Chris Skidmore, Nick Cuff and Charlotte Leslie: The Invisible Children

"Invisible Children" is the first part of the Bow Group’s "Invisible Nation" series. The research report, to be published in full tomorrow, uncovers the thousands of ‘The Invisible Children’ who never make it to the league tables.

It is ten years since Tony Blair made education his priority in government. An entire generation of pupils have passed through school under Labour’s watch. Pupils who were in the first year of primary school in May 1997 finished their GCSEs last summer. So, has every child mattered?

It is well known that over half of all pupils do not gain five good GCSEs including a grade C in either maths or English. This is the standard that the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority advises pupils need to function as citizens.

But the standard 5A*-C measure only scratches the surface of what’s really going on in our schools. Beneath this familiar headline standard there are far deeper challenges.

First, thousands of pupils are not even coming close to achieving the grade. Almost a quarter of all pupils sitting GCSEs do not gain any grade above a C. Over 60% of these are boys. The percentage of pupils not gaining five GCSEs of any grade remains the same as 1999, and has fallen backwards since 2001.

Moreover, in particular areas, particularly in deprived inner cities, things are actually getting substantially worse. New research by the Bow Group reveals that in nearly 700 wards in England the percentage of pupils achieving five GCSEs of any grade has fallen backwards since 1997.

Tens of thousands of GCSE entrants are not being entered for the compulsory GCSE subjects that are the ticket to employment and opportunity. 27,000 pupils were not entered for English, 20,000 pupils were not entered for maths and 45,000 pupils were not entered for science - an increase of over a 1,000 pupils since last year.

But our most striking finding is that there is an entire cohort of invisible students who simply drop off the school roll or out of the league tables. What this report calls the ‘Invisible Children’. Pupils drop off the school roll at 5,000 pupils a year. By the time pupils reach their GCSE year, over 7,000 are missing from education. Of the rest still in school, around 20,000 pupils are not entered for any GCSE qualifications. Of those who are, almost 30,000 leave without a single GCSE. In total, whether they have gone missing from the school roll, not been entered for GCSEs or not gained a GCSE, nearly 60,000 children leave education without a GCSE to their name.

But what can be done? Part of the solution lies in courses which are constructed and delivered in collaboration with businesses. Courses need to offer a flavour of the practical to excite the disengaged However, getting firms to participate will take more than woolly PR and generous endorsements.

The vast majority of businesses and small businesses in particular, are simply too busy to give up their time. A poll commissioned by the City & Guilds revealed that 71% of businesses wanted more assistance from Government to support apprenticeship schemes whilst nearly two thirds suggested the Government look to offer tax breaks.

We propose the establishment of Enterprise Portals up and down the country. Each Portal would be administered at a local authority level and act as a gateway for local public services to work with small businesses. Participating small businesses giving up their time would enjoy an exemption from paying business rates. Exemptions offer a real incentive - business rates are the third largest item of expenditure for many businesses and the burden of business rates falls heavily on the smallest. As rates are collected locally, it allows tax incentivisation to be administered at a local authority level.

Making vocational courses centred on the work place is one way to reach out to the invisible children lost in the system. It’s time we brought to an end the shocking levels of disengagement.

Comments

[Richard Price]

A very welcome report, giving a much needed reality check to the endless pirating of soundbite statistics by Gordon Brown.

Anyone wantomg to develop a richer understanding of where failings in secondary education are taking place /9and what we can do about it) should give this pamphlet a thorough read.

[Richard Price]

A very welcome report, giving a much needed reality check to the endless pirating of soundbite statistics by Gordon Brown.

Anyone wishing to develop a richer understanding of where failings in secondary education are taking place (and what we can do about it) should give this pamphlet a thorough read.

[Free our schools!]

"We propose the establishment of Enterprise Portals up and down the country. Each Portal would be administered at a local authority level and act as a gateway for local public services to work with small businesses."

This is more bureaucratic nonsense from the managerialist and statist Bow Groupers. We need simpler not more complex business tax rules.

Education can only be improved by giving parents more choice, introducing a voucher system, freeing schools from local bureuacrats and getting rid of centralisation like the national curriculum and endless targets.

[Mark Wadsworth]

Heartbreaking stuff.

Two minor quibbles;
1) "Enterprise Portals" sounds a bit gimmicky.
2) Business Rates (as any economist will tell you) are ultimately borne by landlords and not by businesses (large or small). Here in the UK, there have been experiments in exempting certain areas (usually where there's a sitting Labour MP...) from Business Rates, and all that happens is that the landlords put up the rent. Similarly, in Stamp Duty exempt zones, the selling prices of properties went up accordingly.

Sure, there are small businesses who own their own trading premises who would benefit from a cut in Business Rates in £/s/d, but this saving accrues to them from owning land, and does not encourage them to work any harder - if anything the opposite applies.

[Denis Cooper]

To put it in perspective, 7,000 children missing education in their GCSE year is only about 1%, and given that 50,000 aren't up to getting any GCSE's it's quite
an achievement that more don't just walk away. Of course many of them are in the wrong kind of school, being offered the wrong kind of education, so they're bored stiff and they can't wait to leave. And in some cases it's much better for
the other pupils that the disaffected do bunk off, rather than staying around to cause disruption. They should have been placed in a different kind of school,
one which better suited their abilities and aptitudes and which could therefore keep them interested and help them to realise whatever potential they have -
but in their great wisdom Davids Willett and Cameron have just ruled that out.

[Ammar Al-Rikabi]

This is an eye-opening account of the educational gap in this country and how the government is failing children in deprived areas.
Its definitely time for a re-think on current strategies to tackle the problem.

[justice]

has anyone read the latest edition of 'crossbow' - the Bow Group mag? With contributions from George Galloway and our mate Polly, it makes DC look like a neo-con.

[Christopher]

I'm glad somebody else was disturbed by the latest 'Crossbow'. If you ripped off the front cover you could easily have mistaken it for a copy of the Respect Party magazine.

I'm beginning to wonder which party the Bow Group actually represents...

[helen kaye]

This is lovely stuff

[Tory Solicitor]

The statistics cited are awful and demand a response but the detail of this proposal is unclear to me.

"We propose the establishment of Enterprise Portals up and down the country. Each Portal would be administered at a local authority level and act as a gateway for local public services to work with small businesses. Participating small businesses giving up their time would enjoy an exemption from paying business rates."

What exactly are we getting in return for the exemption? Is there any commitment to take on apprentices? what will the local businesses be providing when they give up their time? how much time?

Whilst the idea of a local solution is attractive, this idea does sound unwieldy and bureaucratic.

Would the invisible children not be more likely to benefit if we simply used the money to cut the lower rate of corporation tax applicable to small businesses? (I'm no tax expert but last time I checked - a long time ago! - there were 2 rates of corporation tax based on the size of the business)