Press releases
Failed By The System - Barnardo's reveals what you really need to know about the 2006 GCSE results.
Release Date: 23/08/2006
With the publication of the GCSE results tomorrow, we will be inundated with success stories from around the country - pictures of ecstatic young people and their delighted teachers and parents as they open their results and celebrate.
What those stories don’t tell us is the truth of the lives of the children who are written off by the education system – the UK’s children in care.
A new report by leading charity Barnardo’s highlights the shocking levels of disadvantage faced by these children, many of whom will struggle to gain even a single qualification this week.
It throws light on a chaotic and disruptive world of targeted school bullying; multiple care homes and foster care placements; of children changing schools over and over again; of them being excluded from schools; and of them frequently experiencing insufficient support from schools or carers.
The report also compares the levels of support currently enjoyed by most GCSE year children from their parents, with those experienced by young people in care, and highlights the very low expectations by some teachers of children who are in care.
The report, 'Failed by the System' is published on Wednesday 23 August, the day before the GCSE results are released. The report outlines dramatic contrasts and demands a fairer system for the 80,000 looked after children in the UK.
The findings are the result of a report and an NOP poll.
The report:
Barnardo’s surveyed 66 young people aged between 16 and 21, who are currently supported by the charity’s leaving care services. Participants spent many of their formative years in care. They were asked about their personal experiences of education and what factors may have affected their chances of achievement at school.
The report also looked at the care leavers’ present situations, and uncovers unsettling truths about their current educational status and desperately poor employment prospects.
The NOP poll:
The charity also commissioned a separate NOP poll which asked 500 parents of children who took their GCSEs this year what they expected of them, and how they supported them with their education.
Martin Narey, Barnardo’s chief executive says: "The cycle of disadvantage that haunts these children as they grow up shows no sign of being broken as they enter adulthood. Our report shows that many looked after children have both academic potential and the desire to work hard, and would have liked to succeed in education but the state, as a parent, fails them terribly. Dreadful GCSE results compound the disadvantages they face and commit them to unemployment and long term disadvantage."
Some findings featured in the report:
| Barnardo's service users What the young people with experience of care told us: | The NOP findings What parents of children not in care told us: |
| GCSEs 79% of the young people who had been in care had no GCSEs or other educational qualifications when they left school. Only 11% had 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* – C. | GCSEs Just 6% of the parents are expecting their child to get no GCSEs this August. 74% expected their child to get at least 5 grades A* - C. (30% expected their child to get 9 or 10 GCSEs) |
| Being bullied Over half the group reported that they had been bullied at school (as a direct result of being in care). | Being bullied Only 28% of the sample said that their child had been bullied at school. |
| Care placements/home moves The number of care placements young people had lived in varied between 1 and 30. 6% had more than 24 placements. 50% had been in more than 4 placements. | Care placements/home moves 58% percent of the families surveyed had never moved home in the lifetime of their child, only 8% of the sample had moved home twice or more. |
| Attendance at parent’s evenings or sports day 39% said no one had attended their school parent’s evenings. 48% said no one went to sports days or other school events. | Attendance at parent’s evenings or sports day 96% attended their child’s parent’s evenings. Only 28% did not attend sports day. |
| Further education and employment Over half (53%) were not currently in employment, training or further education. | Further education and employment Over 90% of the parents said that they expected their child to go into training or further education when they left school. |
| School moves The young people in the group had attended on average five schools. Almost half the group had attended 6 or more schools, and 11% had attended more than 10 different schools. | School moves 85% percent of the parents said their child had only attended two or three schools during their education life. Only 3% said their child had attended 5 or more schools. |
Read the full report here.
Additional information:
Some current facts about children in care in England, and GCSE results:
GCSE results:
Only 6% of care leavers had at least 5 GCSEs at grades A* - C [i] This starkly contrasts with the figures for all other children, for in the same year 56.3% achieved 5 GCSE A* -C grades. [ii]
Missed Government targets:
In 2003 the Government set a number of targets for children in care for 2006. [iii] Yet the Department for Education and Skills is heading for failure on many of these goals.
Its aim was ‘To narrow the achievement gap between children who have been in care for at least a year and their peers, so that by 2006...’:
- No more than 10 per cent of pupils in care for at least a year would reach school leaving age without sitting a GCSE-equivalent exam. Reality: In 2005, 36% did so [iv]
- The proportion of 16 year olds in care gaining five A*- C grade GCSEs or the equivalent would rise by an average of 4 percentage points each year from 2002 (If this target had been met, the 2005 recorded percentage would have been 19.5%). Reality: There has in fact been an average annual rise of just 1.1 percentage points. The 2005 figure was 10.8% which is 8.7% short of the 2003 target for 2005. (In 2002 the proportion was 7.5%, rising to 8.7% in 2003, 9.4% in 2004) [iv]
- In all local authorities, at least 15% of children in care would gain five A*- C grade GCSEs or the equivalent. Reality: in 2005, only 25% of local authorities reached the benchmark. [iv]
Sources:
[i] GCSE and Equivalent Results and Associated Value Added Measures in England 2004/05
[ii] A better Education for Children in Care, Social Exclusion Unit 2003
[iii] Outcome Indicators for Looked After Children: Twelve Months to 30 September 2005, England
[iv] ‘Children Looked After in England’ 2004/5. Department for Education and Skills November 2005
Note to editors:
- Case histories/spokespeople available (includes Barnardo’s Chief Executive, Martin Narey).
- Barnardo’s leaving care projects provide all round support for young people who have been in local authority care, helping them find and maintain accommodation and secure further education or training and employment. They also provide invaluable emotional support to these young people, many of whom are isolated from the rest of society.
- Barnardo’s no longer runs orphanages.The charity works with approximately 120,000 children, young people and their families in over 370 specialised projects in local communities across the UK. This includes work with children affected by today’s most urgent issues: poverty, homelessness, disability, bereavement and abuse. Barnardo’s believes that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children deserve a better start in life and the chance of a better future.Browse through ‘What we do’ for more information about Barnardo’s.
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