It has been a good week for talking points. First, the new Star Wars teaser was released. Second, talk of social mobility has been doing the rounds, spurred on by calls for manifesto commitments on increasing the number of grammar schools from the Tories and United Kingdom Independence party activists.
As I sat down to get my teeth stuck into the nonsense notion that grammar schools actually help social mobility for poor children, I was sidetracked by a new ‘report card’ launched today by the Fair Education Alliance – an independent coalition for change in education comprising over 25 of the UK’s leading organisations. Its aim is to work towards ending the persistent achievement gap between young people from our poorest communities and their wealthier peers.
The report card makes for pretty harrowing reading. At a time when it seems education is falling down the political priority list, bumped as we head into the election by immigration, welfare and the economy, this report card is stark reminder that if I want to predict how well any student in my class will do at school the only information I really need is the number at the bottom of their parents’ pay cheque.
So onto the stage walks this real life Rebel Alliance with five ‘Fair Education Impact Goals’ and a series of policy recommendations. Want to join education’s answer to Yoda, Jedi Knights and the Millennium Falcon? Here are the goals and how we can all get involved:
Goal 1: Narrow the gap in literacy and numeracy at primary school
- At primary school, poorer pupils are twice as likely to leave school without the basic expected literacy and numeracy skills compared to their more affluent peers.
- Free childcare for two-year-olds was available for the poorest 20 per cent of families, but over a quarter did not use this entitlement. In 37 local authorities less than 60 per cent of these families took up their entitlement.
What can you do?
Next time you knock on the door of a young family, simply check that they know about their entitlement and the benefits of using it.
Goal 2: Narrow the gap in GCSE attainment at secondary school
- The difference between schools serving poorer pupils and wealthier pupils is equivalent to students achieving eight C grades rather than eight A grades.
- Poorer pupils fail to get five good GCSEs at nearly the same rate as their more affluent counterparts succeed, with 63 per cent of poorer children failing to get five good GCSEs, while 65 per cent of more affluent pupils achieve these grades.
What can you do?
Become a school governor. There are about 40,000 vacancies nationally, often in the toughest schools. School governor one stop shop will even sort out the whole process for you.
Goal 3: Ensure young people develop key strengths, including resilience and wellbeing, to support high aspirations.
- New analysis shows that low-income pupils are four times more likely to be permanently excluded from school following extreme behaviour. If exclusion rates were equal, 13,000 poorer pupils would not have missed out on some of their education due to exclusion. Permanently excluded pupils often go to ‘alternative provision’ instead of school; of those who leave these institutions age 16, 50 per cent are at risk of becoming ‘neet’.
What can you do?
Volunteer at your local youth centre, scouts or football club. We know that determination and grit are as important as intelligence when it comes to success. These extracurricular activities build these important attributes, but desperately need volunteers to keep them going.
Goal 4: Narrow the gap in the proportion of young people taking part in further education or employment-based training after finishing their GCSEs.
- Young people from lower-income families are almost twice as likely to not be in employment, education or training aged 16 compared to their more affluent peers. At this age there is a seven percentage point gap between schools serving poorer pupils and wealthier pupils in their progress to further education, employment or training.
- This equates to an extra 14,000 young people who are unnecessarily not in employment, education or training. The gap between individual poorer and more affluent students has widened by one per cent in the last year of published data.
What can you do?
Hire an apprentice or lobby your boss to hire an apprentice. Everyone should have one.
Goal 5: Narrow the gap in university graduation, including from the 25 per cent most selective universities
- Poorer pupils are four times less likely to attend the most selective universities than their wealthier peers. If access rates were equal, an extra 19,000 young people from poorer homes would progress to university each year.
- There is a significant need to improve access to university for poorer pupils outside of London – within London 37 per cent of pupils on free schools meals progress to higher education compared with an average of 16 per cent of pupils across other regions in the country.
What can you do?
Educate yourself on how student loans work. You do not have to have £27,000 in the bank for your fees. You need £0 as the whole amount is paid off when you graduate and begin earning. We can continue to dislike the system but need to make sure we shout about this important fact.
May the force be with you.
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Matthew Hood is a director of a national education charity and assistant head at a secondary school in Morecambe
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