DOES THE EDUCATION MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE

ALTER A SPORT STUDENT’S DESIRED ACADEMIC DESTINATION? A SOCIO-ECONOMIC VIEW.

University of the West of England

PGCE Post Compulsory Education & Training

2008 - 2009

UTXGMT – 40 – M

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Contents

Abstract 3 Introduction 3 Literature Review 5 Method & Methodology 8 Results 10 Discussion 12 Conclusion 14 Bibliographical References 15 Appendix A 17 Appendix B 18

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Does the Education Maintenance Allowance alter a sport student’s desired academic destination? A socio-economic view.

Abstract The enquiry was to look at the effects of the Education Maintenance Allowance upon sport students at a South Gloucestershire Further Education college, with regards to their desired academic destination, beyond their current course of study. A cohort of current FE students volunteered to complete a short questionnaire, requesting information on; age, gender, course of study, county of residence, desired academic destination, and if and how much EMA they are entitled to and receive. The results from this particular study bucked the trend of lower socio-economic class disassociating themselves from university, and in fact a large majority of the cohort who received maximum EMA payments desired a full degree programme on completion of their current course. The EMA does, indeed, enhance attendance and participation nationally, but question marks remain over whether the EMA actually affects student attainment and achievement.

Introduction The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was introduced on a national basis in 2004 in order to assist those students who were from the poorest backgrounds. The EMA is a tiered means-tested weekly grant payment system with students receiving up to £30 per week, decreasing in £10 increments depending on parental household income, for those aged up to 19 years of age and in full-time education. Students must come from households that earn less than £30,000 per annum in order to be eligible for any grant payments, regardless of other dependents in the household. Initially, a trial went ahead in 1999 in 12 local education authorities (LEA)1 and initially maximum payments stood at £40 per week. Based on the pilot, one can deduce that the pilot went ahead in some of the most economically challenged areas of England (ODPM, 2004, p.53), and despite concerns over funding the pilot was deemed a success and thus five years later, the national scheme was introduced, albeit with the maximum payments reduced by £10 per week (DFES, 2004, p.3). In addition to the weekly payments, there is a bonus scheme, where the most academically successful students (based on minimum target grades, coursework submissions, attendance) have the opportunity to receive a lump sum cash incentive to continue their efforts (DFES, 2004, p.4).

1 The LEAs were; Bolton, Nottingham, Leeds, Cornwall, Doncaster, Middlesbrough, Gateshead,

Oldham, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall. Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark & Greenwich

combined to represent 1 LEA to complete the selected 12.

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The status of Further Education and expectations of students at FE has changed dramatically over the last decade, and is continuing to change at a rapid pace. Part of the change in FE has been the widening of participation to students from poorer backgrounds (hence the EMA in this case), and to those students who were less academically successful at compulsory education stages and it is here, that one may argue that the EMA is an incentive to continue education. This enquiry will investigate, first hand, the effects of the EMA upon sports students, focussing on those from low socio-economic backgrounds, with relation to their desired academic destination. The issues of the pilot will be raised, along with identifying the main reasons why young people attend Further Education colleges and, more specifically, the sports courses at these institutions. It should be noted at this point that, anecdotally, sports courses at FE level tend to have an extremely negative stigma surrounding them. This is certainly a major point when considering the socio-economic background of these students, and as aforementioned, this will be a major component of this enquiry.

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Literature The courses used in the sample for statistics were as follows; AS Sport, BTEC National Diploma Sport, BTEC National Diploma Sport, BTEC National Certificate Sport, and BTEC National Diploma Sport & Exercise Science. Each of these courses attracts a different style of student, and have vastly differing perceptions based on anecdotal accounts, with lecturers and from Universities. The A-Level curriculum is held in high regard by many, with the BTEC courses seen as the traditional sixth form’s poorer cousin. It is therefore interesting that, despite all the negativity surrounding the courses, prospects for all are much improved after post compulsory education:

“It shows that young people who had spent two years in post-16 education were generally in a better position than those who had entered the labour market immediately after compulsory education. In particular, young people who spent two years in post-16 education before entering the labour market at 18, were much more likely to be in managerial, professional and associated professional and technical jobs than 16 year old entrants to the labour market”

