London Challenge: Survey of Pupils and Teachers 2004

RESEARCH
London Challenge:
Survey of Pupils and Teachers 2004
Helen Addams and Mike Johnson
Centre for Successful Schools
Keele University
Research Report RR643

Research Report
No 643
London Challenge:
Survey of Pupils and Teachers 2004
Helen Addams and Mike Johnson
Centre for Successful Schools
Keele University
The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for
Education and Skills.
© Keele University 2005
ISBN 1 84478 492 4
i

Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................... 1
Introduction .......................................................................................................................1
Key Findings - relating to satisfaction ................................................................................1
Aims……… .......................................................................................................................1
Methodology.......................................................................................................................2
The Survey Sample............................................................................................................2
Comparative Data ..............................................................................................................2
Key Findings - relating to perceptions about other issues .................................................3
Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………………………..5
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 7
1.1 Background.................................................................................................................7
1.2 Aims of the Pupil Survey.............................................................................................8
1.3 Aims of the Teacher Survey........................................................................................8
1.4 Structure of the Report................................................................................................8
2. Methodology.................................................................................................. 10
2.1 Pupil Questionnaire..................................................................................................10
2.2 Teacher Questionnaire.............................................................................................11
2.3 The England Database ............................................................................................11
3. The Survey Sample ....................................................................................... 12
3.1 The Schools .............................................................................................................12
3.2 The Pupils ................................................................................................................12
3.3 The Teachers...........................................................................................................13
3.4 Comparative Data ....................................................................................................13
4. Main Findings of the Pupil Surveys............................................................. 15
4.1 Key Findings ............................................................................................................15
4.2 Satisfaction with the School Experience ..................................................................16
4.2.1 School Quality....................................................................................................16
4.2.2 Happiness at School ..........................................................................................18
4.2.3 Quality of Education ...........................................................................................20
4.2.4 School Rules......................................................................................................20
4.2.5 School Facilities .................................................................................................21
4.2.6 Classroom Experience .......................................................................................22
4.3 Relationship with Teachers ......................................................................................24
4.3.1 Pupils’ Respect for Teachers .............................................................................25
4.3.2 Teachers’ Respect for Pupils .............................................................................28
4.4 Quality of Teaching and Learning ............................................................................31
4.4.1 Using ICT to Support Learning...........................................................................37
4.5 Extra-Curricular Activities.........................................................................................39
4.5.1 Provision ............................................................................................................40
4.5.2 Participation .......................................................................................................40
4.6 Pupil Behaviour ........................................................................................................41
4.6.1 Disruption...........................................................................................................41
4.6.2 Bullying Behaviour .............................................................................................43
4.6.3 Racism ...............................................................................................................45
4.7 Pupils’ Self-Image ....................................................................................................46
4.8 Parental Support for Pupil Learning .........................................................................47
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4.9 Going to School in London......................................................................................50
4.10 The Transition from Primary to Secondary School .................................................53
4.11 Curriculum Support and Future Intentions ..............................................................53
5 Main Findings of the Teacher Survey.......................................................... 56
5.1 Key Findings ............................................................................................................56
5.2 Teaching in London..................................................................................................57
5.3 The Schools .............................................................................................................58
5.4 Management and Leadership ..................................................................................59
5.5 The Pupils ................................................................................................................60
5.6 Morale .....................................................................................................................61
5.7 Teaching and Learning ............................................................................................63
5.8 Improving Teaching and Learning in London...........................................................65
5.9 High Quality Professional Development...................................................................67
5.10 Recruitment and Retention - Making teaching in London more attractive ...............67
6 Pupils’ and Teachers’ Views Compared ..................................................... 70
6.1 School Quality...........................................................................................................70
6.2 Pupil/Teacher Relationships .....................................................................................70
6.3 Resources and Facilities...........................................................................................71
6.4 Teaching and Learning .............................................................................................71
6.5 Strategies for Improving Pupils’ Learning .................................................................71
6.6 Pupil Behaviour and Classroom Control ...................................................................72
6.7 Bullying Behaviour ....................................................................................................72
6.8 Staffing .....................................................................................................................73
7 Conclusions................................................................................................... 74
7.1 Pupil Survey .............................................................................................................74
7.2 Teacher Survey........................................................................................................77
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APPENDIX 1.......................................................................................................... 80
Table 1: Year 7 Responses Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background..............................81
APPENDIX 2.......................................................................................................... 89
Table 2: Year 10 Responses Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background............................90
APPENDIX 3.......................................................................................................... 98
Table 3: All Responses (Years 7 & 10) Listed by Year, Gender & Ethnic Background ......99
APPENDIX 4........................................................................................................ 108
Table 4A: Responses Cross-tabulated by Question 20, ‘This school is a good school’ ....109
Table 4B: Pupil Responses Cross-tabulated by Free School Meals Eligibility ..................111
Table 4C: Pupil Responses Cross-tabulated by Ethnic Group ..........................................112
APPENDIX 5........................................................................................................ 113
Table 5: Profile of Pupil Respondents by Ethnic Background...........................................113
APPENDIX 6........................................................................................................ 115
Table 6: Teacher Responses: Personal Details Listed by Gender ...................................116
Table 7: Teacher Responses Listed by Gender ...............................................................118
APPENDIX 7........................................................................................................ 127
Year 7 Pupil Questionnaire ................................................................................................128
Year 10 Pupil Questionnaire ..............................................................................................132
APPENDIX 8........................................................................................................ 136
The Teacher Questionnaire ...............................................................................................137
APPENDIX 9........................................................................................................ 141
Characteristics of participating pupils, teachers and schools ............................................141
Table 8A: Comparing Sample and Population Characteristics for London........................142
Table 8B: Comparing Sample and Population Characteristics for Elsewhere in England .143
Table 9: Pupil Samples Compared with London/England Pupil Population....................144
Table 10: Teacher Sample Characteristics (Ethnic Background) ......................................145
Table 11: Teacher Sample Characteristics (Age and Gender) ..........................................146
APPENDIX 10...................................................................................................... 147
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................148
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Executive Summary
Introduction
The London Challenge is a Department for Education and Skills (DfES) initiative, which aims
to raise levels of attainment in London secondary schools and to create a world class
education system in the capital. The London Challenge commissioned the Centre for
Successful Schools (CSS) at Keele University to conduct research into the views and
attitudes of pupils and teachers to their school experiences in London.
Key Findings – relating to satisfaction
Key findings of the survey of pupils in London in terms of satisfaction with London schools
were that:
• 68% of pupils in London thought they attended a good school;
• 74% believed they were receiving a good education;
• 84% said they were usually happy at school.
Key findings of the survey of teachers in London in terms of satisfaction with London schools
were that:
• 87% of teachers in London said they enjoyed their work;
• 45% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that teacher morale was high;
• 84% of teachers believed that their school was working hard to improve;
• 42% of teachers felt that the quality of their school had improved during the last year.
Key findings relating to perceptions held by pupils and teachers about other issues are
outlined on page 3.
Aims
The research had two equally important aims. Firstly, it aimed to provide each participating
school with their survey results so that they could be used as a self-evaluative management
tool to aid school improvement. Secondly, it aimed to obtain data to enable the perceptions
of pupils and teachers to be tracked over time.
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Methodology
The survey data was obtained by means of an analysis of pupil and teacher responses to
questionnaires. Pupil and teacher surveys were completed during the Summer Term 2004.
A number of key questions were included in both pupil and teacher surveys for which
extensive comparative data existed in the Keele Centre for Successful Schools (CSS)
database. This England database allowed for national comparison with London data. A
qualitative dimension was also provided by including open ended questions in the teachers’
questionnaire and encouraging pupils to provide free-text comments about their school
experience.
The Survey Sample
All LEA maintained secondary schools in London were invited to register for the pupil and
teacher surveys to be conducted in the Summer Term 2004. 114 schools (a 29% sample of
schools invited to participate) completed pupil questionnaires and returned them by the due
date. Of the 114 schools participating in the 2004 survey, 96 returned teacher
questionnaires as well as pupil questionnaires by the due date. The characteristics of
schools participating in the London Challenge survey were compared with, and found to be
broadly representative of, schools in London (see Table 8A in Appendix 9).
In total, 26,707 pupils completed questionnaires satisfactorily (that is, including relevant
personal data for classification) 13,987 in Year 7 and 12,720 in Year 10. 11,532 pupils were
male and 15,175 female. This gender imbalance, 1 boy to 1.316 girls, was corrected by
weighting the data, and only weighted data has been used throughout this report.
2,389 teachers from 96 schools in London participated in the London Challenge survey, 895
were male and 1,494 female. The characteristics of teachers participating in the London
Challenge survey were compared with, and found to be broadly representative of, teachers
in London (see Tables 10 and 11 in Appendix 9).
Comparative Data
The comparative data used in this report was taken from the CSS England database. The
pupil data was collected over a three year period (2001-2004) as part of an on-going, rolling
programme of pupil and teacher surveys conducted by Keele over the last 15 years. The
pupil sample included responses from 18,694 pupils from 209 schools, 9,616 in Year 7 and
9,078 in Year 10. The teacher sample included responses from 700 teachers from 23
2

schools. The characteristics of schools included in the comparative database were
compared with, and found to be broadly representative of, schools nationally (see Table 8B
in Appendix 9).
Key Findings – relating to perceptions about other issues
Pupil Survey
• 63% of pupils in London said they got on well with most or all of their teachers. 38%
believed that teachers were respected by pupils and 54% believed that teachers
respected pupils. 53% thought that most or all of their teachers were good teachers,
45% said most teachers had good classroom control. 41% thought that things that they
worked on were really interesting.
• 61% of pupils in London said they rarely or never behaved badly. 34% reported that
other pupils tried to disrupt lessons every day. 47% said lessons were often so noisy
that they found it difficult to work. 45% said pupils were made fun of for working hard
and 41% thought that most or all teachers were good at dealing with bad behaviour.
• 30% of pupils in London thought that bullying was a particular problem in their school
and 18% thought that racism was a particular problem.
• Pupils’ attitudes to school in London were broadly similar on average, where comparison
was possible, to attitudes held by pupils attending schools elsewhere in England.
• Pupils’ attitudes to schools in London varied according to their age, gender, ethnic
background, and the type and location of their school, but most of all, their attitudes
varied according to the individual school they attended. Girls’ attitudes to most aspects
of school life tended to be more positive than those of boys; and Year 7 pupils tended to
hold more positive attitudes than Year 10 pupils. Pupils from Asian backgrounds
participating in the survey generally adopted a more positive stance to their school
experience than pupils from other ethnic backgrounds, and pupils from Black African and
Black Caribbean backgrounds generally had less positive attitudes than pupils from other
ethnic groups. To some questions, the variation in responses at school level was
considerable, ranging from 100% of supportive responses in one school to less than
10% in others.
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Teacher Survey
• 65% of teachers in London would be prepared to recommend the school in which they
were employed to friends as a good place to send their children.
• 66% of teachers in London thought that the school was well resourced, and 68% felt that
it had a good reputation in the community. 79% said that they would recommend the
school as a good place to work.
• 42% of teachers in London felt that the quality of their school had improved during the
last year, although 22% said it had deteriorated. 20% of teachers felt that the quality of
schooling in London as a whole had improved during the last year.
• 68% of teachers in London regarded pupils as being always or generally well behaved.
• 99% of teachers in London felt that effective behaviour improvement systems were
important in helping improve pupils’ learning. 98% felt that working in new or refurbished
schools was important, and 92% felt matching teaching styles to the needs of individual
pupils was important in helping pupils learn.
• Leadership in London schools was regarded as good by 53% of teachers, and as poor
by 29%. 41% believed that communication in their school was effective, but 40%
disagreed.
• 94% of teachers in London thought that opportunities for high quality professional
development were important for raising teacher morale. 93% felt that more
encouragement from senior staff, and staff working as teams to raise standards, were
important. 94% felt that smaller classes were important, and 92% believed more noncontact
time was important for raising staff morale.
• 93% of teachers in London believed that receiving support for house purchase in London
would make teaching in London more attractive. 89% felt that having access to high
quality Continuing Professional Development, and 84% felt that having up-to-date ICT
would make teaching in London more attractive.
• Teachers’ attitudes to school quality in London varied according to their gender and the
location of the school, but most of all, their attitudes varied according to the individual
school in which they were employed.
4

