abstract: 'Focusing on data and policies from England, trends in educational

  disadvantage by area are traced from the late 1960s when the first pilot

  projects were established in the UK, to the present. The origins of

  these developments and the subsequent rises and falls of such area-based

  policies in England are reviewed. Specially collected data for the pilot

  areas from the 1960s and national data for England from 2000 are used to

  draw out some striking patterns of changes over the period. Though many

  of the areas remain highly disadvantaged, educational measures at age 16

  and at entry to higher education (HE) indicate some important changes.

  Thus the settled, white working-class pilot area in the 1960s with just

  below average results had fallen back very substantially by 2013,

  particularly in entry to HE. By contrast the newly settled Asian

  immigrant area in Birmingham where educational performance was

  exceptionally poor in the 1960s had moved above average despite

  remaining highly disadvantaged. Analysis of the national results since

  2000 using local area data showed that these trends were widespread

  across England. Disadvantaged `multicultural urban areas'' were doing

  markedly better than the disadvantaged white working-class urban areas,

  where in many cases traditional industries had closed. This was

  especially marked at entry to HE where multicultural areas had rates

  close to the national average of 40\% while white working-class urban

  areas had rates of entry to HE of between 10\% and 15\% of the age group

  and this gap has widened rapidly in recent years. These trends are

  likely to be the source of major resentment, with one group finding

  itself increasingly excluded from higher level employment opportunities,

  and the other failing to find opportunities that match their

  expectations once they leave education.'
affiliation: 'Smith, T (Corresponding Author), Univ Oxford, Dept Social Policy \&
  Intervent, Wellington Sq, Oxford OX1 2ER, England.

  Smith, George; Smith, Teresa, Univ Oxford, Oxford OX1 2ER, England.'
author: Smith, George and Smith, Teresa
author-email: Teresa.smith@spi.ox.ac.uk
author_list:
- family: Smith
  given: George
- family: Smith
  given: Teresa
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1080/03054985.2014.981436
eissn: 1465-3915
files: []
issn: 0305-4985
journal: OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION
keywords: 'educational performance; Educational Priority Areas; area deprivation;

  area-based interventions; educational disadvantage; educational policy'
language: English
month: NOV 2
number: 6, SI
number-of-cited-references: '42'
pages: 715-738
papis_id: dc0909a818112894972279b5005ceec5
ref: Smith2014targetingeducational
times-cited: '8'
title: 'Targeting educational disadvantage by area: continuity and change in urban
  areas in England, 1968-2014'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000345375200004
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '9'
volume: '40'
web-of-science-categories: Education \& Educational Research
year: '2014'