material deprivation

Question 1

Statistics from 2021/22/23 about attainment
(Source: Department for Education)

Answer 1

• in general females perform best
• female asians were the highest performing while black & white males were the lowest performing attainment 8)
• those who are not in need of FSM performed better in general
• 1/4 of pupils were eligable for FSM (1.9M)
• largest group of pupils were white, 73.5%, smallest group after unclassified were mixed, 6.8%
• 59% of students excluded from school were eligable for FSM

Question 2

how does housing affect achievement? + some statistics

Answer 2

• overcrowding
• cold or damp housing= greater risk of being ill, missing school, falling behind
• around 139,000 children are homeless in the UK or living in temporary housing. (Shelter England)
• 1.7M school days are missed in the EU because of illness related to damp and mold, the UK’s rate is 80% above average
• 45% of school aged children have arrived to school late, tired or hungry due to temporary living conditions

Question 3

how does overcrowded housing impact children’s achievement?

Answer 3

• direct impact:
• makes it harder to do homework and revise
• distractions
• lack of educational activities
  -lack of space to play, which can impact development, difficulty learning & focusing.

Question 4

how does diet and health impact attainment?

Answer 4

• lack of energy
• behavioural and emotional issues
• fatigue
• abscences from school

Question 5

Howard (2001)- impact of diet and health

Answer 5

• children in poorer homes have a lack in energy, vitamins and minerals= poor health
• weak immune system + fatigue
• absences from school + academic failure

Question 6

Wilkinson (1996)- impact of diet and health on achievement

Answer 6

• found among ten year olds, lower social class = higher rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders.
• all impact on concentration

Question 7

Blanden + Machin (2007)- behaviour impact on achievement

Answer 7

• found children from lower income families were more likely to engage in ‘externalising behaviours’
• this can be things such as disruptive behaviour at school and temper tantrums

Question 8

how does the cost of education & financial support impact on achievement? (all sociologists summary)

Answer 8

• cost of items places a heavy burden on poor families (Tanner et al 2003)
• Flaherty- fear of stigmatisation prevents children who can have FSM from claiming them
• Smith and Noble- socially disadvantaged students concentrated in increasingly unpopular schools
• Ridge 2002- people who got FSM were made fun of

Question 9

Tanner et al (2003)- financial support & the cost of education

Answer 9

found that the cost of items such as transport, books, uniforms, computers, calculators, sports, music and art equipment places a heavy burden on poor families

Question 10

Flaherty- financial support and the cost of education

Answer 10

fear of stigmatisation may explain why 20% of those eligable for FSM do not take up the opportunity

Question 11

Smith and Noble (1995)- financial support and the cost of education

“barriers to learning”

Answer 11

“reduce rather than increase the opportunities for children from poor families, by concentrating socially disadvantaged chilren in a limited number of increasingly unpopular schools”

Question 12

Ridge (2002)- financial support and the cost of education

Answer 12

“I realised when I was in year 7 that the people who got free school meals were teased
…I couldn’t handle that as I was already being teased enough, so I don’t get free school meals”

Question 13

how does the fear of debt affect educational attainment?

Answer 13

• Callender and Jackson (2005) found there were more costs than benefits to university for w/c students
• lower classes were especially deterred from higher education due to the debt, 5x less likely to apply than the most debt tolerant students (mostly m/c)
• this affects their achievemtn by ensuring they can’t get a well-paying job, therefore upholding class inequality
• Diane Reay- many w/c students opt for more local universities to cut down on costs, which limits their opportunities
• w/c students have to worry about repaying the debts for the rest of their lives

Question 14

Claire Callender and Jon Jackson (2005)

Answer 14

• survey of 2,000 prospective students found that w/c students are more negative about debt
• there are more costs than benefits for them

Question 15

2010 national union of students survey online reported that:

Answer 15

• 81% of the highest social class students recieved help from home
• 43% of those from the lowest class did

Question 16

Diane Reay’s study:

Answer 16

many w/c students opt for more local universities to cut down on costs, which limits their opportunities

Question 17

impact of the maximum tuition increase:

Answer 17

• in 2012, UCAS reported that the number of UK applicants fell by 8.6% when the maximum became £9,000 a year
• for m/c students, this may not be as impactful, but this makes higher education a lot more inaccessible for w/c students

Question 18

impact of behavioural problems on education:

Answer 18

data and statistics on children’s mental health- CDC
- ADHD: 9.8% (6M)
- Anxiety: 9.4% (5.8M)
- behavioural problems 8.9% (5.5M)

Wilkinson- lower social class (10y/o)=higher rate of hyperactivity and disorders