(Thompson, J. & Maguire. S., 2006, p.25). This is particularly interesting when considering drop-out rates and the numbers of youths that are ‘NEET’. According to the government, the percentage of young people that are NEET has gradually decreased since 1984, up to 2006 (DCSF, 2007), and this could be, in part at least, attributed to the introduction of the EMA. However, the NEET statistics are open to the question of reliability and validity. The statistics suggest that up to 59% of NEETs are in fact participating in some form of progression, albeit some of them in formal custody, or are barred from participating for a variety of reasons; but these young people could not be categorised into one of the groups (DCSF, 2007). This is concerning when looking into statistics regarding this area in general, as there could be some form of party politics affecting the construction of these statistics. Sports students at the South Gloucestershire college are from a range of backgrounds, with many having friends who fall into the NEET category, and others who fall into the ‘Group 1’ category, under custody (DCSF, 2007). Students at the college come from South Wales2, Somerset, North Somerset, City of Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. A large number of the South Wales districts are very much working class although the areas of the City of Bristol and surrounding districts are not alone in this (Appendix A). Feinstein & Sabates (2005) support the notion that crime and education are inter-related. The statistics in the paper suggest that burglary is significantly

2 South Wales includes the LEAs of: Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda, Bridgend, Vale of

Glamorgan, Cardiff, Newport, Monmouthshire, Tofaen, Blaneau Gwent, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil

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reduced in EMA pilot supported districts compared with districts that did not support the EMA pilot. This statistic is crucial in identifying the underlying reasons for the EMA strategy, and the ideals of the Every Child Matters agenda can be fully supported and strengthened for students in colleges. Bristol is, however, a rather unique city with a large number of boarding schools and other independent schools in the area, but with a consistently poor ranking LEA, with regards to national standards. Bristol was identified by the DCSF (2007) as the only major town or city in the Westcountry region to have an underperforming education system. This area stretched as far as Taunton, Swindon and as far north as Birmingham (DCSF, 2007, p.17), although one would have to go further than this and look at the city in greater detail, as is the case for the North-West region (DCSF, 2007, p.18). However, the above poor LEA factors, combined with the situation for Bristol Athletics Club having to move their own city championships to Bath (Evening Post Online, 2009), coerces one to believe that sporting provision in Bristol, both practically and academically, is poor. Whilst this is not directly taken into consideration in this paper, it forms an interesting backdrop when thinking about the wide region that students are travelling from to come to this particular institution. With the college intake coming from such a varied background, some even coming from independent boarding schools and leaving at 16 to opt for the specialist courses, the college does not pay the majority of its sports students the EMA. When referring to Feinstein & Sabates (2005), utilising education as a vehicle to support wider social policy is not a new policy; however this element of social engineering is rather new. The EMA ideology has been around in many forms for a number of years (e.g. grants for students at university), but the strategy in its current form is controversial. There are hundreds of online forums around debating this very issue, and there are some interesting anecdotal, if somewhat poorly constructed, arguments for and against the EMA not least the means testing of it. A forum administrator stating they are from Dartford Technology College claims that ‘universal benefits for all’ was the original idea for the British welfare state and the means-testing culture has eroded this (Student Education Forum, 2005). The sports students at the college who participated are from a range of backgrounds, and as the results show, all of the participants receive EMA payments of at least £10 per week. There could be some suggestion that these payments are somewhat irrelevant when comparing this to potential part-time employment (PTE) wages in excess of £100 per week. Machin & Vignoles (2005) provide evidence that shows a 24 percentage point increase in the number of 16 year olds that continue education at the post-compulsory stage, up from 48% of Year 11 leavers in 1989 to 72% in 2002. Despite this great increase across all Year 11 leavers, DCSF statistics (2008)

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show white males have, at the age of 14, the lowest educational aspirations of any group, with just 70% of males intending to continue to some form of FE after Year 11. The statistics become even more startling when dealing with deprived communities. The percentage of pupils at this age from deprived communities who wish to progress to FE is just 52%. These statistics will become far more relevant in the results section of this paper, where comparisons may be drawn. The allure of being paid to study via the EMA may well be near null and void with the expectations of parents having such high regard with children. According to the DCSF (2008), just 21% of parents from lower social classes expect their children to be in a professional role, and over double this percentage of higher social class parents expect the same. This social effect is disregarded in the questionnaire, as the eighth question simply asks the student what destination they expect for themselves. The same report from the DCSF (2008) also states quotes from young people who claim that they are going to go to prison. There is no mention of the EMA here, thus this provides some disagreement with the findings of Feinstein & Sabates (2005) with regards to the relationship between crime and education and the EMA. In a Scottish Executive report (2002), it is claimed that the EMA had, “… no effect upon attainment”, although it is claimed that attendance and participation increased (Croxford et al., 2002). It is then a question to raise as to why the government publication promoting the EMA (DFES, 2003) claimed that the pilot improved attendance and attainment, when clearly according to the East Ayrshire pilot it did not improve attainment, and the evidence suggested by Machin & Vignoles is inconclusive on this matter (Machin & Vignoles, 2005, p.210).

