial careers support for all students. Moreover, our quantitative analyses indicate that provision of careers education in England is currently patterned in ways that may be working to promote inequalities relating to gender, ethnicity and social class. Findings from our interview data offer insight into possible influencing factors and suggest that the majority of careers support is provided via a 'self-referral' system, which disadvantages those who, arguably, might benefit most. We conclude by discussing the implications of these patterns and suggest some potential, more equitable, ways forward for schools and teachers. Specifically, we recommend that targeted resourcing is needed for schools and teachers to engage and support disadvantaged students, and suggest greater monitoring of participation (not just provision). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing research base about the extent and significance of ‘shadow education’ through drawing on data from a national survey of over 1000 key stage 2, 3 and 4 pupils in Wales and over 200 of their parents. Wales provides an important lens to look at shadow education because of the political commitment by the Welsh Government to universal public education and equality of outcomes. Our data indicate that the incidence of private tutoring is both like and unlike that found in England. In terms of individuals, the patterns of uptake are similar, with private tutoring being an investment made largely by more educated and advantaged parents. However, there are interesting differences at the institutional and national level which may reflect the distinctive features and priorities of the Welsh education system. These findings underscore the importance of examining the growing phenomenon of private tutoring as a system effect as much as an individual decision. [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]

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By placing emphasis on equity and social mobility, the current UK education policy for England focuses on narrowing the educational attainment gap between more and less advantaged groups of young people – an approach that has strong parallels in many other Anglophone countries around the world. We argue that these policy and associated practice proscriptions tend to privilege an individualised narrative of agency for young people, teachers and schools more generally. Our paper argues that this individualised approach is highly problematic in that it decontextualises the complex and real agentic work of young people in schooling, making it difficult to empirically and theoretically account for differences in educational outcome between and within groups of young people. Informed by a social realist perspective, and in particular the work of Margaret Archer, we propose a theoretical model that we suggest provides greater explanatory and predictive power. The model focuses on the way ecologies of development emerge for young people. We suggest that such ecologies reflect different structural and cultural factors and processes, combining in ways that enable and/or constrain young people's educational reflexivity and agency and their ensuing educational engagement and attainments. We believe that building a typology of such ecologies of educational reflexivity and agency provides improved ways of developing equitable educational policies and practice – ones that relate clearly to the compositional mix of young people in schools and enable the development of interventions that better relate to such ecologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Educational and occupational aspirations have become an important reference point in policy debates about educational inequality. Low aspirations are presented as a major barrier to closing educational attainment gaps and increasing levels of social mobility. Our paper contributes to this on-going debate by presenting data on the educational aspirations of students from the Effective Provision of Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education Project in England. We analyse factors that help predict students holding high aspirations. Our findings reveal generally high aspirations across all students but also differences by income group and other background factors. We evaluate the significance of these findings for the existing literature and public policy discussions about the importance of raising educational aspirations. In particular, we question the way in which low aspirations are framed by policy-makers as a major problem in debates around educational inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite increasing financial pressures on higher education systems throughout the world, many governments remain resolutely opposed to the introduction of tuition fees, and some countries and states where tuition fees have been long established are now reconsidering free higher education. This paper examines the consequences of charging tuition fees on university enrolments, equity, and proxies for institutional quality. To do so, we study the English higher education system which has, in just two decades, moved from a free college system to one in which tuition fees are among the highest in the world. Our findings suggest that England's shift has resulted in increased funding per head and rising enrolments, with no apparent widening of the participation gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. The role of fees is moderated by other key features of higher education finance which may differ across countries: in contrast to other systems with high tuition fees, the English system is distinct in that its income-contingent loan system ensures that no tuition fees are paid upfront, and provides students with comparatively generous assistance for living expenses. Still, the English experience provides an instructive case for other countries considering implementing or abolishing tuition fees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life course theory posits that social, structural, and cultural contexts shape individuals' life outcomes. Using this theory, we investigated whether inequalities in education and employment outcomes for young people with marginalised