This paper examines the role that social characteristics play in determining the academic success of students who begin university with roughly similar entry grades. The data used were drawn from the administrative records of over 38,000 UK-domiciled undergraduate students from one British university between 1998 and 2009. Results show that the…

Previous research suggested that candidates from some black and minority ethnic groups were less likely to receive an offer of a place from an "old" university. These findings were disputed in a re-analysis carried out for HEFCE which found that only Pakistani candidates were significantly less likely to receive offers (from both…

This study looks at publicly available data on the proportion of pupils eligible and claiming for free school meals (FSM) in the top 500 comprehensive state schools and at how representative they are of their localities and of their school type. We have looked at the top 500 when measured by five good GCSEs including English and Maths and at the…

Covering a decade during which the "digital divide" came to popular and political attention, and written at a time when the Internet continues to be championed as a means of widening access to educational opportunities, this paper presents an analysis of the social, economic and educational characteristics associated with using the…

Background: For adult physical and mental health, the population mean predicts the proportion of individuals with "high" scores. This has not previously been investigated for child mental health. It is also unclear how far symptom scores on brief questionnaires provide an unbiased method of comparing children with different individual,…

The provisions of the Higher Education Act (2004) have renewed interest in widening participation research. Therefore, this paper explores the development of this scholarly field, primarily in the United Kingdom, by examining major trends in the study of higher education. Political debates related to higher education, the prevailing structure of…

Conducted retrospective analysis of referrals (n=275) to regional adolescent psychiatric service over two years, focusing on selected social and family variables, to identify areas of potential unmet need and relationship between these factors and clinical variables. Social and family disadvantage was well represented in patients, but few were…

Explores reasons for the abuse phenomenon throughout traditional residential care provided for boys and young men in the United Kingdom. Addresses specifically the severe discipline which often became abusive, the presence of sexual abuse, severe staff reaction to resistance, and the similarities of regimen across the spectrum of traditional care…

This article draws on findings from an Economic and Social Research Council funded research project entitled "Disabled Students and Multiple Policy Innovations in Higher Education"(R000239069). It begins with a brief review of theories of social justice and their implications for widening access policies for disabled students. Social…

Describes the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Children 5-16 Research Programme, a 5-year project which examined contemporary childhood in the United Kingdom, including aspects of social lives, living conditions, experiences, and perspectives. Notes specific research aims: to develop new knowledge about children as social actors, to…

The topic of this paper is the "new sociology of education" (NSOE) and its origins in the early 1970's. One aim of this paper is to argue that the regressive return to a rigid and ahistorical academic curriculum is not the only alternative. A second theme is the suggestion that the NSOE took a highly unreflective view of the role of…