Conclusions
Pupil Survey
Pupil attitudes to school in London were broadly similar on average - where comparison was
possible - to pupil attitudes in the rest of England, but there was a greater range of
responses to most questions. In common with pupils generally, most pupils in London were
supportive of their own school. Although they were happy at school, less than half the pupils
(41%) said they were really interested in most work they did in school.
Most pupils felt they had a good relationship with their teachers, but little more than a third
believed that teachers were generally respected. A third of the pupils reported that other
pupils tried to disrupt lessons every day, and under half thought that classroom control was
good, and that teachers dealt well with bad behaviour.
Differences between gender, year and ethnic background, and between groups of pupils
attending schools in inner and outer London, were extremely small when compared with the
considerable disparity between individual schools. In some schools, the pupils’ experiences
seemed to be extremely positive, in others the responses suggested a considerable degree
of disaffection among the pupils.
Teacher Survey
In London, the teachers’ view of the schools in which they were employed was, for the most
part, positive. Two thirds of the respondents overall were satisfied with the level of school
resource available to them. Two thirds expressed satisfaction with the school’s reputation in
the community, and over three quarters were happy to recommend the school as a good
place to work. Four out of five teachers considered that their school was working hard to
improve, and twice as many saw an improvement in the quality as saw a decline.
Teachers’ views about the management and leadership of London schools were mixed. Half
saw the leadership in their school as effective but a quarter did not.
Nearly all teachers surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that effective behaviour
management and reward systems were important for improving pupils’ learning. Substantial
proportions of teachers also agreed that working in new or refurbished schools and matching
teaching styles to the needs of individual pupils were important for improving pupils’
5

learning.
Fewer than half the respondents felt that teachers’ morale was high. Factors which over
ninety percent of teachers thought were important for raising teacher morale were:
opportunities for high quality professional development, more encouragement from senior
staff, staff working as teams to raise standards, smaller classes and more non-contact time.
As with the pupil survey, by far the largest variation in responses was between the individual
schools in which teachers were employed rather than between teachers of different gender,
or teachers located in different parts of London.
6

1. Introduction
The London Challenge is a Department for Education and Skills (DfES) initiative, which aims
to raise levels of attainment in London secondary schools and to create a world class
education system in the capital. The London Challenge commissioned the Centre for
Successful Schools (CSS) at Keele University to conduct research into the views and
attitudes of pupils and teachers to their school experiences in London.
The surveys work took place in a context where the population is significantly more diverse
and transient than in communities in other parts of the country (Baker and Eversley, 2000,
quoted in DfES, London Challenge: Transforming Secondary Schools 2003). It was
important, therefore, that the scale and scope of the survey reflected this diversity, which
ensured that comparison between schools and families of schools was possible within the
London community, and allowed the full range of pupils and teachers to express their views
and have their voices heard.
1.1 Background
For more than a decade now, researchers working in the fields of school improvement and
school effectiveness (Mortimore et al., 1988; Barber, 1994 and 1996; Sammons et al., 1994;
Rudduck, Chaplain and Wallace, 1996; Coleman and Collinge, 1998; MacBeath and
Mortimore, 2001; Fielding, 2001) have recognised the importance of listening to the views of
stakeholders, pupils, parents and staff, for whom the quality of the school is perceived as
central to the pupils’ life chances.
Information about the views of pupils, teachers and parents, provided by research projects
such as those carried out for the Scottish Office Education Department by the Education
Centre at the University of Strathclyde, or by the Centre for Successful Schools at Keele
University have served to inform strategies for constructive change in schooling. Both these
projects use methodologies based on questionnaires, which also include the opportunity for
free-text responses to encourage pupils, parents and teachers to contribute to the
development of their schools. Not only do surveys conducted with the three stakeholders
provide policy makers with insights into the school culture as perceived from at least three
differing viewpoints, they also provide the schools themselves with evidence to facilitate their
own self-evaluation process, to help them reflect upon their own performance and to support
them in planning and improvement measures.
7

1.2 Aims of the Pupil Survey
The purpose of the pupil survey was to measure and identify pupils' attitudes, perceptions
and experiences of schooling in London. The attitude of pupils to the school, the quality of
teaching and learning and the nature of pupils’ relationships with their teachers are important
indicators of a school's likely effectiveness. The survey focused on the views of young
people about the experiences they were receiving in secondary schools; their perceptions of
the quality of those experiences, their relationship with teachers and peers, their awareness
of their parents/carers' support for their education, the quality of teaching and learning, and
the degree to which they were prepared to commit themselves to the school’s purposes.
The survey examined the way in which pupils’ attitudes varied according to their age, gender
and ethnic background.
1.3 Aims of the Teacher Survey
The main aim of the teacher survey was to to measure and identify teachers' attitudes,
perceptions and experiences of teaching in London. The survey explored the views
teaching staff had about the quality of education the pupils were receiving in their own
school and in London as a whole. Teaching and learning were areas of particular
consideration for the survey. Teachers were asked to reflect on classroom practice and the
extent to which pupils are inspired to achieve, with high expectations, challenging lessons
matched to the pupils’ needs, and good classroom control.
1.4 Structure of the Report
The evidence presented in the main body of the report gives an overview of earlier reports
containing school, family, inner London, outer London and Greater London level data, which
have already been completed and distributed to individual schools. Findings from the
teacher and pupil surveys are presented separately and, within the pupil section of the report
(Section 4), there is extensive reference to the differences in response between year,
gender and ethnic background groups, and between pupils from inner and outer London.
More detailed data analysis of the London data, tabulated by year group, gender and ethnic
background is presented in Appendices A1 to A5. The findings for teachers are discussed
in Section 5 of the report, with detailed analysis, tabulated by gender presented in Appendix
A6. In the case of both pupils and teachers, illustrative graphs are used within the report to
supplement and enhance the written text.
8

Table 1 in Appendix A1 presents the schools’ data from Year 7, with responses analysed by
gender and ethnic background. Table 2 in Appendix A2 presents the school’s data from
Year 10, with responses listed by gender and ethnic background. Table 3 in Appendix A3
provides both year group and school total responses tabulated by gender and ethnic
background.
9

2. Methodology
Both surveys employed a predominately quantitative methodology, the data being obtained
by means of an analysis of pupil and teacher responses to questionnaires. Pupil and
teacher surveys were completed during the Summer Term 2004.
A qualitative dimension was provided by encouraging pupils and teachers to provide freetext
comments about certain aspects of their school experience. Some of these are used in
the body of this report to supplement, substantiate and enrich the evidence provided by the
survey instruments.
2.1 Pupil Questionnaire
In each participant London school the target research group consisted of pupils from Key
Stage 3 (Year 7) and pupils from Key Stage 4 (Year 10). Each of these year groups had
separate questionnaires of 75 questions. In each school, the questionnaire was
administered, in supervised conditions, to the whole cohort of pupils in the respective year
group. Year 7 and Year 10 were chosen in order to monitor possible attitudinal differences
associated with pupils’ age and development. It was felt that there should be representation
from both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. Year 7 was chosen so that the survey could take
account of the primary/secondary transition, and Year 10 because of the pupils’ recent
involvement with option choices and their experience of working on examination courses.
Most questions in the survey were common to both year groups. For each year group,
however, a small number of discrete questions were included, particular to them. In the
case of Year 7, the focussed questions concerned issues such as transition from Key Stage
2 to Key Stage 3, the feeling of security in the school and the extent to which pupils were
settling in to secondary education. Questions particular to Year 10 concerned areas around
work-related courses, target setting and progression into post-16 education and training.
Copies of the pupil questionnaires are included in the report as Appendix A7.
Pupil responses to each question have been analysed separately, and presented in table
format showing the variation in response between pupils of different genders and ethnic
backgrounds within each year group. To ensure that the data sample was fully
representative and that the pupil profile replicated the London pupil profile, all pupils in each
year group were surveyed.
10

The data was analysed by year group, gender and ethnic background in order to identify the
extent to which differences in pupils’ attitudes might be changed by such factors. Previous
surveys and the London Challenge pilot survey had indicated that these were areas in which
differences in pupil attitude were likely to be seen.
For the purposes of this report the ethnic groups were divided into four broad bands, each
containing sufficient numbers of pupils to provide robust comparisons. One group consisted
of pupils from Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani backgrounds, one of pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, one of pupils from White British and White Other
backgrounds, and one combining pupils from all remaining ethnic backgrounds, including
Chinese pupils.
2.2 Teacher Questionnaire
All teachers in participating schools were invited to participate in the London Challenge
Teacher survey. The teacher survey instrument consisted of a questionnaire of 72
questions, with additional structured opportunities for free-text responses. There were three
areas of focus for these responses; how to create a culture of achievement in the school, the
factors which encouraged teachers to remain in London, and the main benefits and
challenges of teaching in London. A copy of the teacher questionnaire is included in the
report as Appendix 8. As in the pupil data analysis, each question was analysed separately,
and presented in table format. The teacher data was tabulated only by gender.
2.3 The England Database
In both pupil and teacher surveys there were a number of key questions for which
comparative data existed in the Keele, Centre for Successful Schools (CSS) England
database. The England database, established over a period of more than fifteen years,
allowed for comparison nationally. It provided an effective means of identifying the extent to
which attitudes in London compared to or differed from those in other parts of England. The
dataset used for comparison with the London Challenge data has been gathered over a
three year period from a wide range of schools in rural, suburban, urban and inner city
locations in England and Wales. As stated above, this dataset was compared with, and
found to be broadly representative of, national data (see Table 8B in Appendix 9).
11

3. The Survey Sample
3.1 The Schools
All LEA maintained secondary schools in London were invited to register for the pupil and
teacher surveys to be conducted in the Summer Term 2004. Survey materials were sent to
172 schools, where interest was expressed, and 114 schools (a 29% sample) completed
pupil questionnaires and returned them by the due date, September 30 th , 2004. 35 of the
schools were from inner London and 79 from outer London. All were maintained secondary
schools and 13 boroughs were represented from inner London and 18 from outer London, a
total of 31 boroughs.
Of the 114 schools participating in the 2004 survey, 96 returned both pupil and teacher
questionnaires by the due date. 24 of these were from inner London and 72 from outer
London.
The characteristics of schools participating in the London Challenge survey were compared
to those of the school population of London as a whole. They were broadly representative of
schools in London in terms of percentage of pupils with a free school meals entitlement,
percentage of pupils with English as a second language, pupils’ prior attainment, pupils’
attainment at Key Stage 3 English, pupils’ attainment at Key Stage 3 Maths, pupils’
attainment at Key Stage 3 Science, Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 value added, pupils’
attainment at GCSE, 5+ Grades A*-C, GCSE/GNVQ average point score, Key Stage 3 to
GCSE/GNVQ value added, percentage of pupils with authorised absence, percentage of
pupils with unauthorised absence, percentage of pupils with Special Educational Needs
(SEN) (unstatemented), percentage of pupils with SEN (statemented), pupils of White British
backgrounds as a percentage of the full-time total of pupils, pupils of
Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi backgrounds as a percentage of the full-time total of pupils,
pupils of Black African/Black Caribbean backgrounds as a percentage of the full-time total of
pupils. Details of comparisons are included as Appendix 9, Tables 8 and 9.
3.2 The Pupils
In total, 26,707 pupils completed questionnaires satisfactorily (that is, including relevant
personal data for classification), 13,987 in Year 7 and 12,720 in Year 10. Only those
12

espondents providing details of their gender and ethnic background were accepted for
analysis and included in the findings of this report. 11,532 pupils were male and 15,175
female. This gender imbalance, 1 boy to 1.316 girls, was corrected by weighting the data
and only weighted data has been used in this report.
In terms of ethnic background, 3,506 pupils were of Black African or Black Caribbean origin,
4,712 of Bangladeshi, Indian of Pakistani origin, 14,626 of White British or White Other
origin, and the remainder (3,863) of Chinese or mixed race origin. The percentage of pupils
from White British backgrounds in the London Challenge sample was 49%, Bangladeshi,
6%, Black African, 6%, Black Caribbean, 5%, Indian, 7%, Pakistani, 5%, and other ethnic
groups, 21%. Tables 8 and 9 in Appendix 9 show the extent to which the London Challenge
pupil sample is representative of pupil populations in London and England.
3.3 The Teachers
2,389 teachers participated in the London Challenge survey, 895 were male and 1,494
female. In terms of ethnic background, 104 teachers were of Black African or Black
Caribbean origin, 118 of Bangladeshi, Indian of Pakistani origin, 1,674 of White British origin
and 269 were White but not British. 136 teachers did not state their ethnic background and
the remaining 88 were made up of small numbers of other ethnic groups. 1,974 teachers
were from schools in outer London and 415 from inner London. Tables 10 and 11 in
Appendix 9 show that the London Challenge teacher sample is representative of teacher
populations in London and England.
3.4 Comparative Data
As stated above, the comparative data sample used in this report was taken from the CSS
England database. The pupil sample, collected by means of pupil surveys, conducted
nationally, contained responses from 18,694 pupils from 209 schools, 9,616 in Year 7 and
9,078 in Year 10. 9,456 pupils (51%) were male and 9,238 female (49%). The percentage
of pupils from White British backgrounds was 84%, Bangladeshi, 1%, Black African, 1%,
Black Caribbean, 1%, Indian, 1%, Pakistani, 1%, and other ethnic groups, 11%. The pupil
profile in the CSS school sample, corresponded closely with the national school population,
as can be seen from Table 8B in Appendix 9.
The teacher sample contained responses from 700 teachers from 23 schools, 274 male and
13

426 female, approximately 60% females to 40% males. This compared to a national
distribution of 55% females to 46% males employed in secondary education in 2003.
The pupil and teacher surveys included data from largely self-selected schools (in England,
but outside London) where the surveys had been conducted during the previous three years.
As previously stated, the characteristics of these schools were broadly representative of
schools nationally. Although not selected to correspond directly to the national school
population, the sample contained only maintained schools from a wide range of rural,
suburban, urban and inner city locations. It was therefore possible to use this England data
to locate the London surveys in a national context.
14

