Out of school activities & the education gap

Aim

This project will provide insights into how out of school activities help children's learning.

We're investigating how involvement in different types of activities varies for 5 to 11 year olds from different backgrounds and what this means for their educational achievement.

Publications 

Download our latest briefing: Can out of school activities close the education gap?

You can also download four earlier briefings and an article about the study. 

Out of school activities during primary school and KS2 attainment.

The value of after school clubs for disadvantaged children.

Unequal access to out of school activities. This briefing shows that participation in activities varies for children from different backgrounds.

Out of school activities: understanding who does what. In this briefing we group children into distinct categories based on what they do outside lesson time.

After school clubs - can they help raise attainment? A short and accessible article published in Society Central.

Background

Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, we're carrying out this research with Prof Liz Todd and Karen Laing from Newcastle University and Amy Skipp.

You can also read about this project on the Nuffield Foundation's website.

Methods

This study will involve analysis of the latest data from major surveys of young people including the Millennium Cohort Study.

We're also interviewing parents, children and out of school activity providers.

We'll also be building logic models to investigate the strength of different academic theories in explaining any impacts and differences found.