1. Rediscovering inequalities in school-level educational outcomes: An in-depth investigation of ‘working class’ pupils in contemporary Scotland.
Dr Chris Playford , Prof Vernon Gayle, Dr Roxanne Connelly and Dr Susan Murray
26th October 2016

2. Introduction Willis (1977) Learning to Labour
Lads: Working class boys who have rejected culture of school.
Ear’oles: Similar in class background to ‘lads’ but not rejected culture of school.
Differences between ‘ordinary’ working class youths largely ignored despite four decades of comprehensive education.
England & Wales (Brisard & Menter, 2008)
Scotland (Murphy 2015)
Recent interest in ‘ordinary’ working class pupils (Roberts 2013).
Can we identify differences in attainment among ‘ordinary’ working class pupils?
Can we identify ‘lads’ and ‘Ear’oles’ using occupational data?
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

3. Educational Attainment
Two previous studies explored the attainment of ‘ordinary’ young people.
Connelly, Murray & Gayle (2013) using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)
Gayle, Murray and Connelly (2016) using the Youth Cohort Study (YCS)
Both observe persistent inequality over time despite different qualifications and measures of socio-economic background.
Maintenance of positional advantage by middle class parents (Croxford 2015).
Scottish School Leavers Survey
Subsequently discontinued by Scottish Government
Reduction in inequalities in educational attainment at the compulsory stage but increased inequalities at the end of post-compulsory education for pupils from managerial/professional backgrounds
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

4. Standard Grade Attainment
Standard Grades were most widely taken qualifications in year S4 at end of compulsory schooling (Brisard & Menter, 2008).
Standard grade attainment is a strong predictor of later attainment (Tinklin 2003).
Persistent differentials in overall attainment by parental occupation (Croxford 2009; Gayle et al. 2016).
Pupils from managerial/professional backgrounds had the highest achievement
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

5. Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS)
Source: Boyle et al. (2009: 388) – Table 2
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

6. Linked Administrative Data
Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)
Examination Results in Scottish Schools
See Raab (2013)
Standard Grade Points Score
7 points = Grade 1 (Highest)
1 point = Grade 7 (Lowest)
See Croxford et al. (2007)
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

7. National Statistics National Socioeconomic Classification
Because of its widespread use within sociological research, and exclusive use by government and local authorities, in this current analysis we have used the UK Office of National Statistics National Socioeconomic Classification scheme (NS-SEC).
We are aware of the numerous alternative ways of measuring social class within the context of social surveys and through other data collection instruments.
We compare differences in educational outcomes by NS-SEC with Standard Occupational Classifications (SOC2000).
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

8. (Official Measure 8 Classes)
Occupation
NS-SEC
(Official Measure 8 Classes)
(Official Measure
3 Classes)
General Manager
(large company)
1.1. Large employer
& Higher Managers
1. Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations
Solicitor
1.2. Higher professional
Teacher
(sec. school)
2. Lower professional
Draughtsperson
3. Intermediate
2. Intermediate occupations 
Bricklayer
(self employed)
4. Small Employers
& Own Account
Gardener
5. Lower supervisory
& Technical
3. Routine and manual occupations 
Petrol pump attendant
6. Semi-routine
Cleaner
7. Routine
To clarify what we mean by ‘working class’. Goldthorpe refers to 6 & 7 as the ‘Wage Earning Working Class.’
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

9. (Older Official Measure) Skill NM/M (Work character)
Occupation
NS-SEC
(Official Measure)
RGSC
(Older Official Measure)
Skill
NM/M
(Work character)
General Manager
(large company)
1.1. Large employer
& Higher Managers
Intermediate (II) 4
Non-Manual
Solicitor
1.2. Higher professional
Professional (I)
Teacher
(sec. school)
2. Lower professional
Draughtsperson
3. Intermediate
Skilled Non-Manual (IIIn) 3
Bricklayer
(self employed)
4. Small Employers
& Own Account
Skilled Manual (IIIm)
Manual
Gardener
5. Lower supervisory
& Technical
Partly Skilled (IV)
Petrol pump attendant
6. Semi-routine 2
Cleaner
7. Routine
Unskilled (V) 1
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

10. Occupation ISEI (status scale) CAMSIS (male) (social interaction)
General Manager
(large company) 70 72
Solicitor 85 86
Teacher
(secondary school) 69 71
Draughtsperson 51 58
Bricklayer
(self employed) 29 37
Gardener 23 33
Petrol pump attendant 43
Cleaner 16 35
Variation in status and social interaction (CAMSIS) values for those occupations we describe as ‘working class’
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

