Background to the Research

• This research formed part of a series of monographs commissioned by the Northern Ireland Economic Council on the issue of underachievement in Northern Ireland schools. The study presents a statistical picture of the then current nature and extent of achievement, together with an examination of the economic and labour market consequences of low educational achievement.

Research Approach

• The experience of individual primary and post-primary schools is examined to determine what appears to work and why and various policies are reviewed. Several of the authors themes are also stressed. The degree to which Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom in general, lag behind competitor countries and the possibly adverse impact on underachievement of introducing parental choice and open enrolment in a system of education that retains the distinction between grammar and secondary schools. The report examines patterns of educational attainment in Northern Ireland from a variety of perspectives.

Main Findings

• Educational achievement, as measured by public examination results, has steadily increased over time to the extent that the proportion of the population with qualifications is higher now than at any time in the past.
  
  
• The rate of increase has been higher for girls than for boys, to the extent that girls currently outperform boys at most stages of the educational system. Analysis of data from Northern Ireland suggests, however, that no advantage accrues to either boys or girls through attending single-sex schools.
  
  
• There are differences in the achievement levels of pupils in Protestant and Catholic schools. These differences were greater in the past than the present, and persist in part because the patterns of social disadvantage described above will be found to a greater extent among Catholics than Protestants.
  
  
• There is an unsurprising difference in the level of achievement of pupils attending grammar schools in comparison with those attending secondary schools.
  
  
• Comparisons between secondary school show a wide variety of outcomes. This diversity is found both for results on public examinations and for post-16 years destinations. By contrast, most pupils in grammar schools pass five or more GCSEs, two or more A Levels and go to higher education after leaving school.
  
  
• There is a clear and measurable link between educational achievement and social disadvantage. This may be exacerbated by social and spatial differentiation between grammar and secondary schools. Thus, it would appear that the intakes of grammar and secondary schools differ in terms of their social class profiles, and in respect of their area of residence. The net effect is that the lowest level of achievement is found among young people in situations of multiple disadvantage: they are most likely to live in socially disadvantaged areas, come from socially disadvantaged households and attend secondary schools where many of their peers share the same background.
  
  
• There is no doubt that the level of educational achievement in Northern Ireland needs to rise. Comparison between different parts of the United Kingdom based on National Targets for Education and Training, suggest that such differences are small. They are certainly small in comparison with the levels of achievement obtained in many other European countries. The key question is less about the need for educational improvement, and more about how it can be achieved.