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Methods & Methodology The data used in this paper was obtained using questionnaires to random students on each of the following courses at the college; A-Level, BTEC National Diploma Sport, BTEC National Diploma Sport & Exercise Science, BTEC National Certificate Sport. The total sample was 12. Students were invited from each group, creating a convenient sample that completed a dichotomous and multiple-choice questionnaire. Participation by the students was voluntary, and the original sample was to be 15 but due to participant refusal from the BTEC Introductory Diploma group, the sample (n=3) could not be met and thus the group was eliminated from the enquiry. The questionnaires were constructed with eight questions, and the closed, dichotomous and multiple-choice nature of the questionnaire forced participants into providing answers that were simple to gather for statistical analysis. According to Wilson & McLean (1994) dichotomous and multiple questionnaires do not discriminate against the participant with continuous prose, and are simple and easy for the participant to complete. However, based on the evidence from Cohen et al. (2007), the benefits of an open question would have been perfectly suited to the final question of the questionnaire. Students responded to the questionnaires quickly, as expected, and the data provided was purely nominal through single mode answers (Cohen et al., 2007, p.323). The final question may have been answered in such a manner that word-based data would have formed part of the analysis, but the multiple choices were necessary for all participants. The questionnaire was not biased in any way, and did not ask questions that did not meet ethical standards, and all participants were fully informed that their information was strictly confidential and no personal data was collected in any capacity. The cohort was informed of the confidentiality, and to support this; signatures were not collected to ensure total anonymity. The only information collected about the student was:

Age

Gender

Course enrolled on

Desired academic destination

Area of residence (county) None of the information is traceable back to any one particular student, although the anonymous nature of this data is potentially destructive. The information cannot be validated for its authenticity, in terms of it being a real aim of each individual student, nor can it be followed up with interviews to support reasons why they chose the answers they did.

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This is one area in which future enquiries in this area would have to ensure is dealt with. At present, studies in the area deal with questionnaires on a large and sometimes complex scale, with sample groups of over 40,000 in some cases. This is certainly a major consideration for future studies in ensuring valid results that are not distorted in any way, with trends clearly identifiable from groups of this size.

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Results

Figure 1.1 Number of participants that were male and female

Male participants 9

Female participants 3

Total participants 12

Figure 1.2 Participants’ area of residence

Bath & North East Somerset 1

City of Bristol 5

Gloucestershire 0

North Somerset 2

Somerset 0

South Gloucestershire 2

Wiltshire 0

Other counties in South Wales 1

Total 12

Figure 1.3 Participants’ desired destination after FE

Degree 6

Foundation degree 1

Full-time employment 1

Not sure 4

Other 0

Total 12

Figure 1.4 Participants’ GCSE achievements

5 GCSEs A*-C including: English, Maths, Science

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5 GCSES A*-C or less or without English, Maths, Science

2

Total 12

Figure 1.5 Participants receiving EMA and aspire to degree studies after FE

£30 per week 5

£20 per week 1

£10 per week 0

Total 6

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Figure 1.6 Participants receiving maximum EMA and aspire to HE (inc. Foundation)

Bath & North East Somerset 1

City of Bristol 0

Gloucestershire 1

North Somerset 1

Somerset 0

South Gloucestershire 2

Wiltshire 0

Other counties in South Wales 0

Total 5

Figure 1.7 Participants receiving less than £30 EMA and aspire to HE (inc. Foundation)

Bath & North East Somerset 0

City of Bristol 2

Gloucestershire 0

North Somerset 0

Somerset 0

South Gloucestershire 0

Wiltshire 0

Other counties in South Wales 0

Total 2

Appendix B contains a sample questionnaire along with the 12 completed questionnaires.

