One of the defining characteristics of countries, such as the United Kingdom, with low social mobility are stark, persistent gaps in the school results between children from deprived backgrounds and their more advantaged counterparts. Far from acting as the great social leveler, education systems can perpetuate inequalities, and enable the…

This report describes the various programs associated with the British educational priority area (EPA) project whose aim was to identify and evaluate practical means of implementing in the primary and pre-school the recommendations of the Plowden Report that a policy of "positive discrimination" be adopted towards the education of…

Reading for pleasure is associated with numerous educational and social benefits. For example, it has been associated with increased reading attainment and writing ability, greater breadth of vocabulary and greater general knowledge (e.g. Cox and Guthrie, 2001). Children who read very little do not reap these benefits, and studies show that when…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of the British response to an IBE questionnaire. Children from higher social categories do better at school. The nature of the problem is thus partly one of enriching the education of disadvantaged children, and partly one of removing financial barriers to their continued…