Educational Inequalities in Schools and Higher Education: An Introduction

Abstract

Education in the UK has seen signifi cant changes in the past few years, particularly policy changes introduced by the Coalition government such as the introduction of tuition fees and the introduction of free schools and academies, as well as the eradication of the Education Maintenance Grant (EMA). Such signifi cant changes have aff ected the poorest students the hardest. Far from creating greater equality, such changes have perpetuated inequality both in schools and in higher education-with greater students from poor working-class backgrounds being further disadvantaged. Recent research suggests, for example, that although the gap between the richest and poorest children has started to fall over the last decade, the gap at the General Certifi cate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level remains large, with the latest Department for Education (DfE) fi gures indicating that pupils eligible for free school meals (FSMs) are almost half as likely to achieve fi ve or more A*–C grades at GCSE compared with those who were not eligible (30.9 per cent compared with 58.5 per cent) (Carter-Wall and Whitfi eld 2012). Furthermore, poorer children are half as likely to go on to study at university compared with their more affl uent peers. Educational attainment continues to be strongly associated with socio-economic background (Sutton Trust 2010), despite some signs that social diff erences in examination results may have started to reduce. There have been some signifi cant changes with the gap in attainment between ethnic groups narrowing, with some previously low-performing groups catching up with the average attainment. Whereas a generation ago almost all the students attending university were White British, today one in fi ve are from Black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds (EHRC How Fair Is Britain, 2010). Whereas this change is positive, inequalities in education continue to persist. A recent report by Alan Millburn (2012), MP (member of Parliament), explores how the most advantaged 20 per cent of young people are still seven times more likely than the 40 per cent most disadvantaged to attend the most selective universities, demonstrating how access to university remains inequitable. The report argues that ‘there is a strong correlation between social class and the likelihood of going to university generally and to the top universities particularly. Four private schools and one college get more of their studentsinto Oxbridge than the combined eff orts of 2,000 state schools and colleges’ (2). Furthermore, elite universities such as Oxford and Cambridge are failing to adequately represent BME students and the representation of minority ethnic students at Russell Group universities is unbalanced (Race into Higher Education 2010).