English Baccalaureate Research Report 2013 Web Version
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English Baccalaureate Research January 2013 Teacher number statistics updated May 2013 Key Findings .............................................................................................................. 2 Withdrawing arts subjects ........................................................................................ 3 Children at schools with a high proportion of FSM more affected .......................... 4 Children and young people’s access to cultural activities ........................................ 5 Patterns in GCSE entries ........................................................................................... 6 Teacher numbers ...................................................................................................... 8 Initial Teacher Education numbers ....................................................................... 8 Appendix A - Analysis of the DfE Impact of the English Baccalaureate research ..... 9 Appendix B - Patterns in GCSE entries .................................................................... 14 Numbers of GCSEs sat in arts subjects 2002-2012 ............................................. 14 Number of GCSE sat 2002-2012 in arts subjects as a % of pupil numbers ......... 17 Subject percentage of total number of GCSEs sat .............................................. 19 GCSE attempts by subject by type of school ...................................................... 21 Appendix C - Information from DATA on Design and Technology GCSE entry patterns. ................................................................................................................. 23 Appendix D - Teacher numbers .............................................................................. 25 Number of teachers in schools Keystage 3 to 5 .................................................. 25 Highest level of qualification held in a relevant subject by teachers ................. 32 Percentage of hours taught a week by teachers with any relevant post A-Level qualification ........................................................................................................ 35 Percentage of hours taught a week by teachers with degree or higher ............ 36 Appendix E - Initial Teacher Education entrants .................................................... 37 Author: Sam Cairns [email protected] English Baccalaureate Research January 2013 Updated May 2013 Key Findings • Schools are withdrawing arts subjects as a result of the English Baccalaureate • Schools with a high proportion of children on free school meals are more than twice as likely to withdraw arts subjects than schools with a low proportion (21% versus 8%) • GCSE entries in arts subjects have fallen 20% in the last decade, and continue to fall The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is having an adverse effect on arts subjects in schools. 15% of schools surveyed by Ipsos MORI in 2012 had withdrawn one or more arts subjects as a result of the EBacc. 21% of schools with a high proportion of free school meals (FSM) reported withdrawing arts subjects. This comes on the heels of a decade long fall in the number of students taking arts GCSEs. In the case of GCSEs in Art and Design subjects this fall is precisely similar to the drop in Geography GCSE entries, a drop that the government cites as one of the reasons for including Geography in the Ebacc. A further worrying trend, and one highlighted as an unintended consequence of the EBacc by the House of Commons Education Committee1, is the impact of the EBacc on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Children at schools with a high proportion of FSM are more likely to have arts subjects withdrawn, and to have their GCSE option blocks affected; 65% of schools with high FSM reported changing their GCSE options as a result of the EBacc compared to 30% of schools with low FSM. The Committee also raised concerns that the EBacc would not only focus resources away from non-EBacc subjects, like the arts, but also away from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, as schools concentrated on students on the borderline of achieving the EBacc. These unintended impacts on the most disadvantaged children raise grave concerns, not least because of the evidence that arts subjects raise the attainment of children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, increase their employability and increase their chances of engaging with their communities. Research shows children from lower socio-economic backgrounds who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree, twice as likely to volunteer and 20% more likely to vote. Scottish research shows employability of students who study arts subjects