4. Main Findings of the Pupil Surveys
4.1 Key Findings
• 68% of pupils in London thought they attended a good school;
• 74% believed they were receiving a good education;
• 84% said they were usually happy at school.
• 63% of pupils in London said they got on well with most or all of their teachers. 38%
believed that teachers were respected by pupils and 54% believed that teachers
respected pupils. 53% thought that most or all of their teachers were good teachers,
45% said most teachers had good classroom control. 41% thought that things that they
worked on were really interesting.
• 61% of pupils in London said they rarely or never behaved badly. 34% reported that
other pupils tried to disrupt lessons every day. 47% said lessons were often so noisy
that they found it difficult to work. 45% said pupils were made fun of for working hard
and 41% thought that most or all teachers were good at dealing with bad behaviour.
• 30% of pupils in London reported that bullying was a particular problem in their school,
and 18% reported that racism was a particular problem.
• Pupils’ attitudes to school in London were broadly similar on average, where comparison
was possible, to attitudes held by pupils attending schools elsewhere in England.
• Pupils’ attitudes to school in London varied according to their age, gender, ethnic
background, and the type and location of their school, but most of all, their attitudes
varied according to the individual school they attended. Girls’ attitudes to most aspects
of school life tended to be more positive than those of boys; and Year 7 pupils tended to
hold more positive attitudes than Year 10 pupils. Pupils from Asian backgrounds
participating in the survey generally adopted a more positive stance to their school
experience than pupils from other ethnic backgrounds, and pupils from Black African and
Black Caribbean backgrounds generally had less positive attitudes than pupils from other
ethnic groups. To some questions, the variation in responses at school level was
considerable, ranging from 100% of supportive responses in one school to less than
10% in others.
15

4.2 Satisfaction with the School Experience
4.2.1 School Quality
Overall, 68% of the pupils in London agreed that the school they attended was a good
school. This compared to 71% of pupils at schools elsewhere in England. 18% of the pupils
in London strongly agreed that this was the case, compared to 30% of pupils at schools
elsewhere in England. As in most areas of pupil opinion, the level of positive response to
this question was higher in Year 7 than in Year 10 (72% compared with 64%), and a higher
proportion of girls than boys responded positively (70% compared with 67%). One Year 7
girl summed up her school experience as follows:
The teachers are great at (named school) and I love it. I have made loads of new friends
and I wouldn’t change it for the world. (Year 7 Female)
Responses to questions about the pupils’ satisfaction with their schooling also differed
according to pupils’ ethnic background. 58% of pupils from Black African and Black
Caribbean backgrounds thought they attended a good school, compared to 68% of pupils
from Asian backgrounds and 70% of pupils from White British backgrounds. A more
detailed analysis of responses by ethnic background to Question 20 is included in Appendix
4, Table 4C. A slightly higher proportion of pupils attending inner London schools responded
positively than pupils in outer London, 68% compared with 66%.
Patterns of response to this Question 20 (‘This school is a good school’) were associated
with patterns of response to questions relating to pupil/teacher relationships, as well as
questions about behaviour. Pupils agreeing that ‘This school is a good school’ were more
likely to agree that most teachers were respected. In addition, pupils agreeing that ‘This
school is a good school’ were less likely to report disruption of lessons by other pupils and
less likely to think that bullying was a particular problem at their school. Conversely, pupils
that disagreed with ‘This school is a good school’ were less likely to think that most teachers
were respected, more likely to report disruption of lessons and to report that bullying was a
problem. Details of significant cross-tabulations for Question 20 are included in Table 4A in
Appendix 4.
A cross-tabulation of Question 1 with entitlement to free school meals (FSM) was conducted.
The evidence of the London Challenge pupil surveys suggests that, although crosstabulation
between FSM and Question 1 produced statistically significant findings (p

this association was small (see Table 4B in Appendix 4).
Figure 1 shows the analysis of London and England responses to Question 20, tabulated by
year group, gender and location (London or outside London).
Figure 1. Qu. 20: This school is a good school
Percentage of pupils strongly agreeing or agreeing - analysis by year group, gender, location
% of pupils agreeing
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
England
London
0
Year 7 boys Year 7 girls Year 10 boys Year 10 girls
Although the average values, in terms of the percentage of pupils taking a positive view of
their school, were very similar for inner London, outer London and England datasets, (66%,
68% and 71% respectively), the spread of responses across London schools showed
considerable diversity, and suggested that pupils had markedly different views about the
quality of their schooling, depending on the school they attended. The spread of responses
between individual schools is illustrated in Figure 2 below.
It can be seen that there were a small number of schools at either end of the spectrum
where the average level of agreement was markedly above or markedly below that of most
other schools in the dataset. In the England (outside London) database, no school has
recorded, like one of the London schools, a positive response of 100% to questions about
the quality of the school. At the other extreme, a 24% positive response was lower than
previously recorded in the England database.
17

Figure 2 Qu. 20: This school is a good school
Percentage of pupils strongly agreeing or agreeing
16
number of schools
14
12
10
8
6
Outer London Average
Inner London Average
England Average
4
2
0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of pupils agreeing
A cross-tabulation of responses to Question 20 by attainment (% of pupil attaining 5 or more
GCSEs (or equivalent) grades A* - C) was also performed on school level data. This
analysis revealed that there is a strong, statistically significant correlation (R=0.711, p

question was higher in Year 7 than in Year 10 (88% compared with 80%), and a higher
proportion of girls than boys responded positively (86% compared with 82%). Responses to
questions about the pupils’ happiness in their schooling also differed according to pupils’
ethnic background. 82% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds
said they were happy at their school, compared with 87% of pupils from Asian backgrounds
and 83% of pupils from White backgrounds. A more detailed breakdown of responses to this
question by ethnic background is included in Appendix 4, Table 4C.
Figure 3 below shows an analysis of responses about how happy London pupils perceive
themselves to be at school, compared with pupils from the rest of England. The responses
are tabulated by year group, gender and location (London or England, outside London).
Figure 3: Qu. 1 I am usually happy at school
Percentage of pupils saying this is true - analysis by year group, gender, location
% of pupils saying this is true
100
90
80
70
60
England
London
50
Year 7 boys Year 7 girls Year 10 boys Year 10 girls
Although the average values, in terms of the percentage of pupils indicating they were happy
at school, were very similar for inner London, outer London and England (84%, 84% and
87% respectively), the spread of responses across London schools showed substantial
diversity and suggested that pupils had markedly different views about their level of
happiness, depending on the school they attended. However, the variation was not so great
as in many other areas of the questionnaire, with levels of agreement ranging from 68% to
94% across all schools.
A cross-tabulation of Question 1 with entitlement to free school meals (FSM) was conducted.
19

The evidence of the London Challenge pupil surveys suggests that, although crosstabulation
between FSM and Question 1 produced statistically significant findings (p

I think that some rules are stupid and they should worry about more important things like
bullying, instead of make up and what length your skirt is. I think it is stupid.
The same proportion of boys and girls agreed that the school rules were fair and reasonable.
There were, however, still differences of response according to the pupils’ ethnic
background. 44% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said they
thought the school rules were fair, compared to 54% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and
51% of pupils from White backgrounds. In respect of the pupils’ response to this question
there was little discernible difference of opinion between pupils in inner and outer London.
The spread of responses from individual schools about the fairness of school rules showed
considerable diversity, with levels of agreement ranging from 26% to 86% across all schools.
4.2.5 School Facilities
Overall, approximately four out of five pupils thought that the school facilities they enjoyed –
in terms of sports, library, ICT provision etc. - were at least as good as those in other
schools, and three quarters thought that their school buildings were as good or better than in
most schools. A higher proportion of pupils from Year 7 than Year 10 thought that the
facilities in their school were better than in most schools (87% compared with 76%
respectively), and the their school buildings were better than in most schools (79%
compared with 71% respectively). In each case a marginally higher proportion of girls than
boys made positive responses. A higher proportion of pupils in outer London than in inner
London said that their facilities were better than in other schools (84% compared with 80%)
and there was, once again, a difference between ethnic groups. 77% of pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said that their facilities were better than in other
schools, compared with 82% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 84% of pupils from
White backgrounds. 70% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds
thought that their school buildings were as good or better than in most schools, compared to
76% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 77% of pupils from White backgrounds.
In spite of the apparently high proportion of pupils who felt that they had good school
buildings and facilities, some pupils’ free-text comments spoke to the contrary. Pupils’
comments included:
I think that the school needs a lot of help from the government and council because
21

of the state of the buildings. (Year 7 Female)
I feel funding is a huge issue, many schools including ours, need more/better
facilities. We have leaks in our roof. This is so basic yet is a continuing problem.
(Year 10 Female)
Some pupils provided comments about schools and their priorities, although views were
mixed, as illustrated by the following comments:
I think that the school needs to spend their money on things that are important. We
don’t need interactive whiteboards. They are expensive and a waste of money. We
need places to sit and stay when it is raining. We need a room where we can do our
exams in peace and we need to spend money on the drama, sport and art
departments. (Year 10 Female)
I feel that although the school is good, the teachers and governors should spend
more time trying to get more books for us, more resources and sorting out the bigger
problems in the school – such as the lack of healthy canteen food instead of picking
on little things like uniform. (Year 10 Female)
One Year 10 girl’s comment distinguished between the quality of their school and the quality
of the school’s resources of her school: “In terms of academic excellence then I feel it is
better [than other schools], also in terms of the nature and personalities of the other
students. However, in terms of facilities and tools available then it’s not as good as what I
perceive other schools to be.”
4.2.6 Classroom Experience
Pupils’ classroom experiences were not seen as particularly stimulating by a high proportion
of the pupils, either in Year 7 or Year 10. More than a third of all pupils said they would
prefer not to go to school, most of the time. Almost half the Year 7 group (49%) said that
most of the work they did in school was interesting, with 32% of Year 10 pupils agreed that
this was the case. A marginally higher proportion of girls than boys made positive
responses about the interest level of school work. One girl expressed her view about the
way to improve interest levels thus:
22

School would be much more interesting if they made it fun to learn instead of trying to
shove information in our heads. (Year 10 Female)
A higher proportion of pupils in inner London than outer London said that most of the work
they did in school was interesting (46% compared with 39%). There were marked
differences between ethnic groups but, in this case, it was the pupils from White
backgrounds who were most concerned that their school work held little interest for them.
36% said it was interesting, compared to 47% of pupils from Black African and Black
Caribbean backgrounds and 48% of pupils from Asian backgrounds. The distribution of
responses analysed by year group and pupils’ ethnic background is presented in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Qu. 7 Most of the things I work on in school are really interesting
Percentage of pupils saying they agree - analysis by year group and pupils' ethnic background
70
percentage of pupils agreeing
60
50
40
30
20
10
Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
Black African, Black Caribbean
Other ethnic backgrounds
White British, White Other
0
Year 7 Year 10
Whilst 59% of pupils in London disagreed with the statement, a smaller proportion of them
(37%) said that it was actually boring. This attitude to the classroom was somewhat less
positive than responses from pupils in the rest of England, where 31%, on average, were
bored with schoolwork. Responses about schoolwork being boring underlined the
distinctions between the various groups of pupils. A higher proportion of boys than girls said
they were bored (40% compared with 34%), a higher proportion of Year 10 than Year 7
(42% compared with 33%), a higher proportion of pupils in outer London than pupils in inner
London (37% compared with 35%), and a higher proportion of pupils from White
23

ackgrounds than pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean or Asian backgrounds said
they were bored with school work (38%, 37% and 34% respectively).
4.3 Relationship with Teachers
Overall, 63% of the pupils in London agreed that at school they got on well with most of their
teachers, compared to 72% of pupils in the rest of England. In London, a higher proportion
of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils (66% compared with 61%) said they got on well with
their teachers, consistent with findings from elsewhere in England.
In London, 64% of girls said they got on well with teachers, compared to 62% of boys. The
England database corroborated the fact that a slightly higher proportion of girls than boys
responded positively in this area. A higher proportion of pupils in inner London than in outer
London were positive about their teachers, with 65% of the former group saying they got on
well with their teachers compared with 62% of the latter.
Figure 6 below shows an analysis of responses about how well London pupils said they got
on with their teachers compared with pupils from the rest of England. The responses are
tabulated by year group, gender and location (London or England, outside London).
Responses to questions about relationships with teachers differed according to pupils’ ethnic
background. Whilst 57% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds
said they got on well with their teachers, 70% of pupils from Asian backgrounds, and 62% of
pupils from White backgrounds, said they did so.
24

Figure 6. Qu. 68: How many teachers have you got on well with?
Percentage of pupils saying 'all' or 'most' - analysis by year group, gender, location
% of pupils saying 'all' or 'most'
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Year 7 boys Year 7 girls Year 10 boys Year 10 girls
England
London
4.3.1 Pupils’ Respect for Teachers
Overall, 38% of pupils in London believed that most teachers were respected. However, this
seemingly low figure corresponds almost exactly to the national average, as represented by
the England database, where 39% of pupils say that teachers are respected.
Distinctions between groups of pupils were also apparent in the case of respect given to
teachers. The level of positive response about respecting teachers was higher in Year 7
than in Year 10 (42% compared with 33%). 39% of girls said that teachers were respected
compared to 37% of boys. There was little difference between pupils in inner and outer
London.
Once again, responses to questions about respect for teachers differed according to pupils’
ethnic background. 30% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said
that teachers were respected, compared to 46% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 37%
of pupils from White backgrounds.
25

