Equality and the Education of Children Looked After by the State

This article draws attention to the vulnerability of looked after children in regard to poor general life outcomes such as homelessness. Poor educational attainment is identified as a contributory factor and information is provided on both cognitive (for example, GCSEs and other examinations) and non-cognitive outcomes (such as exclusions). Findings from the author's own research on the educational progress of individual children are also shown. These demonstrate that, unlike children in families, those in care do not do as well as predicted: that is, the experience of being looked after does not 'add-value'. Finally, the article assesses the British government's response to the circumstances identified above and the progress being made against the performance targets set.