Key Issues
- A considerable
body of research literature exists highlighting the relationship between
social deprivation and low educational achievement. There has been a
strong association over time between social deprivation and the performance
of pupils in the Transfer Procedure Test, with pupils in the higher
FSM schools doing well.
- This
association has become more pronounced for some groups, notably those
at either end of the deprivation scale, since 1993/94 when the Transfer
Tests were changed from verbal reasoning format to a curriculum orientated
format. In 1995/96 pupils in those schools with the lowest proportion
of pupils entitled to FSM were more than 3 times as likely to achieve
Grade A as those in the highest FSM schools. A substantially larger
proportion of Catholic pupils attend schools in the high FSM categories.
- Prior
to 1993/94 there were small differences in the proportion of pupils
achieving a Grade A in Catholic and other managed schools and these
were not consistently one way. In 1995/96 the proportion of pupils in
Catholic achieving a Grade A was 7 percentage points lower than other
managed schools.
- Given
the above average incidence of FSM in Catholic maintained schools, it
is not surprising that these schools have fewer A grades than other
schools. However, comparisons between schools with similar socio-economic
circumstances show that a greater proportion of pupils from schools
under Catholic management gain a Grade A than pupils from other schools.
This pattern had been evident under both test formats, though less strongly
under the new format than under the old.
- In 1995/96,
32% of pupils in Year 7 opted out of the Transfer Procedure Test compared
to 30% in 1989/90. Pupils from other managed schools and boys in particular
were less likely to sit the Transfer Test. Opt out rates were highest
in high FSM schools.
- Until
1992/92, girls performed better than boys in the Transfer Procedure
Test. Since the introduction of the new test pattern has varied, with
boys doing better in 1993/94 and again in 1995/96 and girls doing better
in 1994/95.
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