11. The Parent of ‘Lads’ and ‘Ear’oles’
Occupation
NS-SEC
(Official Measure)
RGSC
(Older Official Measure)
Skill
NM/M
(Work character)
Gardener
5. Lower supervisory
& Technical
Partly Skilled (IV) 3
Manual
Petrol pump attendant
6. Semi-routine 2
Non-Manual
Cleaner
7. Routine
Unskilled (V) 1
Vary in terms of skill and whether they are characterised as manual or non-manual occupations
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

12. Typical gradient in terms of mean and confidence intervals
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

13. Large amount of variation between children’s standard grades points score within NS-SEC categories
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

14. What do things look like when we focus on individual (or detailed) parental occupations?
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

15. Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

16. Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

17. Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

18. Occupational Differences Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations
Requirements
1137 Research and Development Managers
Entrants usually possess a degree or equivalent qualification.
1121 Production, Works and Maintenance Managers
There are no pre-set entry standards.
2411 Solicitors and Lawyers, Judges and Coroners
Entry to training usually requires a qualifying law degree or postgraduate diploma.
3532 Brokers
There are no formal academic requirements although many employers require entrants to possess a degree or equivalent qualification.
1141 Quality Assurance Managers
1223 Restaurant and catering managers
Entry is possible with a variety of academic qualifications and/or relevant experience.
Source: ONS Standard Occupational Classification 2000 Volume 1
London: The Stationery Office
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

19. Occupational Differences Routine and manual occupations
Requirements
5224 Precision instrument makers and repairers
Some GCSEs/S grades qualifications may be required.
8133 Routine inspectors and testers
There are no formal academic entry requirements, although some employers require candidates to possess GCSEs/S grades.
6211 Sports and leisure assistants
There are no formal academic entry requirements, although some employers may require GCSEs/S grades.
9223 Kitchen and catering assistants
There are no formal academic entry requirements.
8113 Textile process operatives
6219 Leisure and travel service occupations
Source: ONS Standard Occupational Classification 2000 Volume 1
London: The Stationery Office
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

20. Source: SLS, n = 8,425
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

21. Conclusions (1)
After many decades of comprehensive education in Scotland a strong parental social class gradient is still observable. Pupils with parents in more advanced social class group have far better overall school educational outcomes. These overall patterns exist despite changes in the curriculum, qualifications and the organisation and management of schools.
When we examine outcomes within patterns of subjects we still observe that working class pupils have low levels of membership in more favourable educational groups.  The performance of working class pupils at subject area level is a cause for concern because given the current structure and organisation of post-school education in Britain their choices will be severely constrained.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

22. Conclusions (2)
Overall, these results are important as they appeal to ‘Getting it Right for Every Child’ (GIRFEC), which is the national approach to improving the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland, as well as the aims of the Curriculum for Excellence reforms (Kidner 2013), the strategy for developing Scotland’s young workforce, and the UK Government’s strengthened approach to tracking the life chances of Britain’s most disadvantaged children .
Administrative data contribute little to the understanding of individual pupil’s attitudes and group cultures within schools. From the analysis here we have demonstrated that pupils with parents in the routine and manual occupations that are classified as NS-SEC 5 – 7 perform poorly in school-level qualifications in contemporary Scotland.  A small proportion of pupils with parents in routine and manual occupations do perform well however. The existence of this minority group of pupils is promising. The extent to which these pupils mirror the ‘ear’oles’ in Willis’ original study cannot be assessed with administrative data but the category has been useful as (to use a term borrowed from Tony Giddens) a ‘sensitising device’.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

23. With thanks to chris.playford@ed.ac.uk
The help provided by staff of the Longitudinal Studies Centre – Scotland (LSCS) is acknowledged. The LSCS is supported by the ESRC/JISC, the Scottish Funding Council, the Chief Scientist’s Office and the Scottish Government. The authors alone are responsible for the interpretation of the data. Census output is Crown copyright and is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council
Project: Administrative Data Research Centre - Scotland
Grant number: ES/L007487/1

