Introduction
Evidence shows that the educational attainments of Children in Need (CIN) and Children in Care (CIC) in England are lower than for other pupils. This represents sizeable numbers of children: the latest figures (March 2019) showed that there were 399,500 Children in Need in England and 78,150 Children in Care. The ‘attainment gap’ in reaching expected standards is approximately 25-30% at Key Stage 1 (aged 7) and KS2 (aged 11), and 25% at KS4 (aged 16). Researchers have often investigated the education of Children in Care; however, Children in Need have received very little attention.
This project aimed to identify factors that might explain the ‘attainment gap’ for CIN and CIC. It did this through:
- Quantitative analysis of data from a whole birth cohort of children (471,688) born in England in 2000/01, starting school in 2006/07 and tracked through to their General Certificate of Education (GCSE) exams in 2017.
- Interviews with 123 children, parents/carers and professionals.
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