The distribution of responses analysed by year group and pupils’ ethnic background is
presented in Figure 7.
Figure 7 Qu. 23: Most teachers here are respected
Percentage of pupils saying they agree - analysis by year group and pupils' ethnic background
% of pupils agreeing
70
60
50
40
30
20
Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
Black African, Black Caribbean
Other ethnic backgrounds
White British, White Other
10
0
Year 7 Year 10
As was the case with questions about pupil satisfaction, so with questions about
relationships with teachers, the spread of responses across London schools showed
considerable differences and suggested that pupils’ views about these relationships was
greatly influenced by and dependent upon the particular school they attended. This is
illustrated in Figure 8.
It can be seen that, between individual schools, the average level of agreement with the
proposition that most teachers were respected was spread fairly evenly between 60% and
20%. There were, however, a small number of schools at either end of the spectrum where
the average level of agreement was markedly above or markedly below that of most other
schools in the dataset.
26

Figure 8 Qu. 23: Most teachers here are respected by pupils
Percentage of pupils strongly agreeing or agreeing
number of schools
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
Outer London Average
Inner London Average
England Average
4
2
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
% of pupils agreeing
How pupils perceived teachers and the way they behave was sufficiently important to
provoke a wide range of free-text responses from pupils. Some were very supportive of
teachers:
The teachers are great at (named) school and I love it. (Year 7 Female)
The teachers (at this school) explain clearly what you are supposed to learn in the
lesson, through targets and lesson objectives. (Year 10 Male)
… some teachers are really nice, nice not meaning that they’re soft and let you off in
homework. I mean they are strict and jolly at the same time, which makes us learn.
(Year 10 Male)
However, other pupils’ comments were less positive, with pupil/teacher relationships
perceived to be adversely affected by over-reliance on group punishment and too much
emphasis on disruptive pupils at the expense of the diligent and well-behaved.
Examples of pupils’ free-text comments in such areas include the following:
27

Most teachers punish the whole class when it is only a few individuals that are
misbehaving; it is unfair on those that aren’t doing anything. (Year 10 Male)
If a pupil at this school is bad they seem to get rewarded with school trips. If you
always try hard and behave well you seem to get nothing in return. No trips, no good
letter to home – nothing. (Year 10 Female)
4.3.2 Teachers’ Respect for Pupils
More than half (54%) of the pupils said that they were treated with respect by their teachers.
There was no difference in response to this question between gender groups. Inner and
outer London responses were also almost identical. There were, however marked
differences between year groups and ethnic groups. 59% of Year 7 pupils felt they were
respected by teachers compared to 49% of Year 10 pupils. 42% of pupils from Black African
and Black Caribbean backgrounds thought they were respected by teachers, compared with
59% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 55% of pupils from White backgrounds.
To the extent that it is possible to see teachers taking the time to discuss progress with
pupils and offering them advice as an indication of their respect, teachers in London are
respected more than teachers elsewhere in England. 59% of pupils in London agreed that
teachers took the time to discuss their progress and advise them how to improve, compared
to 54% of pupils elsewhere in England.
Distinctions between groups of pupils were again apparent. A higher proportion of Year 7
pupils than Year 10 pupils believed that teachers took the time to discuss their progress with
them (61% compared with 56%). A higher proportion of pupils in inner London than outer
London were positive about teachers giving them individual attention (62% compared with
58%.) There was little difference between boys and girls about the amount of attention they
said they got from teachers.
Responses from pupils of different ethnic backgrounds, to questions about teachers taking
time to discuss things, were less varied than in other areas of pupil/teacher relationships.
62% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds gave positive
responses, compared to 62% of pupils from Asian backgrounds, and in this case it was the
pupils from White backgrounds who were least positive (56%).
Comments about how pupils might expect teachers to support them by discussing academic
28

progress included the following:
I think that teachers need to tell you how to get a higher level. How to improve your
work. (Year 7 Female)
I think that there should be a time where every teacher speaks to the student about
how to progress their work or what they do bad and good in. (Year 10 Female)
A high proportion of pupils’ were less than satisfied with the level of praise that teachers
gave to them. Overall, 30% of pupils in London said that they were rarely or never praised
when they had done good work, (compared to 21% of the pupils elsewhere in England),
whereas 34% said they were often praised, compared with 35% elsewhere in England.
A higher proportion of pupils from Year 10 than from Year 7 said they rarely or never
received praise from teachers (36% compared with 23%). Girls and boys (29% and 30%
respectively) showed little difference of opinion about the lack of praise. A lower proportion
of pupils in inner London than outer London said they rarely or never got praised (28%
compared with 30%.)
Responses from pupils of different ethnic backgrounds, about being praised, showed that
32% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds believed that teachers
rarely or never praised them, compared to 28% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 30%
of pupils from White backgrounds.
Figure 9 shows the analysis of London and England responses (‘rarely’ or ‘never’) to
Question 48, ‘How often do teachers praise you when you work hard?’, tabulated by year
group, gender and location (London or England).
29

Figure 9: Qu 48 How often do teachers praise you when you have worked hard?
Percentage of pupils saying 'rarely' or 'never' - analysis by year group, gender, location
40
% of pupils saying 'rarely' or 'never'
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
England
London
0
Year 7 boys Year 7 girls Year 10 boys Year 10 girls
Pupils also expressed reservations about the extent to which they felt able to approach
teachers with problems. A relatively small proportion of pupils in London (23%) felt that they
could always or often go to their teacher with their problems, compared to 29% of pupils
elsewhere in England. In contrast, 50% of pupils in London said they could rarely or never
take their problems to a teacher, compared with 42% in the rest of England. 23% said they
could never go to a teacher with a problem.
In common with all other questions in this section of the report, this question attracted
different responses from different groups of pupils. A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils than
Year 10 pupils were positive about their teachers, with 44% saying they could rarely or never
take problems to teachers, compared with 55% of the older pupils. In this case, a smaller
proportion of boys agreed with the statement than girls, with 47% saying they could not
approach teachers with problems, compared with 52% of girls.
Responses also differed according to pupils’ ethnic background with 56% of pupils from
Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds indicating that they could not approach
teachers with problems, compared with 45% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 50% of
pupils from White backgrounds.
30

As in previous sections of the report, the most significant differences were between
individual schools across London rather than between gender, year or ethnic groups. The
range of school responses from Year 7 pupils extended from 22% of pupils who would not
feel able to take their problems to a teacher, to 62%. Corresponding figures for Year 10
ranged from 25% to 75%.
One comment from a pupil expressing concern about not being able to take her problems to
the teacher was as follows:
Teachers are not very supportive when you’ve had a problem and you are upset.
They believe we should just get on with our work but they forget we are only young.
(Year 10 Female)
Some secondary pupils, particularly pupils in Year 10, had quite unequivocal views about
the way pupils and teachers should interact and were very frustrated when they saw
themselves treated as children, as the following comment shows:
The real problem that I find is that teachers treat pupils as inferiors and refuse to
treat them on an adult level, which is frustrating. Often teachers, especially in highlevel
positions, seem to tell pupils off for the sake of it and treat them as if they are
completely stupid. Our school council isn’t listened to; it exists purely as a
figurehead because teachers seem to assume they know better anyway, even when
unanimous decisions are reached. (Year 10 Female)
The evidence of the London Challenge survey (see Appendix 4, Table 4A) shows that there
is a strong association between pupils’ perception of their school and responses about
pupil/teacher relationships. That is, pupils who agreed that theirs was good tended to enjoy
good working relationships with teachers, and believe that teachers were respected and, in
turn, respected pupils). A cross-tabulation of questions relating to pupil behaviour (Qs. 49,
52, and 65) with entitlement to free school meals (FSM) was also conducted. This analysis
suggests that there is little association between entitlement to free school meals (FSM) and
responses to these questions (see Table 4B in Appendix 4).
4.4 Quality of Teaching and Learning
Overall, 53% of pupils in London agreed that most of their teachers were good teachers.
31

Pupil responses about the quality of the teachers were at their most positive in Year 7, with
younger pupils being more supportive and less critical than Year 10. 57% of Year 7 pupils
agreed that most of their teachers were good teachers, compared with 48% of Year 10.
Girls’ responses in this area were little different from those of the boys’. A marginally higher
proportion of pupils in inner London than outer London thought that most of their teachers
were good teachers, with 54% positive responses compared to 52%.
Responses to questions about teacher quality also differed according to pupils’ ethnic
background. 45% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said that
their teachers were good, compared to 55% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 54% of
pupils from White backgrounds. The distribution of responses about teacher quality,
analysed by year group and ethnic background is presented in Figure 10 below.
Figure 10. Qu. 69: How many of your teachers are good teachers?
Percentage of pupils saying 'all' or 'most' - analysis by year group and pupils' ethnic background
% of pupils saying 'all' or 'most'
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
Black African, Black Caribbean
Other ethnic backgrounds
White British, White Other
0
Year 7 Year 10
As was the case with questions about pupil satisfaction, so with questions about teacher
quality, the spread of responses across London schools showed considerable diversity, the
differences between schools being much greater than between different groups of pupils.
This is illustrated in Figure 11.
32

Figure 11 Qu. 69: How many of you teachers are good teachers?
Percentage of pupils saying 'all' or 'most'
30
25
Outer London Average 52%
Inner London Average 54%
number of schools
20
15
10
5
0
30 40 50 60 70 80 90
% of pupils saying 'all' or 'most'
It can be seen that, between individual schools, the average level of agreement, with the
proposition that most teachers are good, was spread fairly evenly between 40% and 65%.
There were, however, a small number of schools at either end of the spectrum where the
average level was markedly above or markedly below that of most other schools in the
dataset.
In respect of the quality of teaching and learning, pupils were asked about teacher
effectiveness in terms of the frequency with which they explained what the pupils were
supposed to learn in the lesson, the regularity with which they set homework, their
classroom control, and their capacity to deal with bad behaviour.
On the whole, pupils in London were positive about the quality of their teachers, 61% of
them held the view that teachers explained the aims of most lessons, compared with 65%
elsewhere in England. A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils said that this was the case than
Year 10 (66% compared with 55%). A higher proportion of boys than girls (63% compared
with 59%), and of pupils in inner London than in outer London (62% compared with 60%)
said that teachers explained the aims of most lessons. 60% of pupils from Black African and
Black Caribbean backgrounds, 63% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 61% of pupils
33

from White backgrounds said that their teachers explained what they were supposed to be
learning in most lessons.
87% of pupils said that their teachers set homework every week, which corresponded with
findings from the England database. A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils than Year 10
pupils said that this was the case (90% compared with 84%). A higher proportion of girls
than boys said that this was true (89% compared with 84%), and there was little difference in
responses from pupils in inner and outer London. 84% of pupils from Black African and
Black Caribbean backgrounds, 88% of pupils from Asian and 87% of pupils from White
backgrounds said that their teachers regularly set homework.
Free-text comments showed that pupils were equivocal about the amount of homework they
got. Where one pupil accepted that it was set and was appropriate:
We get loads of homework and it’s very strict, but it is for our own good in the future
and I respect that. (Year 7 Female)
another pupil took a different view:
I think that a bit too much homework is given and every week I am packed with
homework from nearly every lesson. My week is always about school but I have to
have time for my leisure. Education isn’t all I want in life. I want to live a good life,
singer, dancer or actor. My life won’t all be about education. (Year 7 Female)
Although the level of school discipline was seen to be just about right by 62% of the pupils,
with minor variations between gender, year and ethnic groups of pupils, their responses
were not so supportive in respect of the quality of their teachers’ classroom control, ability to
deal with bad behaviour and ability to address bullying issues. 44% of pupils held the view
that teachers’ classroom control was good. A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils said that
this was the case than Year 10 (49% compared with 40%). A higher proportion of girls than
boys (46% compared with 43%) and of pupils in inner London than outer London were
positive (47% compared with 44%). 41% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean
backgrounds, 50% of pupils from Asians backgrounds, and 44% of pupils from White
backgrounds said that their teachers had good classroom control. The distribution of
responses about teachers’ classroom control, analysed by year group and ethnic
background is presented in Figure 12.
34

