Who gets in? Where you live matters for where you go to school

A graphic depicting school children running into a school overlaid with the text 'Who gets in? Where you live matters for where you go to school'.The system rationing entry to England’s more effective schools could have a big impact on social mobility. Our research provides the first detailed national dataset since widespread academisation.

By Simon Burgess (University of Bristol and IZA), Estelle Cantillon (Université Libre de Bruxelles, FNRS, and CEPR), Mariagrazia Cavallo (University of Bristol), Ellen Greaves (European University Institute and University of Bristol), and Min Zhang (University of Westminster)


Families can express a preference (‘choose’) for their child to attend any state school in England, but schools set the rules for who gets in if they are over-subscribed.…

There can be no “levelling up” without education recovery

There can be no “levelling up” without education recoveryYesterday saw the resignation of Sir Kevan Collins, leading the Government’s Education Recovery Programme, writes Professor Simon Burgess. The pandemic has hit young people very hard, causing significant learning losses and reduced mental health; the Recovery Programme is intended to rectify these harms and to repair the damage to pupils’ futures.