Fewer than one in six disadvantaged students in the UK are satisfied with their lives, socially integrated at school and do not suffer from test anxiety, international experts have found.
Only 15 per cent of UK disadvantaged students are “socially and emotionally resilient” – which is less than the average (26 per cent) across all developed countries analysed, the global report reveals.
The number of students who are satisfied with their lives, feel socially integrated at school and do not suffer from test anxiety is much higher in the Netherlands (50 per cent), Switzerland (43 per cent) and Finland (39 per cent), the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found.
Disadvantaged students who are socially and emotionally resilient tend to do better academically which suggests that helping disadvantaged students develop positive attitudes and behaviours towards themselves and their education would boost their academic development, the report says.
The study – based on the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests, which are taken by 15-year-olds across the developed world – also finds that greater school choice does not necessarily benefit disadvantaged students.
It says evidence in countries as diverse as the United Kingdom and the United States suggests that reforms introducing greater school choice “tend to increase academic and socio-economic sorting because more advantaged, highly educated families are more likely to make better-informed choices.”
The research – which compares student experiences in 36 different countries – finds that the academic performance gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children develops from as early as age 10.
On average, more than two-thirds of the achievement gap observed at age 15 and about two-thirds of the gap among people aged between 25 and 29 was already seen among 10-year-olds.
Andreas Schleicher, OECD director for education and skills, said: “Too little headway has been made to break down the barriers to social mobility and give all children an equal chance to succeed.
“More investment is needed to help disadvantaged students do better, including recognition of the critical role that teachers have to play.”
