Impetus Insights - December 2024
Welcome to Impetus Insights, a place where we discuss ideas, articles and interesting reading about education and employment policy.
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Welcome to Impetus Insights... a place where we discuss ideas, articles and interesting reading about education and employment policy - and what we think it means for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We'll be sharing this every month alongside news and updates about our own policy work. We'd love to hear what you think of this edition, and what you'd like to see in future newsletters.
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There's been so much news from Impetus HQ this month I don't even have space for the usual soft intro!
We've welcomed two new portfolio partners! Business Launchpad equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the mindset and skills they need to thrive in business. Breadwinners supports young people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds with access to real-world employment, training and mentoring opportunities selling artisan organic bread.
The Impetus Leadership Academy is recruiting! If you're from an ethnic minority background and a middle or senior manager looking to move into a more senior role, check it out. This is aimed at aspiring leaders within the UK youth sector, working with young people aged 11-24 and focused on education and employment.
Our tutoring partners continue to excel! The Tutor Trust have launched in the North East, a region which faces particularly strong educational challenges. More from ITV news here. And Action Tutoring's impact report is out. Their year 6 pupils achieved the best outcomes Action Tutoring has ever reported for reading at key stage 2. Children tutored in maths were 20% more likely to meet the expected standard than other pupils nationally, while those tutored in English were 24% more likely to reach that benchmark. Well done to everyone.
I have now used my entire quota of exclamation marks before we even get into what's been happening in the wider world!
Enjoy reading,
Ben
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In this issue
- Our thoughts on the last month's news and announcements including virtually unusable economic data, enrichment, and smartphones
- Some things we enjoyed reading from the research community, but also some more melancholy stuff about rioting and news from the US
- Some things to look forward to over the next month including stats, launches, and young carer action day
- If you get to the end, I'm riffing on age
News and views
Our focus here, as at Impetus, is on the outcomes that we know work to improve the life chances of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds – school engagement, educational attainment, and sustained employment.
- At a time when the pros of higher education are being contested, David Willetts - once the Universities and Science Minister - reminds us of the graduate premium. By age 31, graduates are earning 37 per cent more than non-graduates. Earnings growth is particularly relevant for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, with an average growth of 75 per cent for graduates previously eligible for free school meals vs 26 per cent for non-graduates previously eligible. Higher education continues to be one of the best-evidenced pathways to a good job and fulfilling life for the young people we care about – so we'll keep banging the drum for it! A useful corrective to the "masters graduates working in warehouses" headlines. (Ayesha Baloch, Senior Policy Advisor)
- As one of the key datasets used by policymakers, it's worrying that five years on, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) continues to be "virtually unusable". The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is now about to spend millions of pounds on temporary workers to address issues with the survey, while unions warn issues such as cost-cutting and high turnover rates are what led to problems in the first place. In better news, the ONS are looking to roll out a Transformed Labour Force Survey, launching in... 2027. Here's to two more years of feeling around in the dark! (Ayesha Baloch, Senior Policy Advisor)
- This month I came across a gap in research that I never expected to be there. Intuitively it makes sense that giving young people access to ‘fun stuff' during or after school like art clubs or sports would make it more likely that they attend school. Over the years I've heard this idea used so many times to make the argument to fund this type of activity that I just thought someone must have established this as fact. But the real answer is that we don't know. Research published by the Centre for Young Lives included some great case studies that gave insight into the ways schools were using enrichment to support good attendance, but the research also shows there's no empirical evidence that demonstrates the link. An EEF rapid evidence assessment on attendance also concluded there is limited evidence, with no British studies. Given the increasingly loud calls to boost enrichment to support school engagement outcomes it feels like we need to close this evidence black hole, and soon. (Carlie Goldsmith, Senior Policy Advisor)
- It's well established that young people from some ethnic minority backgrounds are over-represented in the school exclusion statistics, with a lot of published research trying to better understand what drives it, and commentary about what must be done to tackle it. Research published this month found no clear relationship between ethnicity and permanent exclusion in English schools. Instead, the study found that having reported special educational needs or disabilities, FSM eligibility, and levels of prior attainment are the primary predictors of permanent exclusion. As the Runnymede Trust pointed out in the coverage of the study, we would be foolish to think that race isn't a factor, when it is the interplay of race and class in employment and housing systems that drive many ethnic minority families into poverty, and poor quality often insecure housing that create the conditions for this. I agree our attention should be on ensuring organisations abide by existing discrimination and equality laws, reducing child poverty, and creating a school system inclusive for children whatever their needs. Systems change is hard, and we should all ask ourselves if our current efforts will shift the dial here. (Carlie Goldsmith, Senior Policy Advisor)
- Great data journalism from the FT arguing that less face-to-face interaction might be a big driver of lower wellbeing. So much to unpick here, not least the fact causality probably runs both ways, and of course the role of smartphones/social media – regular readers will know I've become more concerned about all of this stuff over time. The BBC covered research showing school phone bans don't improve wellbeing, but that's at the aggregate level - my guess would be they probably do improve wellbeing for a sizable minority. I still feel a long way away from being able to make concrete recommendations on what to do about all this. (Ben Gadsby, Head of Policy and Research)
Top reads
Here's our roundup of some of the most useful and thought-provoking reads across a range of interesting areas...
