State vs private education in the UK: a wider issue than you realise
We acknowledge in the UK that there is a significant attainment gap between students in stage schools and private schools. But what effect does this gap have and how is the current Covid-19 pandemic widening it?
The quality of teaching and support available to students varies from school to school, but by 2017 the most disadvantaged students in England were over two years of learning behind their non-disadvantaged peers by the time that they finished secondary school.
We expect universities to perform outreach activities for disadvantaged students, but that doesn’t change the resources and quality of teaching available to those students at school. While outreach makes students understand that their situation doesn’t limit their aspirations, until state schools have the same resources as private schools disadvantaged students won’t meet the same offers.
“School closures highlighted that the disparity between schools extends beyond grades. It’s likely the pandemic will make the attainment gap wider than it already is”
Programmes like Opportunity Oxford support offer-holders from under-represented backgrounds by working to bring their study skills up to speed with their non-disadvantaged peers. That means they assume those offer-holders are less likely to meet their offer.
The expectations of what students will achieve, and their ability to achieve it, is limited by socio-economic factors rather than on their capabilities. This has never been clearer than this year, when results were initially based on an algorithm which disadvantaged students from underperforming schools.
The proportion of students receiving top grades in private schools was double that in state schools, which unfairly jeopardised students’ futures. We heard stories about state school students being rejected from their place at Oxbridge, despite being amongst the brightest ever to attend the school.
70% of Cambridge’s incoming freshers and 68.4% of Oxford’s are from state schools, suggesting change is on the horizon, but that could be deceiving. Many private schools have high attainment because they are selective. State grammar schools are also selective.
In 2016, research showed that students at grammar schools do not perform significantly better than students at non-selective state schools, but there is still a negative impact on the attainment and social mobility of students at non-selective state schools.
“While the government is currently supporting disadvantaged students technologically, that doesn’t excuse the fact that they need more support normally“
School closures highlighted that the disparity between schools extends beyond grades. The Department of Education supported disadvantaged students by providing hardware and internet access throughout the lockdown and will continue to do so in the academic year 2020-21. Online education widens the attainment gap more than in-person education as many students need additional support.
Whether the available support proves enough to stop the attainment gap widening is another matter. Thanks to the different levels of response received by students during the pandemic, the gap in attainment is likely to grow and have a longer-term impact than you might realise.
While the government is currently supporting disadvantaged students technologically, that doesn’t excuse the fact that they need more support normally. It’s likely the pandemic will make the attainment gap wider than it already is, so we can hope that it provides the incentive for disadvantaged students receiving the support that they need for the gap to finally be closed.
Otherwise, this year’s results day will only be a taster of what is to come. And there might not be the loss of exams to blame in the future.
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