identities are shaped by the university environment they attended. Based on UK national statistics, universities with similar social, cultural, economic, and physical environments were clustered. These clusters were linked to the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) cohort dataset to determine whether different university environments predicted differences in outcomes. We observed a mixed picture with no definitive pattern for any marginalised identity. Social and economic environments played a role in predicting education outcomes of young people. Social, cultural, and economic environments were important in predicting employment outcomes. The physical environment did not have any impact. This research emphasises a need for more creative policies within certain universities that address education and employment inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mastering spelling is important for children to progress in writing. The National Curriculum in England details spelling lists linked to each year group in primary education. Assessment practices also emphasise the importance of teaching spelling. However, to date, little is known about how teachers feel about teaching spelling nor the instructional methods that they use in primary schools in England. This study addresses this gap by investigating approaches to teaching spelling. An online survey was distributed to primary‐based teaching staff with roles in supporting teaching and learning. The survey asked for information about the respondents' teaching experience and school setting, and about their attitudes and approach to teaching spelling. The survey was completed in full by 158 respondents. Approaches to teaching spelling were varied and over two‐thirds of the sample highlighted that their school did not have a spelling policy. The importance of explicit teaching of spelling was supported by the majority of teachers. This judgement was more frequent and rated more highly by teachers supporting younger children. Teachers largely reported devising their own spelling resources, highlighted that the curriculum spelling lists lack guidance for teaching spelling strategies and questioned their suitability for pupils of varying abilities. A range of spelling programmes and strategies were recorded. The findings provide insight into universal instructional approaches. Practical implications for teacher training and professional development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past ten years, fast-track social work qualifying training routes have been introduced and rapidly expanded in England. These programmes justify their existence through rhetoric that implies their students are superior to other students, and therefore require special privilege—the 'best and brightest'. When evaluating fast-tracks, the approach taken largely ignores their broader public impact, including how they impact on the majority of social work students who continue to qualify through mainstream university social work education. This exploratory study seeks to gain an understanding of the impact that these changes have had on mainstream social work students, and in particularly how these students see themselves in relation to fast-track students. Based on the principles of democratic evaluation, brief and anonymous questionnaires were sent to all postgraduate social work students at two universities in England. The findings suggest that while mainstream students do not generally perceive themselves as being inferior future practitioners, they do recognise the financial and symbolic inequity they are subjected to, in particular as a result of their qualifying courses receiving significantly less financial support. Findings related to participants' reasoning for not applying to fast-tracks, and how views differ based on demographics, are also explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrenched inequalities in political participation have made the questions of who participates and when, why, or how some of the most frequently asked and researched in political science. Building on existing comparative research, this article focuses on civic education in English secondary schools and, in particular, the ability of related interventions to close participation gaps normally seen by sex, ethnicity and socio-economic status. Analysing original survey data collected from more than 350 students in 17 maintained secondary schools located in six regions of England, this article evaluates the impact of four types of civic education (curricula lessons; open classroom climate; participatory activities; and political contact) on three participatory outcomes (expressive political behaviours; voting intentions; and anticipated high-intensity participation). Descriptive and inferential analyses suggest (a) cumulative quantities of civic education are positively associated with youth political participation; (b) open classroom climate may close known inequalities in young people's expressive and electoral participation whilst political contact with politicians and political institutions may widen those inequalities; and (c) civic education may currently accelerate inequalities in young people's political ambition. These findings raise important and immediate challenges for policy-makers who are concerned with improving young people's civic engagement in England and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation for this article was the main finding of an earlier study, which concludes that choice‐driven education systems—in the study represented by England and Sweden—are particularly beneficial for immigrants in that they provide them with many opportunities to pursue their generally high educational ambitions. We extend this analysis by including two countries with performance‐driven education systems: Germany and the Netherlands. Our study specifically aims to explore whether it is true that choice‐driven systems are more beneficial for immigrants or whether immigrants can also succeed in more stratified and selective education systems. Using longitudinal data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), we show that there are no differences in (gross) transition rates between