Figure 12: Qu. 30 Most teachers are good at classroom control
Percentage of pupils saying they agree - analysis by year group and pupils' ethnic background
% of pupils agreeing
70
60
50
40
30
20
Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
Black African, Black Caribbean
Other ethnic backgrounds
White British, White Other
10
0
Year 7 Year 10
The following comment illustrates a perceived lack of balance in some teachers’ classroom
control in one school surveyed in London:
There seems to be no standardised discipline for bad behaviour in class and
behaviour in general. Some teachers … are overly harsh with punishments -
detentions, Saturday detentions and even suspensions seem to have lost their
purpose, as they are dished out so regularly, whereas other teachers don’t seem to
care and let the class run riot, severely affecting the education of others. There
needs to be a balance. (Year 10 Male)
Forty-one percent of pupils said that all or most of their teachers dealt with bad behaviour
well. However, a third of pupils said that only some of their teachers were able to deal with
bad behaviour. A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils said that this was the case than Year 10
(48% compared with 34%). As did a higher proportion of boys than girls (42% compared
with 39%). 36% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 43% of
pupils from Asian backgrounds and 41% of pupils from White backgrounds said that most
teachers were good at dealing with bad behaviour. One pupil’s view of the way in which
teachers were unable to maintain control in the classroom was as follows:
Some of the teachers can’t control the class and everyone shouts and talks. This
35

makes it really difficult for those who want to learn, especially when GCSE’s are
coming up. (Year 10 Male)
30% of pupils in London said their teachers rarely or never dealt effectively with bullying. A
lower proportion of Year 7 pupils said that this was the case than Year 10 pupils (25%
compared with 36%). A higher proportion of boys than girls were in agreement (31%
compared with 29%), and a marginally lower proportion of pupils in inner London thought
that teachers were ineffective in this area than pupils in outer London (28% compared with
30%). 34% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 28% of pupils
from Asian backgrounds and 29% of pupils from White backgrounds said that teachers often
did not deal effectively with bullying.
Pupils were also asked about the extent to which teaching was supported by the presence of
teaching assistants in lessons, and the extent to which teaching is delivered by teachers,
who are not the usual class teacher. 53% of pupils in London said that their studies were
supported at times by having a classroom assistant in the lesson, compared to 54% of pupils
elsewhere in England. 22% said that this happened often. A higher proportion of Year 7
pupils than Year 10 pupils said they sometimes had classroom assistants (61% compared
with 46%), and a slightly higher proportion of pupils in inner London than outer London said
they had classroom assistants (56% compared with 52%). 56% of pupils from Black African
and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 59% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 51% of
pupils from White backgrounds said that, at times, they were supported in class by
classroom assistants.
33% of pupils in London (compared to 18% of pupils nationally) said that their lessons were
often taken by someone other than their usual teacher. This figure was consistent and
showed little variation between year, gender and ethnic groups, nor between inner and outer
London. Some free-text comments indicated that the use of supply teachers was not seen
as beneficial by some pupils:
Some days you could have 5 or 6 lessons with teachers that are not your normal
teacher. (Year 7 Female)
I think that there should be less substitute teachers because whenever a different
teacher comes in the whole class behaves badly. (Year 7 Female)
Most of the substitute teachers we’ve had this year have not been very good and we
36

have ended up wasting half a year and not learning anything. (Year 10 Male)
4.4.1 Using ICT to Support Learning
Used well, ICT can help to improve the quality of lessons and support learning (Denning,
1997). In London, 13% of pupils said they had used computers in most of their lessons to
support their work. 54% said they sometimes used computers, and 32% said they rarely or
never used computers to support their learning. These findings compare favourably with
those for pupils attending schools elsewhere in England, where 11% said they use
computers in most of their lessons, and 36% said they rarely or never used computers in
lessons.
A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils said they hardly ever or never used
computers in lessons (36% compared with 30%). A higher proportion of boys than girls said
they hardly ever or never used computers in most lessons (34% compared with 31%), and a
higher proportion of pupils in outer London than inner London said they hardly ever or never
used computers in lessons (33% compared with 30%). 29% of pupils from Black African
and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 27% of pupils from Asian backgrounds, and 35% of
pupils from White backgrounds said that they hardly ever or never used computers in their
lessons.
Figure 13 below shows an analysis of responses about how often London pupils used
computers in their lessons, to help them in their work, compared with pupils from the rest of
England. The responses are tabulated by year group, gender and location.
37

Figure 13: Qu. 62 How often do pupils use computers in lessons
Percentage of pupils saying 'hardly ever' or 'never' - analysis by year group, gender, location
% of pupils saying 'hardly ever' or 'never'
50
40
30
20
10
England
London
0
Year 7 boys Year 7 girls Year 10 boys Year 10 girls
Available evidence suggests that having access to new technologies to support their work
markedly increases pupils’ motivation (Denning, 1997). This view was supported by the fact
that 57% of pupils in London agreed that they learned more easily when they used
computers in lessons (compared to 63% of pupils elsewhere in England). A higher
proportion of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils said that this was the case (60% compared
with 53%). A higher proportion of boys than girls were positive about computers (63%
compared with 51%). There was little or no difference between pupils in inner London and
outer London. 61% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 61% of
pupils from Asian backgrounds and 54% of pupils from White backgrounds said that
computers made learning in lessons easier.
Although not all schools were equally well resourced in the provision of ICT, there was some
evidence that the use of whiteboard technology had a motivational influence on pupils’
learning. 46% of pupils said that they learned more easily when the teacher used an
interactive whiteboard.
Some free-text comments about the use of ICT to support learning were as follows:
I think that we should all use computers in all of our lessons, that way you learn
38

more. (Year 7 Female)
Well I think we should have interactive whiteboards in every class as they are very
educational. (Year 7 Female)
Further analysis revealed a significant but weak association between ICT use and
agreement with the statement ‘This school is a good school.’ This association, however,
was not as strong as the association between pupils’ perception of attending a good school
and their perception of good pupil/teacher relationships (see Table 4A in Appendix 4).
4.5 Extra-Curricular Activities
The pupils were asked about the importance of extra curricular activities. Having
opportunities to take part in sporting activities was perceived as important by 78% of the
pupils overall. Year 7 were more enthusiastic about sporting activities than Year 10, with
86% saying they considered it important for them. But a substantial proportion of the Year
10 pupils (69%) also said that opportunities to take part in sporting activities were important.
84% of boys thought that taking part in sporting activities was important, compared with 72%
of girls.
Responses differed according to pupils’ ethnic background, with 81% of pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean backgrounds believing that opportunity to do sport was
important, compared with 78% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 78% of pupils from
White backgrounds.
Having opportunities to participate in cultural activities such as visits to theatres and art
galleries was also perceived as important by 69% of the pupils. Year 7 were more
enthusiastic about such activities than Year 10, with 74% positive responses compared with
62%. In the case of cultural opportunities, a higher proportion of girls than boys regarded
them as important (73% compared with 64%). A higher proportion of pupils in inner London
than outer London regarded them as important (74% compared with 68%).
Responses also differed according to pupils’ ethnic background: 72% of pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean backgrounds regarded cultural visits as important, compared
with 73% of pupils from Asian backgrounds but 66% of pupils from White backgrounds.
39

After school activities seemed to be not so well supported, with 40% of pupils considering
them important. A higher proportion of Year 7 than Year 10 pupils were supportive of these
activities, with 44% saying they found them important compared with 36%. A higher
proportion of boys than girls (42% compared with 38%), and a higher proportion of pupils in
inner London than outer London (44% compared with 39%), regarded after school activities
as important.
Responses also differed according to pupils’ ethnic background: 46% of pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean backgrounds regarded after school activities as important,
compared with 42% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 38% of pupils from White
backgrounds.
4.5.1 Provision
In terms of actual provision of extra-curricular opportunities, the evidence suggested that
London schools were doing well. 77% of pupils said that they had lots of activities to take
part in at lunchtime and after school, compared to 73% of pupils elsewhere in England. 85%
of pupils in Year 7 said that they had opportunities to take part in extra-curricular activity
compared to 68% of pupils in Year 10, and in this case, a greater proportion of pupils in
outer London said they had such provision than pupils in inner London (78% compared with
73%). There was little difference in responses by gender to this question. 71% of pupils
from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said that there were lots of activities to
take part in, compared with 78% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 78% of pupils from
White backgrounds.
An almost equally substantial proportion of pupils (71%) said that they had opportunities
outside lesson times to do extra learning activities or extra study. This compared to an
average figure of 71% in the England database. A higher proportion of girls than boys said
that such activities were available (73% compared with 69%). Responses also differed
according to pupils’ ethnic background with 67% of pupils from Black African and Black
Caribbean backgrounds said they had opportunities for extra study, compared with 69% of
pupils from Asian backgrounds and 73% of pupils from White backgrounds. Differences
between year groups and pupils in inner and outer London were very small.
4.5.2 Participation
40

Less than half the pupils in London (43%) said they took part in school activities at lunchtime
or after school. This has to be seen, however, in the context of an average figure of 42% in
the England database. There was a marked contrast in levels of participation between year
and gender groups. 50% of Year 7 pupils said they participated, compared with 34% of
Year 10. 46% of boys participated, compared with 39% of girls. 52% of pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said they took part in extra-curricular activities,
compared with 43% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 41% of pupils from White
backgrounds.
It was apparent from free-text comments that more pupils would wish to take part in extracurricular
activities but were prevented from doing so by circumstances beyond their control.
One such pupil said, “I can’t go to after school clubs because I would miss my bus and if I
miss my bus I would have to wait hours for the next...” (Year 7 Female)
4.6 Pupil Behaviour
The behaviour of other pupils in the school was not always seen as helpful and this section
of the report focuses on the ways in which the pupils’ school life was influenced by
interactions with fellow pupils.
4.6.1 Disruption
In London, 34% of pupils reported that other pupils tried to disrupt lessons every day,
compared to 38% of pupils elsewhere in England. A higher proportion of Year 10 pupils
than Year 7 pupils reported disruption every day (36% compared to 32%). A higher
proportion of boys than girls reported daily disruption (36% compared with 33%).
35% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said their lessons were
disrupted every day, compared with 30% of pupils from Asians backgrounds and 36% of
pupils from White backgrounds. A more detailed analysis of responses by ethnic background
to this question (Question 65) is included in Appendix 4, Table 4C.
As noted in other areas of the research, the differences between year, gender and ethnic
background groups were relatively insignificant compared to differences between individual
schools. Responses from Year 7 pupils (about classroom disruption on a daily basis)
ranged from 5% to 76%. For Year 10 the range was from 9% to 60%. The extent of the
41

differences between individual schools is demonstrated by Figure 14 below.
Figure 14 Qu. 65: How often do other pupils try to disrupt lessons?
Percentage of pupils saying 'every day'
30
Outer London Average
25
Inner London Average
number of schools
20
15
10
England Average
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
% of pupils saying 'every day'
It can be seen that, between individual schools, the average level of agreement, with the
proposition that lessons were disrupted every day, was spread fairly evenly between 50%
and 10% of the pupils’ responses. There were, however, a small number of schools at
either end of the spectrum where the average level of agreement was markedly above or
markedly below that of most other schools in the dataset.
Some pupils’ comments suggested that disruption was an important issue, and that they felt
it was important for schools to do what was necessary to contain it. Although some pupils
perceived that disruption was being addressed in some schools, for example, “I think the
school has improved on how to deal with disruptive children. They have a room, which is a
PRU (pupil referral unit).” (Year 10 Female), others took the opposite point of view, their
comments included:
Most of the teachers are fun and you can enjoy the lesson. It’s the behaviour of the
other students that brings the school down to make it rubbish. (Year 7 Female)
42

We sometimes have problems in class and it is normally the same people but the
teachers don’t do anything about it because the pupils who are disturbing us don’t
listen to the teacher anyway. (Year 7 Male)
The work itself is not always challenging enough when the teachers are too busy
trying to control the disruptive ones who get away with it anyway. (Year 10 Female)
Some pupils can work more easily with extraneous noise than others. However, almost half
the pupils responding to the questionnaire in London (47%) said that other pupils were often
so noisy that they found it difficult to work, and 16% said that this was always the case. 48%
of Year 7 pupils said other pupils were often disturbingly noisy compared to 45% in Year 10.
49% of boys agreed that lessons were too noisy, compared to 44% of girls.
49% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said their lessons were
too noisy, compared with 48% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 45% of pupils from
White backgrounds. A more detailed analysis of responses by ethnic background to this
question (Question 52) is included in Appendix 4, Table 4C.
Pupil responses in individual schools ranged from 19% to 69% of Year 7 pupils saying that
lessons were often disturbingly noisy. The proportion of Year 10 pupils saying it was
disturbingly noisy ranged from 16% to 76%.
4.6.2 Bullying Behaviour
In London, 45% of the pupils said that pupils were always or often made fun of if they
worked hard, compared to 45% of pupils elsewhere in England.
People make fun of each other if they dislike each other, but they will use hard work
as ammunition. (Year 10 Male)
You get called ‘bods’ and ‘geeks’. It really puts you off until you don’t want to do any
work anymore. (Year 7 Female)
Year 7 pupils appeared to be more conscious of this kind of attitude than Year 10 (46%
compared with 42%). A higher proportion of boys than girls saw it as a problem (49%
compared with 40%), and there was also a clear distinction between inner and outer
London, with 47% of pupils in outer London believing that hard workers were made fun of
43

compared to 37% in inner London.
42% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said other pupils made
fun of people who worked hard, compared with 40% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and
48% of pupils from White backgrounds. A more detailed analysis of responses by ethnic
background to this question (Question 49) is included in Appendix 4, Table 4C.
Bullying was seen as a particular problem at their school by 30% of pupils in London. A
higher proportion of Year 7 pupils (33%) than Year 10 pupils (25%) regarded it as a problem.
A higher proportion of boys than girls saw bullying as a problem (32% compared with 26%).
31% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 35% of pupils from
Asian backgrounds and 27% of pupils from White backgrounds saw bullying as a particular
problem in their school.
The proportion of pupils who said they actually saw bullying of other pupils taking place on a
daily or weekly basis was rather smaller than the proportion who regarded bullying as a
problem generally. 25% of boys and 15% of girls reported seeing frequent bullying, an
overall figure of 20%, which remained constant for both year groups and all ethnic
background groups in both inner and outer London.
10% of boys and 5% of girls reported having been bullied at least once a week during the
summer term. The overall figure of 7% of pupils who said they were regularly bullied
corresponded closely to the figure in the England database and to a number of other
research studies on bullying (Tattum, 1993; Smith and Sharp, 1994). It also remained
constant for both year groups and all ethnic groups in both inner and outer London. The
range of responses between schools to questions about bullying was considerable. In one
school, 1% of pupils said they were frequently bullied, in another 28%.
Some pupils made comments about bullying. Some pupils had good experiences. One
Year 7 pupil reported that, “When I got bullied I told someone and it got sorted out. That just
goes to show how our teachers are kind and helpful” (Year 7 Female).
Other comments about bullying included the following:
At this school bullying is common, and it is always hard workers who get bullied.
Teachers cannot read the obvious signs and so never know what is going on. Even
when they do, serious punishment is rare. (Year 10 Male)
44

