Most of the time our work involves using the National Pupil Database to examine particular aspects of the education system. However, it can also throw up interesting insights into the state of the nation more generally. Last year, we wrote about how the percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (FSM) had [...]
Latest DfE statistics show that there were almost 16,000 pupils on-roll at pupil referral units, and another 22,000 in other local authority alternative provision in January 2017 [XLS, table 1b]. These are pupils whose education is paid for by the state but who do not have places at state-funded mainstream or special schools. The different [...]
This is part four in a series of blogposts exploring long-term disadvantage. Other posts in the series can be found here. At the start of the summer we showed that there are substantial differences in the attainment and progress of pupils who have been disadvantaged at some stage. The main findings of these earlier posts were [...]
This is part three in a series of blogposts exploring long-term disadvantage. Other posts in the series can be found here. The previous post touched on the relationship between ethnicity, disadvantage and KS2-to-KS4 progress. It made a simple distinction, with white British pupils in one group and all other minority ethnic pupils in another group. [...]
This is part two in a series of blogposts exploring long-term disadvantage. Other posts in the series can be found here. The first post in this series showed how the attainment and progress of pupils varied according to how often they had been FSM-eligible – with pupils who are FSM-eligible on almost every occasion (90% [...]
This is part one in a series of blogposts exploring long-term disadvantage. Other posts in the series can be found here. Pupil Premium pupils are defined as those claiming free school meals at least once in the previous six years. Given that there are three school census returns each year, the Pupil Premium group varies [...]
Figures came out recently that showed that the proportion of children eligible for free school meals (FSM) was at its lowest level since 2001 [PDF], when pupil-level information on this was first collected nationally. This is likely to be for a combination of reasons: an economy that has improved since the early 2010s, meaning fewer parents [...]
This is part three in a series of posts exploring trends in attainment over time by month of birth. Other posts in the series can be found here. The first two blogposts in this series showed that pupils’ attainment varies with their month of birth, with September-born pupils on average having higher attainment than those born [...]
Last week, we heard a lot from the government about their interest in children from ‘ordinary working families’. (For our initial take on the topic, see here and here.) In its new consultation document, the Department for Education has provided information on the GCSE grades and progress of these children – defined as those not [...]