is higher and they are more likely to stay in 1 House of Commons Education Committee, The English Baccalaureate Fifth Report of Session 2010-12 Volume I (London: The Stationary Office Limited, 2011) 2 English Baccalaureate Research January 2013 Updated May 2013 employment2. Schools provide a vital universal access point for children to the arts, and in some cases provide the only access point. DCMS Taking Part data shows that 33% of 11-15 year old boys and 20% of girls do not access arts outside of schools3 and that children from lower socio-economic backgrounds have less access to arts than children from wealthier families. Schools with a high proportion of FSM withdrawing arts subjects, narrowing children’s access to the arts should ring alarm bells. Withdrawing arts subjects In 2012 the Department for Education commissioned Ipsos MORI4 to survey schools on the impact of the Ebacc. Their sample consisted of 618 schools. See Appendix A for detailed analysis of the data. From the Ipsos MORI data5 we know in 2012: • 15% of schools surveyed withdrew one or more arts subjects6. • 21% of schools with a high proportion of FSM7 withdrew one or more arts subjects compared to 8% of schools with a low proportion of FSM. • 10% of schools with a high proportion of FSM said they had withdrawn Drama as a subject or course compared to 3% of schools with a low proportion of FSM. This correlates with the expectations of the expert witnesses at the House of Commons Education Committee held in April 2011 recorded in the report The English Baccalaureate who expected music to be damaged by the EBacc proposals8. The statistics below provide the detailed survey results from the Ipsos MORI survey which reported that 27% of schools had withdrawn any subject as a result of the 2 Cultural Learning Alliance, The Case for Cultural Learning: key research findings (London: Cultural Learning Alliance, 2011) 3 Helen Jones, Peter Millward (Knight, Kavanagh and Page) and Babatunde Buraimo (University Of Central Lancashire), Child participation in culture and sport Analysis of the 2008/09 Taking Part Survey, DCMS, London 2011, page 5-6 4 Helen Greevy, Anastasia Knox, Fay Nunney & Julia Pye, Ipsos MORI The effects of the English Baccalaureate (London: Department for Education, 2012) 5 Data acquired via a Freedom of Information request asking for the 618 survey returns the publication The effects of the English Baccalaureate was based on. 6The effects of the English Baccalaureate asked schools about subjects withdrawn. We have defined the following subjects from their list as arts subjects: Art, Drama/performing arts, Media studies, Music, Technology/Design technology, Textiles 7 High proportion of FSM-eligible pupils = above 16%, Medium proportion of FSM-eligible pupils = 6%-16%, Low proportion of FSM-eligible pupils = less than 6% 8House of Commons Education Committee, The English Baccalaureate Fifth Report of Session 2010-12 Volume I (London: The Stationary Office Limited, 2011) Q54 and Q55 3 English Baccalaureate Research January 2013 Updated May 2013 EBacc. We further analysed the data to isolate the number of schools who had withdrawn one or more arts subjects. Withdrew one or more arts subjects Proportion FSM High Medium Low All schools Withdrew non arts subjects 30 20 16 66 Withdrew one or more arts subjects 44 35 16 95 No subjects withdrawn 135 159 163 457 All schools in survey 209 214 195 618 Withdrew one or more arts subjects Proportion FSM High Medium Low All schools Withdrew non arts subjects 14% 9% 8% 11% Withdrew one or more arts subjects 21% 16% 8% 15% No subjects withdrawn 65% 74% 84% 74% What subjects or courses have been withdrawn? (Question 13b of the Ipsos MORI survey) Subject cut Proportion of FSM High Medium Low All schools Art 5% 5% 3% 4% Drama/Performing Arts 10% 5% 3% 6% Media studies 1% 1% 1% 1% Music 6% 4% 2% 4% Technology/Design technology 3% 6% 2% 4% Textiles 2% 5% 1% 3% P.E/Sport 2% 3% 3% 3% (PE has been included to provide a comparison) Children at schools with a high proportion of FSM more affected The English Baccalaureate performance measure is disproportionately affecting children at schools with a high proportion of pupils with Free School Meals9 (FSM). As set out above schools are more likely to withdraw an arts subject if they have a high proportion of FSM than schools with a low proportion (21% versus 8%). 9 Free School Meals (FSM) have been found to be a proxy for children from families: • In the bottom quartile of the income distribution • FSM status proxies “best” children in workless families and those with only one part- time worker FSM is status is statistically significant in the proxy variable regressions, so it does predict achievement in the absence of true SES (Socio-Economic Status) measures. However, FSM status does not always do a good job as a proxy