Bullying is a big issue. I’ve bunked off days because I hate coming to school! (Year
10 Female)
I think that bullying is always the thing that school policies are engineered to sound
like they deal with, but once these rules or policies are put into practice they hardly
ever deal with it. (Year 7 Female)
4.6.3 Racism
Racism was seen as a particular problem in their school by 18% of pupils overall. A higher
proportion of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils identified racism as a problem (20%
compared with 16%), a higher proportion of boys than girls (21% compared with 16%) and a
higher proportion of pupils in inner London than outer London (21% compared with 17%).
23% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 24% of pupils from
Asian backgrounds and 14% of pupils from White backgrounds identified racism as a
particular problem at their school. The marked difference in attitude to racism between white
pupils and pupils from other ethnic backgrounds, both in Year 7 and Year 10, is presented in
Figure 15 below.
Figure 15. Qu. 55: Is racism a particular problem in your school?
Percentage of pupils saying 'always' or 'often' - analysis by year group and pupils' ethnic background
45
% of pupils saying 'always' or 'often'
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
Black African, Black Caribbean
Other ethnic backgrounds
White British, White Other
0
Year 7 Year 10
Differences in response between individual schools were as great as in other research
45

areas, ranging from 1% to more than 60% of pupils who perceived racism to be a particular
problem in their school.
The evidence from the London Challenge survey (see Appendix 4, Table 4A) suggests that
there is a strong (negative) association between pupils’ responses with respect to pupil
behaviour with pupils’ responses about their school being a good school.
4.7 Pupils’ Self-Image
Pupils were also asked about their perceptions of themselves; their level of self-esteem,
their perception of their own behaviour in school, and their attitude to deliberately missing
lessons or truanting.
In London, 76% of pupils considered their ability to be either quite good or very good, with a
higher proportion of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils (78% compared with 74%), and a
higher proportion of boys than girls (78% compared with 75%) thinking that their abilities
were quite good or very good. 78% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean
backgrounds, 81% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 75% of pupils from White
backgrounds regarded their ability to be quite good or very good.
61% of Year 7 pupils and 58% of Year 10 pupils in London considered that their behaviour
was good for the most part, compared to with 76% and 69% respectively of pupils elsewhere
in England. In London, a higher proportion of girls than boys considered that their behaviour
was good for the most part (with 68% saying they were well-behaved compared to 51% of
boys). 55% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 64% of pupils
from Asian backgrounds and 59% of pupils from White backgrounds saw themselves as
being mostly well-behaved in school.
With regards to attendance, 63% of pupils in London agreed that most teachers took a strict
line about pupils missing school without permission. 61% of those questioned said they had
never missed school without permission (at least during the summer term in which the
survey took place). This compares with an average of 71% for pupils at schools elsewhere
in England. In London, 63% of Year 7 pupils said they had never truanted compared with
58% of Year 10, and 62% of girls compared with 59% of boys said they had never truanted.
Variations between pupil responses in individual schools were considerable (varying from
32% to 91%) but slight variations existed between pupils from different ethnic backgrounds
46

and between pupils from inner and outer London.
12% of pupils in London admitted deliberately missing lessons once they had registered at
school, compared to 8% of pupils elsewhere in England. This behaviour pattern was much
more in evidence in Year 10 than in Year 7 (17% compared with 7%). However, there
appeared to be little difference between boys and girls in the extent to which they
deliberately missed lessons.
4.8 Parental Support for Pupil Learning
It is widely accepted that parental involvement with their children’s education is crucial if
pupils are to engage positively with the school process, achieve their personal goals and
realise their potential. Involving parents/carers in their children’s education is a key element
in the development of an effective and successful school (Reid, Hopkins and Holly, 1987;
Mortimore et al. 1998; Johnson, 1993).
In London, most pupils felt they were well supported by their parents/carers in their learning.
79% of pupils said their parents/carers asked, at least sometimes, about what they were
learning at school. This corresponded to the same figure of 79% for pupils at schools
elsewhere in England. A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils reported that
their parents/carers took an interest in their work (84% compared with 75%). This difference
was also apparent for pupils at schools elsewhere in England (85% compared with 72%).
Girls’ and boys’ responses about the level of interest shown in their work by parents/carers
were very similar, as were the responses of pupils from different ethnic backgrounds, and of
pupils in inner London and outer London.
A high proportion of the pupils (83%) in London said that their parents/carers helped and
advised them with their school work at least sometimes, compared to 89% of pupils at
schools elsewhere in the England. A higher proportion of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils
reported this both in London (89% compared with 77%) and elsewhere in England. Girls’
and boys’ responses about the help and advice they got from their parents/carers were
almost identical, and differences according to pupils’ ethnic background and from pupils in
inner London and outer London were not apparent.
Compared to other areas of the report, the differences in pupils’ attitudes to the involvement
of their parents were not so marked between one school and another. In this case the
response range was comparatively small and a high proportion of the pupils felt well
supported by their parents/carers. The range of pupil responses to questions about parental
47

support is shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16 Qu. 2: Parents/carers help and advise me with schoolwork
Percentage of pupils answering 'true'
60
number of schools
50
40
30
20
Outer London Average
Inner London Average
England Average
10
0
60 70 80 90 100
% of pupils answering 'true'
The high esteem in which parents were held by pupils – in respect of the interest they
showed in their children’s education – was also reflected in the free-text comments made in
the survey. Comments about parental involvement include the following:
My parents always ask me what I have done at school and help me. They also
praise me if I have done well and support me. (Year 7 Female)
My parents are so strict because they continuously ask about my schoolwork and
homework. They want me to do well at school. (Year 7 Female)
Pupils were asked about the quality of the accommodation available in the home where they
could do homework. 83% of the pupils in London said they had a quiet place at home to do
their homework. Higher proportions of Year 7 pupils than Year 10 pupils (84% compared
with 82%), girls than boys (84% compared with 81%), and pupils from Asian backgrounds
than other backgrounds (85% compared with 82%) reported this. One pupil commented:
I soon will have a desk in my new bedroom for me to do my homework quietly. (Year
7 Female)
48

87% of pupils in London said they had access to a computer at home to help with
homework, compared to 83% of pupils at schools elsewhere in England. Greater
proportions of Year 10 pupils than Year 7 pupils (90% compared with 84%) and pupils in
outer London than inner London (89% compared with 81%) said they had access to a
computer. 82% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 89% of
pupils from Asian backgrounds and 88% of pupils from White backgrounds said they had
access to a computer at home to help them with their homework.
When it came to Internet access at home, the proportion of pupils in London saying they had
it available was high, 79%, compared with 75% of pupils at schools elsewhere in England.
But differences between groups were greater. 81% of Year 10 pupils said they had Internet
access compared to 77% of Year 7, and 83% of pupils in outer London said they had
Internet access compared to 67% in inner London. 73% of pupils from Black African and
Black Caribbean backgrounds, 75% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 82% of pupils
from White backgrounds said they had access to the Internet at home. Free text comments
indicated that some pupils perceived computer and Internet access to be important, with one
pupil commenting:
I believe students who have access to a computer and access to Internet have a
slight advantage over the rest and generally do better. (Year 10 Male)
Access to books to help with homework was also an important issue. In London, 89% of the
pupils said that, at home, they had the kind of books they needed to look things up in
(reference books, etc.). In this respect there were few differences between the responses of
different gender, year and ethnic groups, and no difference at all between inner and outer
London. The high proportion of pupils having books at home stood in marked contrast to the
fact that, for most lessons, 43% of pupils said they were allowed to take home books and
resources from school to help them with their homework. In Year 7, 40% of the pupils said
they could take home books from which to work. Although this figure appears low, it
corresponds very closely to the 37% of pupils reporting that they could take school books
home in a national survey conducted in 2002 (Johnson, 1999).
While the majority of parents/carers were perceived by their children to be supportive of their
education, a small proportion were reported as having attended the school in support of
49

their child unless the reason for doing so concerned the welfare of their child. Where the
interests of the child were perceived to be best served, or if the child had problems or was in
trouble, parents/carers were more likely to attend. It is not surprising, therefore, that a high
proportion of pupils (82%) said that their parents/carers attended parents’ evenings to
discuss their attainment and progress with the teachers. The level of attendance at parents’
evenings was high for all year, gender and ethnic groups, whether from inner or outer
London.
When it came to social events or actively supporting the school, as a classroom assistant,
for example, a far smaller proportion of parents/carers attended. 14% of pupils said that their
parents came to social events held at the school, and 4% came to the school to help out in
the classroom.
4.9 Going to School in London
46% of the pupils, who responded to the London Challenge survey, said that they attended
the nearest available school to their home. Of the pupils responding to questions about their
mode of transport to and from school, 44% said they went to school on foot, and 5% went on
a bicycle. A higher proportion of pupils in inner London than outer London said they walked
to school (48% compared to 42%).
Some had difficult choices to make about the mode of transport and were not always happy
about decisions that were made for them. One pupil said,
I have wanted to ride my bike to school for long time. I see it as a way to keep fit,
save money, and training for oncoming cycling races I plan to participate in. I have
asked my parents but they are afraid of the roads. Although my route lets me use
the pavements at all time they still say no. Please make the roads safer and cycle
access to most pavements to give me this chance. Thank you. (Year 7 Male)
There were substantial differences in response according to pupils’ ethnic background, both
in the proportion who attended the nearest school and in the mode of transport used to get
to school. 38% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said they
attended the nearest school to their home, and 33% said they walked to school. This
compared with 54% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 47% of pupils from White
backgrounds, who said they attended the nearest school, with 52% and 45% respectively
50

walking to school.
25% of pupils in London were taken to school by car. Again there were clear distinctions
between inner and outer London, and between pupils from different ethnic backgrounds.
28% of pupils in outer London were taken to school by car, compared with 16% in inner
London. 14% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, 28% of pupils
from Asian backgrounds and 26% of pupils from White backgrounds said they were taken to
school by car.
Overall 39% of pupils said they used public transport to travel to and from school. In this
case there appeared to be little difference between inner and outer London. However, the
distinctions between pupils from different ethnic backgrounds remained. 52% of pupils from
Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said they took public transport to school,
compared with 25% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 39% of pupils from White
backgrounds.
Describing journeys to school is not always as simple as these figures appear to show. For
some pupils the journey involved two or even three modes of transport and, in some cases,
a quite different journey on the way to school compared with the return journey.
Although a relatively high proportion of pupils did not attend the closest school to home,
more than three quarters of them had a journey of half an hour or less to get there. More
than a third took fifteen minutes or less. 3% took more than an hour. Pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said they took longer to get to school. 64% took
less than half an hour, compared to 85% of pupils from Asian backgrounds. Nearly half the
pupils from Asian backgrounds estimated they had a journey of less than 15 minutes,
compared to 27% of the pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds.
The travel arrangements associated with attending a school at some distance from home
caused considerable difficulties for some pupils. Comments illustrating the worst problems
associated with travel were as follows:
“I wake up at 4.45 a.m. leave home at 6.20 a.m. to get to school at 7.30 a.m. for
school that starts at 8.50 a.m., so I can miss traffic and rush hour. (Year 7 Male)
I have to get 2 buses to school (wake up at 6.30 a.m., leave at 7.30 a.m. to be in
51

school by 8.15 a.m.) but I am mostly late! Then I get in trouble for it. (Year 10
Female)
Travel problems were blamed for frequent late attendance by 13% of pupils overall, although
there was a difference between year groups (11% of Year 7 blaming travel arrangements for
frequent lateness, compared to 16% of Year 10) and a slight distinction between inner and
outer London (13% compared with 15%). However, 20% of pupils from Black African and
Black Caribbean backgrounds said that travel difficulties caused them to be frequently late
for school (compared to 13% of pupils from Asian backgrounds and 11% of pupils from
White backgrounds).
Pupils were asked if they were hindered, by travel arrangements, from taking part in afterschool
activities and 28% of pupils in London said that this was the case. More than a
quarter of all boys and girls, both Year 7 and Year 10, and pupils from White backgrounds,
in both inner and outer London were restricted by travel difficulties in the extent to which
they were able to take part in after school activities. About a third of pupils from Black
African and Black Caribbean or Asian backgrounds said they could not take part.
A small number of areas of enquiry in the London Challenge survey were directed only to
one year group. In the case of Year 7 pupils, the survey sought to look more closely at the
implications for younger pupils, if any, of attending a school at a distance from home and
having to travel to get there.
63% of this younger age group did not really like to attend school at a distance from home.
They said that attending a school near to home was important to them. 22% rated it as ‘very
important’. Although having to travel did not seem to be a frightening experience for the
majority, 15% of Year 7 pupils said that they did not feel safe on their way to and from
school.
Evidence from the London Challenge surveys indicates that the distance travelled to attend
school and the time taken for the journey had little influence on the extent to which pupils
thought that the school they attended was good or not.
Some pupils commented on safety issues. Their comments included:
The only reason I don’t feel safe is because there are lots of muggers, dealers and
gangs in my area. (Year 7 Male)
52