24. References (1)
Boyle, P. J., Feijten, P., Feng, Z., Hattersley, L., Huang, Z., Nolan, J., & Raab, G. (2009). Cohort Profile: The Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 38(2), doi: /ije/dyn087 Brisard, E., & Menter, I. (2008). Compulsory Education in the United Kingdom. In D. Matheson (Ed.), An Introduction to the Study of Education (3rd ed., pp ). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Connelly, R., Murray, S., & Gayle, V. (2013). Young People and School GCSE Attainment: Exploring the 'Middle'. Sociological Research Online, 18(1), 6. doi: /sro.2880 Connelly, R., Gayle, V., & Lambert, P. S. (2016). A review of occupation-based social classifications for social survey research. Methodological Innovations, 9. doi: / Connelly, R., Gayle, V., & Lambert, P. S. (2016). A review of educational attainment measures for social survey research. Methodological Innovations, 9. doi: / Croxford, L., Iannelli, C., & Shapira, M. (2007). Documentation of the Youth Cohort Time-Series Datasets. In Centre for Educational Sociology (Ed.), UK Data Archive Study Number Youth Cohort Time Series for England, Wales and Scotland, Edinburgh: UK Data Archive. Croxford, L. (2009). Change Over Time in the Context, Outcomes and Inequalities of Secondary Schooling in Scotland, Edinburgh: The Scottish Government.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

25. References (2)
Croxford, L. (2015). Inequalities. In D. Murphy, L. Croxford, C. Howieson, & D. Raffe (Eds.), Everyone's Future: Lessons from fifty years of Scottish comprehensive schooling (pp ). London: IOE Press. Gayle, V., Murray, S., & Connelly, R. (2016). Young people and school General Certificate of Secondary Education attainment: looking for the ‘missing middle’. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 37(3), doi: / Gayle, V., Playford, C. J., Connelly, R., & Murray, S. (2016). Between the NEET and the tidy - Exploring 'middle' outcomes in Scottish school qualifications CPC Working Paper 76. ESRC Centre for Population Change, UK. Kidner, C. (2013). Curriculum for Excellence Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) briefing (Vol. 13/13). Edinburgh: Scottish Parliament. Murphy, D. (2015). Comprehensive schooling in Scotland, In D. Murphy, L. Croxford, C. Howieson, & D. Raffe (Eds.), Everyone's Future: Lessons from fifty years of Scottish comprehensive schooling (pp. 2-38). London: IOE Press. Playford, C. J., & Gayle, V. (2016). The concealed middle? An exploration of ordinary young people and school GCSE subject area attainment. Journal of Youth Studies, 19(2), doi: / Playford, C. J., Gayle, V., Connelly, R., & Murray, S. (Forthcoming). Parental socioeconomic influences on filial educational outcomes in Scotland: patterns of school-level educational performance using administrative data. Contemporary Social Science. doi: /
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

26. References (3)
Raab, G. M. (2013). Education data available within the Scottish Longitudinal Study Scottish Longitudinal Development & Support Unit Technical Working Paper (Vol. 6). Roberts, K. (2013). Education to Work Transitions: How the Old Middle Went Missing and Why the New Middle Remains Elusive. Sociological Research Online, 18(1), 3. Tinklin, T. (2003). Gender Differences and High Attainment. British Educational Research Journal, 29(3), doi: / Willis, P. E. (1977). Learning to labour: how working class kids get working class jobs. Farnborough, Hants: Saxon House. SLS Websites:
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

27. Appendix
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

28. Measuring Attainment
Complexity of school subject-level qualifications investigated using latent class analysis.
Playford and Gayle (2016) YCS, England & Wales
Playford et al.(Forthcoming) SQA linked to SLS data, Scotland
Responding to Connelly, Gayle and Lambert (2016a, 2016b).
This work is part of an extended sensitivity analysis exploring existing socio-economic measures and their relationship with existing educational measures.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

29. Standard Grade Subjects
More than thirty different Standard Grade subjects available throughout Scotland.
No compulsory or specified sets of Standard Grades for which a pupil must study, although in some earlier periods certain subjects such as Mathematics, English and a Foreign Language were compulsory (Brisard and Menter 2008).
Pupils and parents were given a large degree of choice over which subjects a pupil studied.
These choices were made under the guidance of teachers and within the constraints of the subjects offered by the pupil’s school.
Playford et al. (Forthcoming) Figure 1
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

