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The public funding of early years education and care in England has been transformed. Historically, local councils had the main responsibility for decisions regarding nursery education and child day care, but in 1996 the Conservative government introduced a nursery education voucher scheme. Parents of four-year-olds could exchange the voucher for three terms of part-time 'preschool provision' in a state maintained nursery or primary school, or in a private, voluntary or independent (PVI) provider of child day care; in 1998, the Labour government replaced the voucher with an entitlement to free part-time 'early education'. The entitlement was expanded progressively and in 2017 the Conservative government introduced 30 h per week free 'childcare' for some children, together with an Early Years National Funding Formula. Funding goals and policy have shifted over time, underpinned by the idea of 'a level playing field' between providers in maintained and PVI sectors. However, there is no statutory requirement for PVI settings to employ qualified teachers, militating against a genuine 'level playing field' and the integration of education and care.

Responsibility for meeting the costs of higher education in England has moved inexorably away from the government toward the family with the introduction of tuition fee and maintenance loans. Although an important public policy issue, there is limited research on how the policy impinges on the private sphere of the family. This paper focuses on financial support given by parents, including difficulties and constraints along with their perspectives of and responses to student loan debt, and students' views of their financial independence. In-depth interviews with 28 parent-student dyads revealed different patterns of support. Some parents, contrary to policy assumptions, felt responsibility for their children's student loan debt and acted to avoid, minimise or cushion the debt. There was evidence of financial stress for less affluent families. However, students with no parental support and high levels of government funding felt financially independent. The findings suggest that more affluent families were able to protect their children from student loan debt in different ways, whilst those with lower incomes were not able to do so, apparently creating a new form of inequality.

Despite entering higher education in good numbers, candidates from some black and minority ethnic groups are concentrated in less prestigious institutions. A similar pattern is evident in candidates' applications, raising important questions about the role of "self-exclusion". Statistical analysis confirms that candidates from some minority ethnic groups tend to target lower-ranking institutions, but these differences are almost entirely explained by other variables, particularly academic attainment, type of school attended, number of A-levels taken and subject mix. It follows that some minority ethnic groups appear to be indirectly disadvantaged by patterns of schooling that do not prepare candidates for elite higher education. Similar processes are evident in relation to social class, although candidates from less privileged family backgrounds remain less likely to target high-status institutions even when other variables are taken into account.

Previous research suggested that candidates from some black and minority ethnic groups were less likely to receive an offer of a place from an "old" university. These findings were disputed in a re-analysis carried out for HEFCE which found that only Pakistani candidates were significantly less likely to receive offers (from both "old" and "new" universities). In this paper we return to the question of ethnic differences in university offer rates, examining UCAS admissions data for 2008. We use a cross-classified multi-level modelling approach to predict the probability that applications from candidates from different ethnic groups will receive an offer. Controlling for variables seeking to capture the academic quality of applications we find significant differences between offer rates for different ethnic groups. Significantly lower offer rates remained for the main ethnic groups when social characteristics were also taken into account in the model (social class background, gender and school type). However, offer rates for candidates from mixed ethnic groups were not significantly different from those for white British candidates. Our analysis did not find evidence of differences in offer rates from higher and lower status institutions for black and minority ethnic candidates relative to white British applicants.

There has been a focus on policies relating to early years education and care across the developed world and particularly in Europe. In the UK, there has been a raft of policy changes alongside increased investment. However, this paper argues that these changes may not be sufficient to meet EU objectives in terms of quality or the government's policy goals of high quality, affordable and accessible early years education and care. There are major issues that appear to militate against achieving these goals; these relate to the levels of government funding and to the regulatory context. There are also divergences between the providers in terms of their own objectives and underlying values which mean that quality may be variable and access to certain types of providers restricted. These factors appear to militate against the delivery of universal provision of high quality early years education and care. (Contains 1 figure, 8 tables, and 14 notes.)

As dual-earner families have become the norm, the different kinds of "time" children spend with parents has become an important issue. We use the 2000 Time Use Survey to identify adolescent children spending time alone at home, and interviews with 50 children aged 14 and 15 to explore young people's experiences. We investigate their views on their situations, appropriate domestic responsibilities and how they manage their time. We suggest that simple parental presence or absence is not necessarily the main issue for children. However, parental employment may be problematic for some adolescent children.