Most of the time I do (feel safe), but when I’m on the bus or waiting at a bus stop,
there are a few dodgy characters about. (Year 7 Female)
4.10 The Transition from Primary to Secondary School
This section of the report refers only to questions asked of Year 7 pupils.
Many London secondary schools draw their pupils from a greater number of primary schools
than average (Flatley et al, 2001, quoted in DfES, 2003), which may make it harder for
children to make the move, and for primary and secondary teachers to share information.
To minimise the disruptive influence of transition, it is usual for secondary schools to arrange
visits for prospective pupils and their parents. In both inner and outer London, more than
86% of pupils said that they had an organised visit to the school before joining it. Since
joining, 78% felt that they were getting on well at the school, although at the time of
completing the questionnaire, 36% agreed or strongly agreed that they were happier in their
current school than they had been in their primary/junior school. There was some disparity
between pupils from different ethnic backgrounds, about the ease of settling into a new
environment. 74% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds said they
were getting on well, compared to 80% of pupils from Asian and White backgrounds. On the
other hand, more than 90% of pupils, including pupils from Black African and Black
Caribbean backgrounds, were finding it easy to make new friends since coming to the
school.
The style of teaching and learning was different in the secondary phase. For the most part
the new methods of teaching and learning seemed to suit the Year 7 pupils. 78% of them
said that they liked having different teachers for different subjects, and 32% agreed that it
would be good to stay in the same room for most lessons as they had done at primary
school. Three quarters of the Year 7 pupils found the work they were doing harder than the
work they did in primary school.
4.11 Curriculum Support and Future Intentions
This section of the report refers only to questions asked of Year 10 pupils.
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95% of the Year 10 respondents felt that it was important to have a good range of subject
options from which to choose. 72% of the girls considered it very important, as opposed to
65% of the boys. For 81% of Year 10 it was important (or very important for 37% of girls and
33% of boys) to have access to work-related courses. Having work experience also ranked
highly with Year 10 pupils. 91% believed that it was important (and for 69% of girls and 60%
of boys very important) to do work experience.
However, some pupils’ comments indicated that they felt access to work-related courses
was limited. One pupil commented: “People who are in a lower group get better
opportunities than those in a higher group. They get to go to college and do work
experience, these opportunities should be open to all students.” (Year 10 Female).
There was also a belief that having sound advice was helpful, and 70% of Year 10
acknowledged the importance of having a teacher who helped them to set targets. A greater
proportion of girls than boys thought that it was important to be supported by a teacher in
setting themselves targets (73% compared with 68%). More marked differences were noted
between pupils from different ethnic backgrounds. 79% of pupils from Black African and
Black Caribbean backgrounds and 77% of pupils from Asian backgrounds said that having
teacher support for setting learning targets was important, compared with 65% of pupils from
White backgrounds.
Some comments made by pupils in response to questions about support with target setting
showed that pupils do not always welcome the intervention of teachers, however wellintentioned.
Comments expressing this sentiment included:
I don’t always feel the need to have someone to talk to or make targets with because
I am a student who is very sure of themselves and know where my weaknesses or
strengths are, how I can improve and what I want to do in the future. For me, I don’t
think sitting with a teacher at school discussing targets is necessary, and sometimes
a waste of time. (Year 10 Female)
I hate the idea of someone treating me like a retard and giving me targets. (Year 10
Male)
Similar differences existed between groups of pupils in respect of having a mentor (an adult
from the local community or local industry) coming into the school to discuss progress,
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opportunities in the world of work, etc. This was perceived as important for 56% of girls, but
47% of boys. 60% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean and Asian
backgrounds saw having a mentor as important, compared with 46% of pupils from White
backgrounds. Good careers advice, on the other hand, was perceived as important by 86%
and differences of view across the different pupil groups were not so great. 89% of pupils
from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds and 90% from Asian backgrounds
saw having good careers advice as important, compared with 84% of pupils from White
backgrounds.
The ambitions of the London pupils were very high in terms of wanting to stay on into Further
and Higher Education. 83% of boys and 88% of girls said they wanted to stay in full-time
education post-16, and 89% of boys and 94% of girls said they wanted to go on to university.
95% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds, and 95% of pupils from
Asian backgrounds held this ambition, compared to 88% of the pupils from White
backgrounds. More than four out of five Year 10 pupils in London schools thought that their
schools and colleges would provide them with a good range of subjects for study post-16.
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5 Main Findings of the Teacher Survey
5.1 Key Findings
Key findings of the survey of teachers in London were that:
• 87% of teachers said they enjoyed their work.
• 45% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that teacher morale was high.
• 84% of teachers believed that their school was working hard to improve.
• 42% of teachers in London felt that the quality of their school had improved during the
last year, although 22% said it had deteriorated. 20% of teachers felt that the quality of
schooling in London as a whole had improved during the last year.
• 65% of teachers would be prepared to recommend the school in which they were
employed to friends as a good place to send their children.
• 66% of teachers thought that the school was well resourced, and 68% felt that it had a
good reputation in the community. 79% said that they would recommend the school as a
good place to work.
• 68% of teachers regarded pupils as being always or generally well behaved.
• 99% of teachers felt that effective behaviour improvement systems were important in
helping improve pupils’ learning. 98% felt that working in new or refurbished schools
was important, and 92% felt matching teaching styles to the needs of individual pupils
was important in helping pupils learn.
• Leadership schools was regarded as good by 53% of teachers, and as poor by 29%.
41% believed that communication in their school was effective, but 40% disagreed.
• 94% of teachers thought that opportunities for high quality professional development
were important for raising teacher morale. 93% felt that more encouragement from
senior staff, and staff working as teams to raise standards, were important. 94% felt that
smaller classes were important, and 92% believed more non-contact time was important
for raising staff morale.
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• 93% of teachers believed that receiving support for house purchase in London would
make teaching in London more attractive. 89% felt that having access to high quality
Continuing Professional Development, and 84% felt that having up-to-date ICT would
make teaching in London more attractive. 78% felt that having recognition for the unique
skills developed by London teachers ICT would make teaching in London more
attractive.
• Teachers’ attitudes to school quality varied according to their gender and the location of
the school, but most of all, their attitudes varied according to the individual school in
which they were employed.
5.2 Teaching in London
The overwhelming majority of teachers responding to the London Challenge survey (87%)
said they enjoyed their teaching for most of the time. From the perspective of their individual
schools, some teachers saw an improving pattern of school development and some saw
deterioration, with 42% saying that the quality of schooling at their school had improved over
the last twelve months, compared to 22% who took the view that it had worsened.
Responses to an open-ended question asking about the main benefits and/or challenges of
working in London included:
I believe that working in London provides the best possible training ground for a
teacher. London seems to be at the cutting edge of initiative … There are also many
excellent teachers working in London from whom to learn.
I have always taught in London and I love it! It provides a unique opportunity that
does not exist elsewhere.
Many staff are demoralised. Pupil behaviour has deteriorated. Teachers are
blatantly ignored by pupils, and yet teachers work harder and harder to help them to
succeed. Fewer parents thank teachers for helping their children. Teachers are
treated with less respect than when I started teaching. I see poor behaviour as the
key issue.
Teaching in our inner London school is tough work requiring very specific skills.
There has been a general deterioration in student behaviour over the years, as
problems in society increase. There is little recognition of what is asked of teachers
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today.
Teachers’ responses about the change in schooling over the last year were not as positive.
20% believed that the situation in London had improved compared with 19% who believed
that things had got worse. It should be noted that 36% did not venture an opinion.
5.3 The Schools
Teachers in London were positive about some aspects of schools in which they taught. 85%
said that their school was working hard to improve, and 83% indicated that they were
seeking to give all the pupils the opportunity to realise their potential. 79% said that their
school was committed to involving parents in their children’s education, and 50%,
acknowledged an equal commitment to collaborative working with other schools to support
pupils’ learning.
Approximately two thirds of the teachers believed that their school had a good reputation in
the local community (67%), that it had a distinct mission and ethos (65%) and that the school
was well resourced with books and ICT provision and good facilities (66%).
In each of these areas a somewhat higher proportion of teachers from inner London than
outer London made positive responses (73% compared with 66%, 69% compared with 64%,
and 73% compared with 64% respectively).
As an indication of the esteem in which teachers held their schools, they were asked
whether they would advise friends to send their children there or to recommend the school to
a colleague as a good place to work. 79% of teachers responding to the questionnaire said
they would recommend their school as a good place to work, compared with 82% elsewhere
in England. 65% would advise friends to send their children there, compared with 85%
elsewhere in England. The wide disparity in the proportion of teachers making positive
responses between different schools is shown in Figure 17.
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Figure 17 Qu. 46: Would you recommend the school as a good place to work?
Percentage of teachers saying 'yes'
18
16
number of schools
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of teachers saying yes
5.4 Management and Leadership
Teaching staff perceptions of management and leadership issues could be characterised as
rather equivocal. 70% of teachers thought that they were helped to set appropriate targets
in their work, and 59% thought that senior staff maintained good relationships with them.
41% believed that communication in their school was effective and 40% believed
communication was ineffective. Responses to an open-ended question asking what would
help/has helped to establish a culture of achievement in their school included:
Good leadership from the head of the school as well as heads of department has
meant that the school has direction and purpose.
I am shocked by the ineffectual nature of school management and the “them and us”
attitude that pervades both teachers’ and managers’ relationships. Teachers are the
most valuable resource a school has, and any management group that acts on that
will be rewarded by success for the school and its pupils.
Teaching is a very demanding job. Without support and recognition from senior staff
the job becomes a lot less appealing – especially in Inner London/Outer London
schools.
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The leadership given by senior staff was seen as good by 53% of teachers, whereas 29%
saw it as poor. 58% of teachers believed that they will be fully and appropriately supported if
confronted by a difficult pupil, but 29% did not. 46% of men and 51% of women believed
that senior management colleagues dealt effectively with unauthorised absence, 23% of
men and 20% of women did not.
As discussed earlier, the greatest differences of view about leadership existed between
individual schools. Figure 18 below shows the distribution of teacher responses to Question
14 of the questionnaire, which illustrates graphically the considerable variation in response
to the question about leadership between teachers at school level.
Figure 18 Qu. 14: Senior Management provides good leadership
Percentage of teachers strongly agreeing or agreeing
9
8
7
number of schools
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of teachers agreeing
5.5 The Pupils
Pupils were seen as generally well behaved by 68% of their teachers, and 52% were
perceived to be generally or always motivated to work hard. There were, however,
considerable differences between schools, and where good pupil behaviour was not the
norm the teachers written responses showed some concern.
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Responses to an open-ended question asking what would help/has helped to establish a
culture of achievement in their school included:
Most students arrive motivated and enjoying working and learning. The school
celebrates and encourages that through its ethos, which is focused on inclusiveness,
support, teamwork and caring.
Vibrant pupils from multicultural backgrounds along with young dynamic staff are
benefits (for this school).
There needs to be a change in attitude with teenagers to it is cool to do well.
Students often underachieve on purpose so they won’t “lose face” with their peers.
The wide distribution of responses is demonstrated by Figure 19, showing the range of
teacher responses to Question 38: Which of the following best describes how you find the
behaviour of most pupils in the school?
Figure 19 Qu. 38: Pupils are generally well-behaved
Percentage of teachers strongly agreeing or agreeing
14
12
number of schools
10
8
6
4
2
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of teachers agreeing
5.6 Morale
Responses to the teacher survey appear to demonstrate some concern about the perceived
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level of teacher morale. 45% of the teachers, both in inner and outer London, agreed that
teacher morale was high, and 32% disagreed with this assertion. A slightly higher proportion
of women than men were less positive about teacher morale: 44% of women agreed that it
was high compared to 48% of men, and 34% of women disagreed compared to 30% of men.
In the case of teacher morale, there was, once more, a considerable spread of responses
between schools. In one school all teachers, 100%, said their morale was high, in two
others none of the teaching staff could agree that this was the case. Figure 20 below shows
the distribution of teachers’ views on Question 11 of the questionnaire, which illustrates
graphically the considerable variation between teachers’ responses from the range of
London schools surveyed.
8
Figure 20 Qu. 11: This school has high staff morale
Percentage of teachers strongly agreeing or agreeing
7
6
number of schools
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of teachers agreeing
A number of possible factors for improving teachers’ satisfaction levels and raising morale
were listed in the questionnaire, with a view to ascertaining those most likely to be
successful. A high level of importance was attached to nine of the ten factors by more than
85% of both men and women. 94% thought that high quality professional development was
important, 93% thought encouragement from senior staff was important, and 92% thought
that having smaller classes was important.
There were, however, differences in degree between those factors deemed ‘very important’
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and those deemed ‘important.’ Figure 21 below shows the extent to which the different
factors were rated by teachers as ‘very important’. Some of these factors were seen as
much more important by women than men. A higher proportion of women than men
regarded the following as being very important for improving teachers’ satisfaction and
raising morale: having access to high quality professional development (61% compared to
52%), teachers working together as teams (66% compared to 54%), having more support
staff (45% compared to 33%) and teaching assistants (28% compared to 19%).
Figure 21: Factors deemed 'very important' for improving teacher satisfaction
Percentage of teachers agreeing that factors are very important - analysis by gender
working in teams
smaller classes
encouragement from SMT
high quality CPD
less form filling
more non-contact time
less change
better access to ICT
more support staff
all teachers
female
male
more teaching assistants
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
% of teachers agreeing
5.7 Teaching and Learning
91% of respondents said that pupils were praised and encouraged in their school (94% in
inner London and 91% in outer London). 67% said that they and their colleagues had high
expectations of their pupils (75% in inner London, 66% in outer London). 66% said the
lessons were motivating and challenging. 64% said that they worked collaboratively with
colleagues to develop their skills as teachers. 53% of teachers said that teaching in the
school was informed by research or best practice from elsewhere. 48% said that the
teaching styles used in the school were matched to the needs of individual pupils.
Classroom control was judged to be good by 62%, but 21% did not agree that this was the
case. Again the range of responses between schools to many of these questions was
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considerable, with wide differences between the percentage of teachers taking the most
positive view of their school and teachers taking the least positive view. Figure 22 below
shows, for example, the wide distribution of responses to the question about the quality of
classroom control.
Figure 22 Qu. 22: Classroom control is good
Percentage of teachers strongly agreeing or agreeing
9
8
7
number of schools
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of teachers agreeing
Responses to an open-ended question asking what teachers perceived as the main benefits
and challenges of working in London included:
There are too many kids in our school who cannot cope with classes of more than ten
pupils. It only takes one child constantly disrupting a class to ruin its ethos. More than
one and any genuine teaching becomes virtually impossible.
Putting violent and disruptive pupils back in the classroom against school’s wishes means
that instead of one or two pupils not achieving and being socially excluded all 30 are.
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5.8 Improving Teaching and Learning in London
A principal aim of the London Challenge is to introduce strategies to bring about improved
pupil learning, and the survey invited teachers to comment upon a number of factors, to do
with provision, learning opportunities and support, which might have importance in this
context.
Given the depth of feeling expressed by teachers about the crucial importance of classroom
control and the creation of a supportive learning environment, it is possibly not surprising
that the highest level of importance was attached to effective behaviour management and
reward systems. 99% of respondents agreed that such systems were important for bringing
about improvement in pupils’ learning in London.
In terms of pupils’ learning, promoting greater parental involvement in their children’s
education was also seen as important by 99% of the teachers. Some teachers, in response
to an open-ended question about the main benefits and/or challenges of teaching in London,
identified lack of parental support as a challenge. One teacher responded: “A large section
of the community has no respect for education or achievement. Having parents get on
board and understand what we do would help.”
Working in refurbished and well-resourced schools also rated highly with teachers. 98% of
respondents agreed that such provision would bring about improvement. 92% of
respondents accepted that learning was greatly enhanced where teaching styles could be
matched to the needs of individual pupils. 90% saw importance in the availability of
opportunities for pupils to participate in extra-curricular learning opportunities, and 87%
believed that adequate ICT provision was important. 83% thought that the availability of
teaching support staff such as Learning Mentors and Personal Tutors was important, and
82% regarded work experience as an important influence in improving pupils’ learning.
87% saw work-related learning and access to a vocational curriculum as important. More
women than men put a high priority on work related learning (42% compared to 32%), and
the vocational curriculum (40% compared to 34%).
Little more than half of respondents (46% in inner London and 53% in outer London) thought
that Specialist Schools made a valuable contribution to improving teaching and learning in
London. Rather more (59% in inner London and 68% in outer London) thought that Training
65