30. Number of Standard Grade Credit Passes
1-4 5+ n
Parental Socioeconomic Position (NS-SEC)
1.1 Large employers and higher managerial
10%
36%
53%
100%
606
1.2 Higher Professionals 6%
28%
67%
613
2 Lower managerial and professional
16%
38%
45%
2,402
Gayle et al. (2016) Table 2:
School Standard Grade Outcomes by Pupils’ Characteristics (Row Percentages)
Source: Scottish Longitudinal Study, n=9,032.
Note: All pupils gaining a Standard Grade pass at grades 1-7.
1. Parental socioeconomic position was measured by the highest category of NS-SEC of either parent in 2001.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

31. Number of Standard Grade Credit Passes
1-4 5+ n
Parental Socioeconomic Position (NS-SEC)
1.1 Large employers and higher managerial
10%
36%
53%
100%
606
1.2 Higher Professionals 6%
28%
67%
613
2 Lower managerial and professional
16%
38%
45%
2,402
3 Intermediate
24%
31%
1,288
4 Small employers and own account
27%
651
Gayle et al. (2016) Table 2:
School Standard Grade Outcomes by Pupils’ Characteristics (Row Percentages)
Source: Scottish Longitudinal Study, n=9,032.
Note: All pupils gaining a Standard Grade pass at grades 1-7.
1. Parental socioeconomic position was measured by the highest category of NS-SEC of either parent in 2001.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

32. Number of Standard Grade Credit Passes
1-4 5+ n
Parental Socioeconomic Position (NS-SEC)
1.1 Large employers and higher managerial
10%
36%
53%
100%
606
1.2 Higher Professionals 6%
28%
67%
613
2 Lower managerial and professional
16%
38%
45%
2,402
3 Intermediate
24%
31%
1,288
4 Small employers and own account
27%
651
5 Lower supervisory and technical
32%
48%
20%
805
6 Semi-routine
42%
43%
15%
1,329
7 Routine
50%
12%
772
Gayle et al. (2016) Table 2:
School Standard Grade Outcomes by Pupils’ Characteristics (Row Percentages)
Source: Scottish Longitudinal Study, n=9,032.
Note: All pupils gaining a Standard Grade pass at grades 1-7.
1. Parental socioeconomic position was measured by the highest category of NS-SEC of either parent in 2001.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

33. Playford et al. (Forthcoming) Table 8:
Latent Group 1
‘Low Outcomes’ 2
‘Middle Non-Science’ 3
‘Middle Science’ 4
‘High Outcomes’ n
Parental Socioeconomic Position (NS-SEC)
1.1 Large employers and higher managerial
23%
13%
18%
45%
100%
606
1.2 Higher professionals
15%
57%
613
2 Lower managerial and professional
31%
16%
37%
2,402
3 Intermediate
43%
24%
1,288
4 Small employers and own account
48%
651
5 Lower supervisory and technical
58%
11%
14%
17%
805
6 Semi-routine
65%
12%
1,329
7 Routine
71%
10%
772
Playford et al. (Forthcoming) Table 8:
Characteristics of the Latent Educational Groups (Row Percentages)
This pattern is similarly noted in previous work which takes into account subject-level attainment. There is some evidence that children with parents in Routine and manual occupations are more likely to have ‘ordinary’ or middle outcomes than high outcomes but most likely to have low outcomes. In general, kids from NS-SEC 5-7 do badly. There might be some ‘ear’oles but they are lagging behind.
Source: Scottish Longitudinal Study, n=9,032.
Note: All pupils gaining a Standard Grade pass at grades 1-7.
1. Parental socioeconomic position was measured by the highest category of NS-SEC of either parent in 2001.
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

34. Those children with parents in Routine and manual occupations are more likely to have no credit passes than 1-4 credit passes (‘ordinary’ outcomes). 
Gayle et al. (2016) Figure 2:
Multinomial Logistic Regression Model Coefficients (and 95% Quasi-Variance Comparison Intervals) - Parental Socioeconomic Positions (NS-SEC).
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

35. 1.1
1.2
Those children with parents in Routine and manual occupations are less likely to have 5 credit passes than 1-4 credit passes (‘ordinary’ outcomes). 
Gayle et al. (2016) Figure 2:
Multinomial Logistic Regression Model Coefficients (and 95% Quasi-Variance Comparison Intervals) - Parental Socioeconomic Positions (NS-SEC).
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.

36. Further work
Comparison of socioeconomic differences in educational outcomes by:
NS-SEC 8 class
NS-SEC 5 class
NS-SEC 3 class
Manual/Non-Manual
Interaction between NS-SEC and parental qualifications
Inequalities in school-level educational outcomes, Dr Chris Playford, 26th October 2016.