-
Recent Posts
- A broader view of skills? June 7, 2023
- In praise of ‘low value’ subjects. February 27, 2023
- Frigga Haug and the mystery of learning December 6, 2022
- Debating Growth. November 29, 2022
- Code red for human survival November 8, 2022
- The politics of silence. September 4, 2022
- Posts on Corsican themes. August 10, 2022
- When Corsica welcomed thousands of Serb refugees (1916) August 9, 2022
- Climate justice, heat justice and the politics of resilience August 5, 2022
- Nancy Fraser’s eco-socialist common sense. August 3, 2022
- Education, social justice and survival in a time of crisis. July 18, 2022
- A political education. May 10, 2022
- Redistribution and recognition should go hand in hand. April 17, 2022
- French presidential election: could Mélenchon make it? April 10, 2022
- Owning our crises March 26, 2022
Recent Comments
Archives
Categories
Categories
Meta
Tag Archives: Social mobility
The narrative of the ‘poor bright child’.
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. Jane Addams. Earlier this month the government announced a £23m ‘future talent fund’ targeted at ‘bright’ … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged Education, Equality, Future Talent Fund, high, NewVIc, selection, Social mobility, university progression
3 Comments
The East End’s ‘engine of progression’.
The East End’s ‘engine of progression’. In September, the Mail Online and others published articles extolling the achievements of the ‘Eton of the East End’, one of the highly selective sixth forms in Newham which have opened in recent years. … Continue reading
Oxbridge admissions – time for action.
Last week’s news that Oxford and Cambridge universities are failing to diversify and broaden their undergraduate intakes to reflect British society was deeply depressing for anyone who believes in university access and participation as a social good. The story broke … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged Cambridge university, comprehensive education, diversity, Education, Newham, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Oxbridge, Oxford university, Russell group, Sixth form, Social mobility, Tower Hamlets, Universities, university progression, Wadham College Oxford, widening participation
2 Comments
Newham’s outstanding record of widening participation
Disadvantaged young people in Newham are more than twice as likely to progress to university than in England as a whole and their progression rate is the 4th highest of all local authorities in the country. The ‘disadvantage gap’ between … Continue reading
University Gold.
With some help from the Jackson 5: The proposal to classify English universities as Gold, Silver or Bronze is a stroke of genius. The perfect expression of the English obsession with ranking. So obvious, one wonders why we’re not already … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Education policy
Tagged class, Equality, Jackson 5, meritocracy, selection, Social mobility, university
Leave a comment
Overlooked and left behind?
The latest report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility runs to over 100 pages and makes some worthy points. However, it seems to support the idea that education in itself can improve mobility and fairness in the … Continue reading
The limits of social mobility
In his Observer article a couple of weeks ago, the sociologist John Goldthorpe shatters two cherished illusions: first, that social mobility in Britain is in decline and second, that education is a powerful agent for promoting social mobility. 1. Social … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged economy, Education, Equality, John Goldthorpe, marketisation, Social mobility, Sociology
Leave a comment
Reducing London’s disadvantage gap.
There is much talk of the educational performance gap between disadvantaged students, eligible for free school meals (FSM), and their peers. One measure of success for sixth form students is progression to university of students reaching the end of their … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged disadvantage, Education, England, free school meals, London, Sixth form, Sixth form college, Social mobility, university progression, young people
2 Comments
Labour split or Labour unity?
This weekend, the case for a Labour split was given prominent coverage in the Observer newspaper. Party members were also able to read a rather more unifying message in an interview with the Labour leader in Labour Today, the party’s … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged elections, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour party, Social mobility, unity
Leave a comment
University progression for the NewVIc class of 2015
Every year, when we analyse our students’ university destinations, we conclude that the current year is our best year ever. And every year it’s true. Our class of 2015 is another great cohort, full of ambitious and determined young people, … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged aspiration tax, Education, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Russell group, Social mobility, Universities, university progression
1 Comment
Cracking Oxbridge
Nationally, 93% of young people in England are educated in state-funded schools and colleges, but only 61% of Cambridge university undergraduates are drawn from the state sector, a figure which has recently fallen. At Oxford university the proportion is less than … Continue reading
Reviewing post-16 education in London
Principals and chairs of governors from most of London’s colleges assembled at City Hall last week for a briefing on the post-16 area review process. It’s not often that this group meets and although it happened without any great fanfare … Continue reading
England’s engines of mobility
England’s sixth form and further education colleges are among the most significant engines of social mobility as measured by the number of 16-18 year olds eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) progressing to Higher Education. This contribution needs to be … Continue reading
London’s engines of mobility
If we use the proportion of students eligible for free school meals (FSM) progressing to university as a measure of social mobility, it’s clear that the ‘London effect’ is very marked. London’s FSM progression rate in 2012 was 58% compared to … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged Colleges, Education, England, free school meals, London, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Social mobility, university progression
Leave a comment
NewVIc breaks all its university progression records.
Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) has always had high rates of university progression, both in terms of numbers and the proportion of leavers progressing. These have consistently been well above the national and London averages. We are also very proud … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged aspiration, Education, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Russell group, Social mobility, university progression
Leave a comment
Eddie Playfair 