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Although this blog does not consider private/prep/public schools, this 100 year old photo still sums up social inequality in Britain

Earlier this week, a U3A group which I have joined had an interesting discussion on the Attainment Gap in U.K. education. This refers to the inherent inequality in British education which contributes to the reduced academic, achievement experienced by children and young people in the poorest or most dysfunctional families. This educational inequality in fact echoes, and is caused by, the social inequality in British society.

Pre-School.

Published in 2016 though applicable 2023.

A research project, the Millennium Cohort Study, showed differences in cognitive development between children from richer and poorer backgrounds by the early age of three and demonstrated the widening of that gap by the age of five. Children from poorer backgrounds often face less advantageous early childhood caring/life-enhancing environments. This research found for example there might be lower birth weight; lack of breast feeding; maternal depression; less family interaction with possibly less mother/child closeness; less effective home/learning environment such as daily reading or mother/baby communication; parenting styles and routines such as bed times and meals.

Primary School

In Primary School by the age of 11, 75% of poorer children had reached the level of Key Stage 2 compared with 97% of children from more advantaged backgrounds. Poorer children who had performed well in Key Stage 2 at age 7/8 were more likely than their wealthier peers to fall behind by 11 while poorer children who had performed badly at 7 were less likely than their peers to improve their ranking. Some of the factors which might explain this important, widening gap were found to be:

a) Parental aspirations for higher education.

b) How far parents and children believe their own actions can affect their lives.

c) The presence of children’s behavioural problems such as levels of hyperactivity; conduct issues and problems relating to peer relationships.

Parental aspirations and attitudes to education varied strongly, according to socio-economic position with 81% of wealthier mothers of nine year olds saying they hoped their child would go to university, compared with 37% of the poorest mothers. It is believed that such adverse attitudes to education held by the poorer mothers are one of the single most important factors associated with lower educational standards at eleven. But it also suggests that government policies aimed at changing mothers’ and children’s attitudes and behaviours during primary schooling could be effective in reducing the growth of the rich-poor gap during this time.

Secondary School.

The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England found evidence of a slower widening of the gap during the secondary years though, by the time GCSEs were taken, the gap between privileged and deprived youngsters was large. Only 21% of the poorest obtained five good GCSEs at grades A*-C including Maths and English against 75% of the top quintile. It is also more difficult to reverse patterns of under-achievement by the teenage years.

The research suggested that young people are more likely to do well in their GCSEs if their parents:

a) expect their children to go on to university.

b) can devote material resources towards education such as computers; private tuition.

c) spend time sharing family meals and outings,

d) quarrel with their children infrequently.

While a young person can improve his chances of GCSE success if he

a) has a greater belief in his own ability at school;

b) believes that consequences result from his own behaviour;

c) thinks it likely he will successfully apply to get into higher education;

d) avoids risky behaviour such as frequent smoking; use of cannabis; anti-social behaviour;

e) does not experience bullying.

An Intergenerational Picture.

Analysis in the British Cohort Study found that children’s test scores were lowest when poverty had persisted across generations and highest when material advantage was long-lasting. Parents’ cognitive abilities play a very important role in explaining the gap between test scores of the richer and poorer children. Almost one fifth of this gap can be explained by an apparent direct link between the childhood cognitive ability of parents and their children. This was found even after controlling for a wide range of environmental factors and taking into account various factors through which cognitive ability might operate, such as parents’ subsequent educational achievements, adult socio-economic position and attitudes to education. There was also a strong inter-generational correlation between a wide variety of other behaviours and attitudes such as whether a parent regularly reads to a child and parental expectations for advanced education. This passing of such traits across generations also helps to explain the persistent disadvantage that children from poorer backgrounds face in their educational achievement.

The research project, An Unfair Start, focussed on educational inequalities in 41 of the world’s richest countries all of which are members of OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and/or the E.U. European Union. In this rich club, Britain ranks 16. Clearly, Britain needs to improve the life chances of all its children and further, sustained academic and financial support are required for those young people who need it. It is somewhat depressing that this attainment gap and the contingent social problems, have been known about, both informally and through research projects, for decades. So far, efforts to change the status quo have had some small successes but there is far to go.

An interesting comment on educational inequality in the U.K. appears in the title of a new report [Sept 2022] issued by the Institute for Fiscal Studies:

The report is entitled: The U.K. Education System Preserves Inequality.