immigrants and natives in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, but immigrants' optimistic choices are more pronounced in England. However, these differences diminish once we account for achievement and students' socioeconomic background in the analyses. Regarding the underlying mechanisms, we find that educational aspirations have an (equally) strong, universal impact, while anticipated discrimination plays a minor role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The cumulative (dis)advantage (CAD) perspective more and more is examined in a comparative way, to highlight the role of context in generating inequality over the life course. This study adds to this field of research by examining trajectories of activities of daily living (ADL) in later life by educational level in a country comparison of England and Germany, emphasizing differing institutional conditions. Method: Data used are the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; 11,352 individuals) and the German subsample of the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE; 5,573 individuals). Using population averaged Poisson panel regression models, 12-year trajectories of six birth cohorts are investigated, covering the age range of 50 to 90 years. Results: Respondents in England have a higher level of limitations at age 50, and more limited increases over age than in Germany. An educational gradient exists in both countries at age 50. Notably, the educational gradient increases for more recently born cohorts, but declines with increasing age in England, while in Germany educational differences increase for more recently born cohort only. Discussion: The current study indicates that CAD processes between educational groups are context sensitive. While England showed convergence of disparities with increasing age, in Germany no differential development was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that contradictory forces affect teachers' work in the neo-liberal school system in England, with a diversity of governance models alongside increasingly dominant orthodoxies of what constitutes ‘effective practice and leadership’. School reforms in England have focused on increasing overall attainment and on closing the achievement gap for pupils from ‘disadvantaged communities’; whilst there is evidence that reforms have delivered on the former, evidence is inconclusive on the latter, with some critics arguing that some reforms have increased social inequality. The future for teachers’ professional identity and practices in this landscape is uncertain. Whilst this article broadly concurs with many studies of teacher identity which argue that the ever-extending reach of performative mechanisms has restricted teachers’ opportunities to develop as activist professionals with ‘a moral purpose’, it also argues that the diversified landscape may provide the opportunity for new autonomous spaces. It goes on to suggest that further research is needed into the forms of locally determined values and practices emerging in ‘quasi-privatised’ academies and free schools in England, to explore whether these professional communities will be entirely managerialist/entrepreneurial in character, or whether models of practice underpinned by a concern with social equity and social justice issues may emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is argued in this article that the marketisation of schools policy has a tendency to produce twin effects: an increase in educational inequality, and an increase in general satisfaction with the schooling system. However, the effect on educational inequality is very much stronger where prevailing societal inequality is higher. The result is that cross-party political agreement on the desirability of such reforms is much more likely where societal inequality is lower (as the inequality effects are also lower). Counterintuitively, then, countries that are more egalitarian - and so typically thought of as being more left-wing - will have a higher likelihood of adopting marketisation than more unequal countries. Evidence is drawn from a paired comparison of English and Swedish schools policies from the 1980s to the present. Both the policy history and elite interviews lend considerable support for the theory in terms of both outcomes and mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on data and policies from England, trends in educational disadvantage by area are traced from the late 1960s when the first pilot projects were established in the UK, to the present. The origins of these developments and the subsequent rises and falls of such area-based policies in England are reviewed. Specially collected data for the pilot areas from the 1960s and national data for England from 2000 are used to draw out some striking patterns of changes over the period. Though many of the areas remain highly disadvantaged, educational measures at age 16 and at entry to higher education (HE) indicate some important changes. Thus the settled, white working-class pilot area in the 1960s with just below average results had fallen back very substantially by 2013, particularly in entry to HE. By contrast the newly settled Asian immigrant area in Birmingham where educational performance was exceptionally poor in the 1960s had moved above average despite remaining highly disadvantaged. Analysis of the national results since 2000 using local area data showed that these trends were widespread across England. Disadvantaged ‘multicultural urban areas’ were doing markedly better than the disadvantaged white working-class urban areas, where in many cases traditional industries had closed. This was especially marked at entry to HE where multicultural areas had rates close to the national average of 40% while white working-class urban areas had rates of entry to HE of between 10% and 15% of the age group and this gap has widened rapidly in recent years. These trends are likely to be the source of major resentment, with one group finding itself increasingly excluded from higher level employment opportunities, and the other failing to find opportunities that match their expectations once they leave education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]