The Specialist Schools Programme was launched in England in 1993. Under the programme, schools submit a bid to central government to specialise in specified curriculum areas. To qualify to participate they must raise private sponsorship to contribute to the cost of their development plans and set targets, including targets for pupils' attainment. The paper uses multiple linear regression and multi-level modelling to examine pupils' attainment. Our evidence suggests that, in 2001, pupils at Specialist Schools achieved better examination results than pupils at non-specialist schools and that those attending the earlier cohorts of Specialist Schools performed particularly well. We also suggest that some cohorts of Specialist Schools were achieving enhanced GCSE results "before" they became Specialist Schools but also that, for the earlier cohorts, the improvement in examination results associated with specialist status increased as schools had been part of the programme for a longer period. Analysis of GCSE results in specialist and non-specialist subject areas indicated that Language and Sports Colleges achieved better than expected examination results in their specialist areas, Technology Colleges achieved better results in both specialist and non-specialist areas but that Arts Colleges did not achieve significantly different results in either specialist or non-specialist subjects. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 8 notes.)

Describes two segregation indices, the index used by Stephen Gorard and John Fitz when examining the segregation of students eligible for free meals in Wales and England, and a version of the index of isolation. Uses both methods to present social segregation data in English Welsh secondary schools (1994-1999). (CMK)

Examines issues concerned with the process of choosing schools in the private and state sectors at the primary stage and at the time of transfer to secondary school. Finds that choices about schools are made at different times and in different ways by parents using the state and private sectors. (DSK)

Explores the ways in which mothers and fathers are involved in their children's education both in and out of school. Indicates that mothers generally assume overriding responsibility for their children's education. Reports that the more highly educated mothers try to increase their children's chances of success in the educational system. (CMK)

This is a brief response to some of the issues raised by Gorard and Fitz in their paper, "What counts as evidence in the school choice debate?" published in the "British Educational Research Journal" v32, n6, 2006. Gorard and Fitz claim a "basic arithmetic error" (p. 807) in giving equal weighting to all LEAs (Noden, 2000). The authors would not describe this as an error. When using the Local Education Authority (LEA) as a proxy for a local secondary school market it is not self-evident that a larger LEA is a better proxy, and should therefore be given greater weight, than a smaller LEA. Interestingly, however, if Gorard and Fitz do regard this as an error then it is one that they have committed in output from the Cardiff study (Taylor and Gorard, 2002). They also criticise that same paper (Noden, 2000), for failing to cite their work reporting segregation in England (Gorard and Fitz, 2000a; 2000b). They have ignored, however, the time lag between having a paper accepted and it actually being published--all three papers were published in 2000. In their paper, Gorard and Fitz (2006) generally criticise others for failing to read or to understand their work. This is a criticism to which they are not immune.

The public funding of early years education and care in England has been transformed. Historically, local councils had the main responsibility for decisions regarding nursery education and child day care, but in 1996 the Conservative government introduced a nursery education voucher scheme. Parents of four-year-olds could exchange the voucher for three terms of part-time 'preschool provision' in a state maintained nursery or primary school, or in a private, voluntary or independent (PVI) provider of child day care; in 1998, the Labour government replaced the voucher with an entitlement to free part-time 'early education'. The entitlement was expanded progressively and in 2017 the Conservative government introduced 30 h per week free 'childcare' for some children, together with an Early Years National Funding Formula. Funding goals and policy have shifted over time, underpinned by the idea of 'a level playing field' between providers in maintained and PVI sectors. However, there is no statutory requirement for PVI settings to employ qualified teachers, militating against a genuine 'level playing field' and the integration of education and care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United Kingdom and the United States, significant numbers of university graduates live with their parents, but little is known about expectations regarding parental support. This article focuses on a sample of British middle-class families and their coresident young adult children. It explores the extent to which parents and their graduate children have consistent expectations regarding coresidence and financial support and how such support is negotiated. Fifty-four in-depth interviews with parents and adult children were conducted. The findings reveal that expectations regarding coresidence were broadly consistent across parents and graduate children. Furthermore, within families, there was broad consistency regarding expectations of financial support, although there was variation between families. The nature and ways in which financial arrangements were negotiated varied between families, between parents, and between children. Expectations appear to be shaped by the child’s circumstances and norms, with negotiations of different types enabling a way forward to be agreed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]