This paper undertakes an analysis of Nigeria's quota-based policy for equitable higher education (HE) access with reference to the catchment criterion. HE access demand in Nigeria has far outweighed supply. With a large and diverse population and a growing HE sector, the policy sets out a range of overlapping eligibility criteria as integral to…

In September 2022, the Institute for Fiscal Studies' Deaton Review drew attention to clear evidence that the UK compulsory education system is failing to tackle inequality. Their analysis demonstrated that attainment gaps between pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and those who are not exist across all stages of education.…

The COVID-19 pandemic posed great risks to some disabled students, not necessarily because of health-related conditions, but due to the pre-existing entrenched inequalities that might have led to widened disparities. Hence, our aim was to critically explore the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for disabled students, focusing on equal access…

Early years policy in England is at a turning point. There has perhaps never been more political attention on the sector, with growing sentiment from parents that existing provision does not serve their needs. This briefing lays out existing evidence for the benefits of early education, including inequalities in access to existing entitlements,…

As our student population becomes more culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), the field of school psychology continues to have demands to improve upon best-practice procedures in accurately evaluating and identifying students with disabilities, without pathologizing cultural and linguistic differences. Specifically, students in the Armenian…

This research explores the interrelations of higher education and welfare state models in the USSR of the 1960-1980s and Russia of the 2000-2020s. We first address the extent to which the provision of higher education aligns with the key imperatives of welfare redistribution: eligibility, state-market balance, and equality. Second, we schematize…

The opening of new state schools by non-state actors has intensified debates about social selection and inequality in quasi-markets. This article examines the case of England, where the government allows anyone to apply to open a new 'free school', arguing this will improve social equity. Using data from the National Pupil Database for all 325…

India's "Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009" compels private schools to reserve a proportion of their seats for free for disadvantaged children. Although controversial, it is idealized as an equity measure for inclusion in and through education. This small-scale study, feeding into a larger research project,…

This research overview summarizes the work undertaken by Kaye Bowman and Suzy McKenna in exploring jurisdictional approaches to the implementation of student entitlements to vocational skills training, a key reform initiative in the National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform (NPASR) of 2012-16. The overview is a condensed summary of three…

Employing a Weberian understanding of the centrality of a strong bureaucracy in the modern nation-state, this article examines the relationship between the state and elite education in France. Through a historical analysis and an examination of two current issues facing education--widening participation and pressures to internationalise--we…

Access to higher education in Egypt is expanding in both the public and private sectors. Using a nationally representative sample from the Survey of Young People in Egypt, this article is able to disaggregate patterns of access by both demographic group and university sector. Findings suggest that access in the public sector is governed strongly…

Despite reasonably high economic growth in recent years, many countries in the Central Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) region struggle to achieve high national standards to guarantee basic rights for all their citizens. Families with young children are particularly vulnerable and are often unable to provide a stable and…

The Sutton Trust has always recognised the importance of fair school admissions to improving social mobility. Researchers from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the University of Cambridge, and NatCen Social Research (NatCen), along with David Jesson from the University of York, were asked by the Sutton Trust to investigate entry into…

Decision-making regarding intensive instructional support for children with special needs should build from children's instructional needs, and not from diagnostic labelling and criteria for funding eligibility. Cognitive referencing, the use of results on intelligence and language quotients to decide children's academic options and funding…

Relatively little research has explored whether schools differ in their effectiveness for different group of pupils (e.g. by ethnicity, poverty or gender), for different curriculum subjects (e.g. English, mathematics or science) or over time (different cohorts). This paper uses multilevel modelling to analyse the national test results at age 7 and…