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Discussion

Figure 1.0 indicates that just 25% of the respondents were female. Other research indicated by the DCSF (2007) suggests that females are more likely to continue their education, that males are less likely to aspire to, or desire, a higher academic destination. Females, according to the DCSF (2008) are far more likely to go into FE and beyond, with around 60% of white females compared with 50% of white males wishing to continue. The male-female disparity is evident across most ethnic groups, although within this study, ethnicity is not taken into consideration. The percentage of participants who were not sure of their desired destination (33%) (See Figure 1.3) indicates support for the claim from Machin & Vignoles (2005), who suggest that, “…young adults may not be making informed choices, or are constrained from doing so”. With the collegiate system (where schools partner with an FE institution) in place, schools may feel under pressure to heavily influence their students throughout the decision-making process, although one could not speculate too much on this matter. The 50% of respondents who indicated that their desired destination is full degree studies is directly in line with the current government’s policy of supporting 50% of school leavers into HE by 2010 (Daily Telegraph online, 2004). This target is clearly in place to widen participation at universities across the UK, and there is further support that the EMA is working to engineer this in Figure 1.5, where five of the six participants in this category of data indicated that they receive the maximum EMA payments, thus indicating they are from a lower socio-economic background. With almost 50% of participants in this enquiry responding positively to desiring university on completion of their FE programme, the results a certainly going against the trend suggested by the DCSF (2007; 2008). Figures 1.6 and 1.7 are of great interest in that the results are inverted from the expected results. One would have expected that based on the deprivation across the City of Bristol and the more affluent areas of the city and the region around the city, for HE aspiring students to be claiming the lowest EMA entitlement or none at all. However, as is the case with this particular cohort, it is the more affluent areas of Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire that hold the students that claim the maximum £30 per week. One however should be cautious with this data as there was no specific address details taken from the participants, and given the close proximity of some of the towns in South Gloucestershire to Bristol’s less affluent areas, there is potential for disparity with the data. It is interesting, however, that a student who travels in from Bath & North East Somerset, at least 12 miles away, claims maximum EMA and aspires to go to university. It is an unusual scenario, given that according to the data from the DCSF (2007; 2008) there should be some correlation between a student’s

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household income, parental expectations and the student’s desired academic destination. Of course, as previously stated, there were no specific details accounted for regarding address which would alter the perception of the area resided in, no account for parental influence which would undoubtedly affect the student’s thoughts on academics and future prospects. The two participants who stated that they did not achieve the 5 A*-C grades at GCSE including English, Maths, Science were residents of North Somerset and the City of Bristol. Both participants were members of the NC group, and the North Somerset participant wanted to go into FTE once he completed the course. The Bristol participant ticked ‘not sure’ as her answer. The fact that this participant is female and is unsure of her desired future progress is symptomatic of an individual in a deprived area, when using the DCSF data (2008) in a comparison. The DCSF (2009) claim that ‘White British’ girls are amongst the least like ethnic group to attain 5A*-C grades at GCSE. Given that the criteria set out in the questionnaire is slightly stricter, one can only draw some parallels, with caution. Based on the information gained through the questionnaire, it is therefore surprising that boys, who are even less likely than girls to attain 5A*-C grades at GCSE (DCSF, 2009), achieved the grades (including English, Maths and Science) in all but one case. According to the DCSF (2008) just 52% of individuals from the most deprived communities are considering university applications, compared with 71% from the least deprived. In addition, 16% from the most deprived communities are ready to quit full time education altogether, compared with just 9% of the least deprived. Whilst the student did not state she wishes to leave education, her uncertainty could be assumed as a negative towards HE. However, again due to the lack of an open question and multiple mode answer opportunities, one may make assumptions that are profoundly incorrect. However, given the structure of the questionnaire and the aim of this enquiry, the statistics gained are sufficient enough to draw conclusions on the students involved in comparison with the national trends.

