Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in England

Large-scale administrative datasets show disproportionate figures for attainment outcomes and school exclusions for pupils in some ethnic groups in England. This surface gap in attainment and school exclusion is concerning, and we consider whether ethnicity is really the driver here. In this paper,...

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Main Authors: Stephen Gorard, Nadia Siddiqui, Beng Huat See, Yiyang Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Education Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/6
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author Stephen Gorard
Nadia Siddiqui
Beng Huat See
Yiyang Gao
author_facet Stephen Gorard
Nadia Siddiqui
Beng Huat See
Yiyang Gao
author_sort Stephen Gorard
collection DOAJ
description Large-scale administrative datasets show disproportionate figures for attainment outcomes and school exclusions for pupils in some ethnic groups in England. This surface gap in attainment and school exclusion is concerning, and we consider whether ethnicity is really the driver here. In this paper, we present the findings on KS2 and KS4 attainment and exclusion outcomes for the cohorts in 2019, which are available from the National Pupil Database in England (with around 600,000 pupils per cohort). We present the outcomes and other characteristics for each ethnic category available. The analyses then modelled the attainment and exclusion outcomes via multivariate regression, in terms of individual pupil characteristics and school-level figures including school segregation by pupil ethnicity and disability. The predictors were entered in batches from pupil background, through prior attainment, and school-level measures, to individual ethnicity. The findings show that prior attainment and special needs/disability status are the main drivers of attainment at both KS2 and KS4. Individual pupil ethnicity did not help to explain either attainment or exclusions, over and above these other factors, and this finding largely corroborates the descriptive results. However, the factors related to school-level segregation by ethnicity, free school meal eligibility (FSM), and having English as an additional language (EAL) are somewhat relevant in predicting pupils’ permanent school exclusion at KS4. These findings have implications for admission policies that can reduce school segregation and interventions that can support disadvantaged pupils’ wider learning experiences.
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spelling doaj-art-1ef98818761f42e0a4eeb44f164580312025-01-24T13:30:05ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022024-12-01151610.3390/educsci15010006Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in EnglandStephen Gorard0Nadia Siddiqui1Beng Huat See2Yiyang Gao3Durham University Evidence Centre for Education, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UKDurham University Evidence Centre for Education, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UKSchool of Education, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2SA, UKDurham University Evidence Centre for Education, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UKLarge-scale administrative datasets show disproportionate figures for attainment outcomes and school exclusions for pupils in some ethnic groups in England. This surface gap in attainment and school exclusion is concerning, and we consider whether ethnicity is really the driver here. In this paper, we present the findings on KS2 and KS4 attainment and exclusion outcomes for the cohorts in 2019, which are available from the National Pupil Database in England (with around 600,000 pupils per cohort). We present the outcomes and other characteristics for each ethnic category available. The analyses then modelled the attainment and exclusion outcomes via multivariate regression, in terms of individual pupil characteristics and school-level figures including school segregation by pupil ethnicity and disability. The predictors were entered in batches from pupil background, through prior attainment, and school-level measures, to individual ethnicity. The findings show that prior attainment and special needs/disability status are the main drivers of attainment at both KS2 and KS4. Individual pupil ethnicity did not help to explain either attainment or exclusions, over and above these other factors, and this finding largely corroborates the descriptive results. However, the factors related to school-level segregation by ethnicity, free school meal eligibility (FSM), and having English as an additional language (EAL) are somewhat relevant in predicting pupils’ permanent school exclusion at KS4. These findings have implications for admission policies that can reduce school segregation and interventions that can support disadvantaged pupils’ wider learning experiences.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/6school exclusionsethnic attainment gapethnic segregation between schools
spellingShingle Stephen Gorard
Nadia Siddiqui
Beng Huat See
Yiyang Gao
Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in England
Education Sciences
school exclusions
ethnic attainment gap
ethnic segregation between schools
title Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in England
title_full Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in England
title_fullStr Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in England
title_full_unstemmed Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in England
title_short Do School Exclusions and Attainment Outcomes Disproportionately Impact Minority Ethnic Pupils? Analysis of Pupil Characteristics, Segregation, and Outcomes in England
title_sort do school exclusions and attainment outcomes disproportionately impact minority ethnic pupils analysis of pupil characteristics segregation and outcomes in england
topic school exclusions
ethnic attainment gap
ethnic segregation between schools
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/1/6
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