The Effects of Class on Education

A recent article in the Guardian newspaper reports on research that claims that the most influential factor in educational outcomes in England is the pupil’s social background.

Meanwhile, on a related note, research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council has suggested that education policy by itself contributes little to the rate at which people move between social classes; ‘comprehensive school is neither less nor more effective at promoting social mobility than a selective system’. The researchers from the University of Edinburgh point out that if changes to the structure of schooling could have an effect, then it would show in Scotland, where all selective schools in the public sector were abolished by the mid-1970s. Instead, the reforms had no impact on social mobility.