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Conclusion The EMA system is a beneficial tool in encouraging participation in deprived communities (Machin & Vaginoles, 2005, p.210). However, the benefits of the EMA regarding attainment and achievement have yet to be proven (Machin & Vaginoles, 2005, p.10; Croxford, et al., 2004, p.1). The ODPM (2004) maintains that financial incentive to the communities with the highest deprivation would indeed be beneficial in terms of FE participation, but again a correlation between attainment and EMA is still unclear. Thompson & Maguire (2006) certainly provide evidence to suggest that a ‘National Youth Allowance’ may be the better option. This supports the sentiment displayed in the online forum by an administrator regarding ‘universal benefits’ rather than the current means-testing systems (Student Education Forum, 2005). The cohort involved in this enquiry certainly provided some unusual data for the statistical comparisons to national and local trends. Males who, at 14, generally perceive their future prospects to be minimal, desired a higher academic destination (i.e. HE) than would have been expected. The females that participated in the study were varied in ability it seems, and their desired academic destinations varied accordingly, but all participants were not conforming to the national averages. The study group, on average, was a lot more focussed on HE than the national statistics suggest, although this academic year group may well be the first to reach the 50% HE target, set out by the government. With so many efforts to support students in Further Education and beyond through purely financial means, it seems through this inquiry that the financial benefits may not necessarily dictate higher attainment. Certainly the Scottish Executive’s report into the EMA pilot in East Ayrshire provides comprehensive evidence for this, and other literature suggests that there are wider social issues to consider (DCSF 2007; DCSF 2008; Croxford et al., 2004; ODPM, 2004). Based on this and the evidence from Thompson & Maguire (2006), Feinstein & Sabates (2005) and the ODPM (2004) it would be foolhardy to assume that the students in this cohort and others would benefit from financial help and nothing else in order for students to progress beyond compulsory education. One would aim towards future studies combining wider social issues and policy, with financial incentives and the quality of the lives of youths.

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Bibliographical References Burton, N., Brundrett, M., Jones, M. (2008) Doing Your Education Research Project; London, SAGE Publications Cohen, L., Manion, L., Morrison, K. (2007) Research Methods in Education (6th Ed); Oxon, Routledge Croxford, L., Howieson, C., Lannelli, C., Ozga, J. (2002) Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs): Evaluation of the East Ayrshire Pilot; Edinburgh, Scottish Executive- Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department Department for Children, Schools & Families (2007) NEET Statistics Quarterly Brief; London, DCSF Department for Children, Schools & Families (2008) Aspiration and attainment amongst young people in deprived communities; London, DCSF Department for Children, Schools & Families (2009) The evidence on pupils in England: Foundation Stage to Key Stage 4; London, DCSF Department for Education and Skills (2004) Education Maintenance Allowance: An Introduction; London, DFES Evening Post (2009) ‘Poor facilities force the Bristol Schools Championships to Bath’ Evening Post [online], 21st May 2009, Accessed on 23rd May 2009, at URL: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/sport/Poor-facilities-force-Bristol-Schools-Championship-Bath/article-1011156-detail/article.html Feinstein, S., Sabates, R. (2005) ‘Education and Youth Crime’ Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning pp. 13-26 Henry, J. (2004) Send 70pc of all school-leavers to university, says education chief; Education; Daily Telegraph [online], 6th April 2004, Accessed on 21st March 2009, at URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/3320675/Send-70pc-of-all-school-leavers-to-university-says-education-chief.html Machin, S., Vignoles, A. (2005) What’s the Good of Education? The economics of education in the UK; Princeton, Princeton University Press Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2004) The English Indices of Deprivation 2004; Wetherby, ODPM Student Education Forum (2005) ‘EMA, Students get paid to stay in school?’ [Online] The Student Education Forum, Accessed on 29th March 2009, at URL: http://studenteducationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?s=109587953fd5d406ebc1994dd8ca5692&showtopic=384&pid=6415&st=0&#entry6415

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THES Editorial (1999) ‘LEAs in EMA pilot scheme announced’ Times Higher Education Supplement [online] 29th January 1999, Accessed on 14th April 2009, at URL: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=144762&sectioncode=26 Thompson, J., Maguire, S. (2006) ‘Research Report 3: Paying young people to stay on at school – does it work? Evidence from the evaluation of the piloting of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)’; Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education & Training pp. 1-37 Wilson, N., McLean, S. (1994) Questionnaire Design: A Practical Introduction; Antrim, University of Ulster Press

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Appendix A

Image from the ODPM (2004) showing geographical region of;

Somerset to the south west

Wiltshire in the east

Bristol (labelled) in the centre

Gloucestershire & South Gloucestershire in the north and centre

North Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset surrounding the south and east of the City of Bristol

The darker the blues the more deprived the area (e.g. Bristol) The brighter the yellows the less deprived the area (e.g. north of Swindon) *Unfortunately, no map of the same structure was available for South Wales.

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Appendix B (Attached)