WIREDGOV

Academics have identified a new "squeezed middle" – some 40 per cent of 14-19 year olds who are getting a raw deal from their education. The prospects of these "middle attainers" were "half-served by New Labour" but have "worsened considerably under the Coalition Government as it focuses on high ability students", delegates to the British Educational Research Association conference in Manchester heared yesterday (5 September).

Professors Ann Hodgson and Ken Spours of the Institute of Education, London, argue that competition between schools, combined with parental aspiration, has encouraged these "middle attainers" into A Level courses, for which they are not prepared and where many struggle. While more suitable vocational courses were often available, these were not always the first port of call, the researchers say. "Their perceived lower status was closely tied to the fact they were not universally recognised by higher education institutions."

The problem has been exacerbated by a shortage of apprenticeship places, blamed in part on Labour's unwillingness to require employers to provide them.

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