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In common with other OECD countries, there is a gender gap in educational achievement in England favouring girls. This carries through to tertiary education. On the other hand, boys are far more likely to engage in STEM in post-16 vocational education and at university. The underachievement of boys overall, but over-representation in STEM, presents significant challenges for policy. This paper documents changes in the gender gap over the last 20 years in England and discusses findings in the light of international evidence. It concludes that education policies, in academic and in vocational spheres, can be designed to reduce gender inequalities that exist in both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the first national qualitative study to examine diversity and progression within social work programmes in England, focusing on the experiences of disabled, black and ethnic minority and lesbian, gay and bisexual students. Data collected from ninety-five students and twenty-three social work education providers across eight higher education institutions (HEIs) suggested an institutional effect on rates of progression, linked to the degree of orientation towards systemic change. The study found that social work educators tended to place more emphasis on 'equality of access' than 'equality of outcomes', resulting in a lack of focus on other aspects of the student life cycle such as inter-group dynamics and rates of progression through the programme and into employment. This paper highlights the importance of a 'transformational' organisational change approach to creating an institutional culture where students from minority groups feel welcome and can thrive. Leadership, monitoring and an institution-wide sense of collective responsibility for diversity and equality policy implementation emerged as key to creating a more inclusive environment, alongside equipping staff to take a pro-active role in facilitating high-quality, respectful interaction between different members of the HEI community. [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]

This paper provides an estimate of the impact of educational attainment on juvenile conviction rates using information at the Local Education Authority in England. The empirical analysis uses aggregate conviction rates over time for three cohorts of young people, born between 1981 and 1983, and their corresponding educational attainments, poverty indicators, time away from school and school resources. Results using mixed-effects models show that the increase in educational attainment between cohorts is associated with reductions in conviction rates for most offences (burglary, theft, criminal damage and drug-related offences) but not for violent crime. Reductions in poverty are associated with decreasing conviction rates for violent crime, criminal damage and drug-related offences, whereas increasing unauthorized time away from school is associated with higher convictions rates for theft. The results are important, as they complement current empirical studies by looking at the impact of education on cohort-specific conviction rates over time and at the impact of education on different types of offences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the lived experiences of attending special education schools in England from the perspectives of three individuals over different times and for different reasons. The focus on the lived experiences is to detail the real-life impact that attending special schools can have on individuals. The accounts highlight that whilst all the individuals had positive experiences from attending special schools, a recurring negative theme from all three individuals is that of a pervading sense of low expectations. The accounts detail the long-term impact of this recurring negative theme for the individuals, and key considerations for social work in the context of the increased use of special schools through the practice of Education Health and Care plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the effect of free pre-school education on child outcomes in primary school. We exploit the staggered implementation of free part-time pre-school for three year olds across Local Education Authorities in England in the early 2000s. The policy led to small improvements in attainment at age 5, with no apparent benefits by age 11. We argue that this is because the expansion of free places largely crowded out privately paid care, with small changes in total participation, and was achieved through an increase in private provision, where quality is lower on average than in the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the relationship between child welfare research and policy development in England, particularly the evaluation of pilot initiatives. The illustration selected concerns the education of looked after children (‘children in care’) and the evaluation of a pilot initiative concerning the Virtual School Head—a senior council employee responsible for overseeing the education of all local looked after children. Child welfare research in England takes insufficient account of the wider theoretical literature on the policy process, which shows that the relationship between research findings and policy development is often problematic. There is an implicit view that child welfare policy is based on research evidence and this assumption holds important implications for the social sciences and for social scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recently introduced national pupil database in England allows the tracking of every child through the compulsory phases of the state education system. The data from key stage 2 for three local education authorities are studied, following cohorts of pupils through their schooling. The mobility of pupils among schools is studied in detail by using multiple-membership multilevel models that include prior achievement and other predictors and the results are compared with traditional ‘value-added’ approaches that ignore pupil mobility. The analysis also includes a cross-classification of junior and infant schools attended. The results suggest that some existing conclusions about schooling effects may need to be revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers some of the student and family factors influencing the educational achievements of deaf children. It is based on a study of 16-year-old deaf students in mainstream schools in England. Findings indicate the complexity of interpreting statistical results, especially on the effect of degree of hearing loss. The discussion addresses the specific question of why this factor is often reported as not significant in academic achievement. It also considers the surprisingly low effect of family socioeconomic status, speculates on the size of the “school effect” in deaf education, and considers the coding of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides historical biographical information about the life and works of economist Sir Henry Phelps Brown, a former President of the Royal Economic Society, who died on December 15, 1994. Henry was born on 10 February 1906 in Calne, Wiltshire, England, where his father was an ironmonger. It was to be Henry's perception that the circumstances of his childhood affected profoundly both his character and his life. That perception he made known in conversations with his close friends; but it emerges also in a remarkable autobiographical note which he wrote, at the request of the British Academy, in 1987 and which was published after his death in the "Review of Political Economy" in 1996. He did not go to school until he was over seven years of age. Henry's studies at Taunton, England, were shaped by an aspiration to be a journalist. A scholarship took Henry to Wadham College, Oxford, England, in 1924. Henry succeeded Sir Dennis Robertson as a member of the Council on Prices, Productivity and Incomes (The Three Wise Men) and served on it from 1959 to 1961. Henry was an independent member of the National Economic Development Council (Neddy) from 1962 to 1964. He was a member of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of Income and Wealth from 1974 to 1978.

The article discusses the implementation of the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) by the Tonbridge School in England in order to prepare its students for possible business career and higher education. The monitoring of students' development is generated through reports developed by AutoTrack. In the view of teachers, the best time to implement the ECDL is at the 10th and 11th year of students. The teachers also consider applying incentives to further use the ECDL.