- The Children’s Commissioner’s research talking to young people who were involved in the riots last summer is my early frontrunner for most interesting read of the year. I was really struck last year by how many youth-focused charities, who work in these communities and with young people at risk of being drawn into violence, condemned the rioting but did not offer explanations about why young people were involved. (Exceptions from within the Impetus family include the Youth Endowment Fund’s statement.) The Children’s Commissioner's report points out that online misinformation, racism or other right-wing influences were not the primary reason young people were involved, instead their actions were driven by a complicated mix of spontaneous and unconsidered involvement, plus deep distrust of the police. Worth a read. (Ben Gadsby, Head of Policy and Research)
- A new report from NFER urges support for schools to develop six essential employment skills as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, to boost labour market outcomes. Skills is a hot topic right now, not least because of the role it'll play in the Government's employment and economic growth agendas. I certainly agree we need better skills provision but, like many policy areas, there is little alignment on its definition, what exactly it will look like and what framework will be used. At Impetus we're big fans of Skills Builder and would like to see their essential skills framework - shown to "lead to improved productivity, social mobility, job satisfaction and life satisfaction" - rolled out on a wider scale. (Ayesha Baloch, Senior Policy Advisor)
- A quick research round up with a school engagement focus... Do teachers just have to show more empathy with pupils to get more engagement? This fascinating study from the University of Sussex suggests it might help! Maths teachers did two short sessions on empathy, and it led to a reduction in suspensions and behaviour points, especially for boys, compared to students in a control group. It also increased pupils' sense of belonging. Exploratory research conducted by the DfE into schools that have developed in-school support units for pupils struggling to stay in mainstream classes is very timely. It's only a tiny study but it highlights the importance of pupil/teacher and parent/school relationships in keeping young people connected to their learning and reports that units do help to reduce suspension and exclusion… Do check out this paper on the work of our portfolio partner, Jon Egging Trust, in boosting young people's social and emotional skills. In Spring we'll be publishing the findings of our study with ImpactED on the relationship between SEL skills, school attendance and attainment. I am super excited! (Carlie Goldsmith, Senior Policy Advisor)
- News from over the pond continues to depress - The Hechinger Report outlines how education is now in the US Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) firing line. In the past weeks, DOGE has terminated 89 of the Department of Education's evaluation and data contracts, discontinued masses of surveys used to understand education trends, and cancelled US participation in international assessments. Amongst the terminated contracts was an 11-year study on improving employment and educational outcomes for young people with disabilities. The Hechinger Report writes, "without those data points and results, it may be impossible to tell how well students are doing". Bleak. (Ayesha Baloch, Senior Policy Advisor)
- An NPC report on how a mission driven government can partner with civil society is always going to be worth a read, doubly so when you find out it's a joint piece of work with the Future Governance Forum. Lots of good concrete thinking here from capitalising on the sector's insights to civil service secondments to a culture of innovation. Inside baseball note: The work was funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation, who have recently poached Nicole Sykes their Director of Policy. She did great stuff at Pro Bono Economics and I suspect we'll be hearing a lot more from Lloyds Bank Foundation going forward. (Ben Gadsby, Head of Policy and Research)
Look ahead
Monday 3 March is National Secondary Offer Day! If you're waiting to find out which school your child is going to in September, we wish you luck
Tuesday 4 March is an interesting webinar from Pro Bono Economics on "the tangled relationship between low wellbeing, poor belonging and school avoidance for young people"
Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 March are the FEWeek Apprenticeship Conference
Wednesday 12 March is Young Carer Action Day
Friday 14 March sees the second reading of Peter Lamb's Free School Meals (Automatic Registration of Eligible Children) Bill – we hope it passes
Friday 14 and Saturday 15 March are the ASCL conference
Tuesday 18 March is the first of two launches planned for reports from The Who is Losing Learning coalition, setting out the ten policy solutions that will reduce lost learning. Spaces are tight but if you want adding to the list, reply to this email and we'll see what we can do!
Thursday 20 March is a double dose of stats – the annual NEET stats, and the annual school absence stats
