material deprivation (external factors)

• Material deprivation


  Poverty and a lack of resources, seen as a factor in pupil's underachievement
• Poverty and educational underachievement


  Are closely linked
• Department for Education (2012) - barely 1/3 of pupils eligible for FSM got 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C, compared to 2/3 of pupils who did and aren't FSM
• Flaherty (2004) - family's money problems are a huge factor in young pupils' poor attendance
• Exclusion & truancy are more likely for children from poor families. 1/3 of persistent truants leave with no qualifications, and many of those excluded don't return to mainstream
• Almost 90% of failing schools are in deprived areas
• Factors affecting education due to poverty


  • Housing
  • Diet & health
  • Financial support & costs of education
  • Fear of debt
• Housing


  • Poor housing affects pupil's education like overcrowding, stopping them from having a place to focus and
• Poor housing


  Affects pupil's education - like overcrowding stopping them from having a place to focus and study, or having disrupted sleep from shared rooms (which affects performance in class)
• Young children's development


  Impaired through lack of space for safe exploration, and constantly moving from temporary accommodation affects schooling too
• Poor housing


  Can cause pupils to become ill frequently, which affects attendance and therefore learning quality
• Howard (2001): 'Young people from poor homes have lower intakes of vitamins/minerals/energy. This affects education weakening their immune system, causing low attendance'
• Wilkinson (1996): 'Children from poor homes are more likely to have emotional/behaviour problems, which negatively impacts their educational achievement'
• Lack of financial support in poorer families


  Means children go without equipment and miss educational opportunities that raise achievement
• Bull (1980): 'This is the cost of free schooling'
• Tanner et al (2003): 'Found costs of books, transport, uniform, etc put a heavy burden on poor families'
• Hand-me downs/cheaper items


  Can result in children being bullied/isolated/stigmatised by peers
• Flaherty: '20% of those eligible for FSM don't take them'
• Poverty


  Acts as a barrier to learning, like not being able to afford tuition or private school
• Callendar & Jackson (2005): 'WC pupils are averse to going to university because of the debt that comes with it-they saw debt as something negative and to be avoided'
• MC pupils


  Are without this attitude to debt, making them 5x more likely to apply to uni than WC pupils
• UCAS (2012): 'When tuition fees rose in 2012, the number of UK applicants fell by 8.6%'