Schools made a valuable contribution to improving teaching and learning in London.
Although most of the factors suggested as being important for improving pupil learning were
regarded by teachers to be important, not all were deemed very important. Figure 23 below
shows the extent to which the different factors were rated by teachers as very important.
Figure 23: Factors deemed 'very important' for improving teaching and learning
Percentage of teachers agreeing that factors are 'very important' - analysis by gender
effective behaviour
improvement systems
refurbished and well
resourced schools
matching teaching styles to
pupils' needs
extra curricular learning
opportunities
adequate ICT provision
teaching support staff
all teachers
female
male
relevant work experience
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
% of teachers agreeing
There was marked variation in response, dependent upon the school in which the teacher
worked. With questions about improving learning, however, the range of responses was not
so great as in some other categories. This is illustrated in Figure 24, for example, which
shows the range of response to Question 58, which asks about the impact of extra-curricular
learning opportunities on improving learning.
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Figure 24 Qu. 58: Extra-curricular learning opportunities help improve learning
Percentage of teachers strongly agreeing or agreeing
16
14
number of schools
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
% of teachers agreeing
5.9 High Quality Professional Development
As previously stated, teachers in London attached considerable importance to high quality
professional development. Responses to open-ended questions indicated that for some
teachers, high quality professional development was identified as one of the main benefits of
working in London.
The high level of esteem felt for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in London
generally was carried over into the views expressed by teachers’ about their own school’s
CPD provision. 70% of teachers overall rated their school’s professional development
programme highly. This was even more pronounced in inner London, where 77% of teachers
rated their schools’ provision highly, compared with 68% of outer London teachers.
5.10 Recruitment and Retention - Making teaching in London more attractive
The teacher questionnaire suggested a number of possible incentives to teachers about
factors which may or may not make teaching in London more attractive and which may,
therefore, encourage recruitment and retention. Analysis of the teachers’ responses to
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questions about recruitment and retention is presented below in Figure 25.
Figure 25:
Important factors for recruiting and retaining teachers
Percentage of teachers agreeing that factors are important - analysis by London location
support with home buying
high quality CPD
access to up-to-date ICT
recognition of London skills
a new or refurbished school
Chartered Teacher status
Specialist/Training School status
Outer London
Inner London
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of teachers agreeing
Factors rated highly in terms of recruitment and retention, and seen as important to more
than three quarters of the teachers, included support with home buying, access to high
quality CPD, access to up-to-date ICT, including interactive white boards, and having
recognition that teaching in London requires and develops unique skills. A higher proportion
of women than men regarded having high quality professional training as making teaching in
London more attractive (45% compared with 36%).
In the context of recruitment and retention, the factors which teachers agreed were least
important in making teaching in London more attractive were: having professional
recognition of relevant London experience through Chartered London Teacher status, and
their school having Specialist School/Training School status.
Responses to an open-ended question asking about the factors or changes that would most
encourage them to go on teaching in a London school indicated that some teachers felt that
their salary was inadequate when seen in the context of the high cost of living. While the
London weightings were appreciated, a number of respondents perceived them to be too
small and the differences between inner and outer London allowances to be unfair.
Responses to this open-ended question included:
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The London allowance does not reflect the cost of living and working in London. This
school is paid an ‘outer’ allowance and yet school five miles away and further out of
central London get the ‘inner’ allowance – A crazy situation.
London Challenge has really made a difference and I am sure will go on so to do.
Your next big effort could go into raising London Weighting for inner, outer and fringe
to realistic levels so avoiding the need for “hand outs” like key worker housing
schemes.
Some responses to this question suggested that only young teachers who were renting
houses, older teachers who already owned their own houses and foreign teachers on shortterm
contracts could afford to work as teachers in London. One teacher responded:
A home of my own! I really love living in London but I am sick of renting! The
teacher homes scheme is very complicated and slow with too few opportunities of
homes. I have tried for 3 years now and am a little frustrated. My next career move
is likely to be outside of London.
The difficulties engendered by the indicated lack of affordable housing for teachers, also
raised issues to do with having to travel distance to get to school. 37% of the teachers lived
in the Borough where they taught, 30% did so in inner London. However, for 65% of
teachers the journey to work was 30 minutes or less (53% in inner London). 8% of inner
London teachers and 4% of outer London teachers said they had to travel for more than an
hour to get to work.
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6 Pupils’ and Teachers’ Views Compared
For some aspects of school life, the attitudes of pupils and the attitudes of teachers could be
broadly compared. Sometimes the views were complementary, at other times contrasting.
The areas where this kind of comparison could be made included the following:
• school quality
• pupil/teacher relationships
• school resources and facilities
• teaching and learning
• strategies for improving pupils’ learning
• pupil behaviour and classroom control
• additional information from pupils’ and teachers’ free-text comments in the areas of
bullying and staffing
This section of the report provides a brief overview of comparisons between pupil and
teacher attitudes in the above categories. Because of the extremely wide range of pupil and
teacher responses from individual schools, comparisons can only be made in the broadest
and most generalised terms, using average figures from the whole of the dataset.
6.1 School Quality
A broadly similar proportion of pupils and teachers expressed positive views about school
quality. 79% of teachers responding to the questionnaire said they would recommend their
school as a good place to work, and 65% would advise friends to send their children there.
75% of the pupils in London agreed that the school they attended was giving them a good
education.
6.2 Pupil/Teacher Relationships
At some levels pupil/teacher relationships were seen to be good by both pupils and
teachers. 63% of the pupils said they got on well with most teachers and 82% said it was
important to them that the teachers gave them praise for good work or behaviour. For their
part, 69% of teachers said that most pupils behaved well, and 91% of them said that
colleagues praised and encouraged pupils in their work. However, 34% of the pupils agreed
that they were actually praised on a regular basis and 23% said their relationships with
70

teachers were such that they felt they could go to a teacher with a problem.
6.3 Resources and Facilities
There was a common agreement between pupils and teachers that the resources they
enjoyed were generally good. School facilities were perceived as better than in other
schools by half the pupils, and another 32% perceived them to be at least as good as
elsewhere. 66% of teachers agreed that facilities in the school where they were employed
were good.
6.4 Teaching and Learning
Teachers’ views about the quality of teaching and learning in their school were more positive
than those of the pupils. 66% of teachers considered the lessons delivered in their school to
be motivating and challenging, and 48% said that the teaching styles used would match
individual pupils’ needs. Overall, 53% of pupils in London agreed that most of their teachers
were good teachers, but 41% said that most of the work they did in school was interesting.
There was a broad measure of agreement between pupils and teachers about the
importance of ICT for teaching and learning. Access to ICT was seen by 89% teachers as
an important tool in helping to improve teaching and learning, and 56% of pupils agreed that
using computers helped them learn more easily. However, 13% of pupils said that
computers were used to support their learning in most or all lessons.
6.5 Strategies for Improving Pupils’ Learning
Pupils and teachers also agreed about the importance of work experience and work-related
learning. Work experience was seen as important for pupils’ learning by 92% of pupils and
82% of teachers. Work-related learning was seen as important by 82% of pupils, and 84%
of teachers.
In relation to extra-curricular learning opportunities, 90% of teachers said they thought such
activities were important in improving pupils’ learning. 71% of pupils said that their school
actually provided such opportunities.
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Working collaboratively with other schools to support pupils’ learning was stated as a
commitment by 50% of teachers, but only 7% of pupils said they had often worked with
pupils from other schools, and 76% said they had never done so.
6.6 Pupil Behaviour and Classroom Control
Pupil behaviour was perceived as good for the most part by 69% of teachers and 61% of
pupils. More than a third of the pupils said that other pupils tried to disrupt lessons every
day. Although classroom control was judged to be good by 62% of teachers, 45% of pupils
considered that teachers’ classroom control was good.
Many of the expressions of concern in teachers’ free-text comments cited challenging
behaviour as a major threat to school effectiveness, and 99% of teachers looked to the
introduction of new behaviour-management strategies to deal with this problem. Pupils’
free-text comments showed similar anxiety about other pupils disrupting their lessons, but
some expressed scepticism about systems introduced into school, either to deal with
bullying or bad behaviour.
A major area of contrast between the views of pupils and teachers lay in the part played by
parents in influencing pupil behaviour. Almost all pupils saw their parents as supportive, but
a high proportion of teachers’ free-text comments expressed concern about the lack of
support schools could expect from some parents.
6.7 Bullying Behaviour
16% of teachers (21% in inner London, 15% in outer London) agreed or strongly agreed that
bullying was a particular problem in the school, whereas 30% of pupils said that it was
always or often a particular problem (31% in inner London and 29% in outer London).
Bullying was seen as a particular problem by 21% of inner London teachers and 15% of their
outer London colleagues.
63% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that staff dealt effectively with bullying among
pupils, and teachers in outer London were more likely to agree that this was the case than
teachers in inner London (64% compared to 59%). 40% of pupils (41% in inner London,
40% in outer London) thought that teachers dealt effectively with bullying.
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6.8 Staffing
A relatively high proportion of teachers’ free-text comments dealt with staffing. The transient
nature of many teachers in London and the consequent high staff turn over in some schools
were seen as leading to instability in some schools. The use of supply teachers was seen
by teachers as a constant challenge to school effectiveness in London. Pupils’ views of this
situation seemed to support the teachers’ view, with 33% of the pupils saying that they were
often taught by someone other than their normal teacher.
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7 Conclusions
7.1 Pupil Survey
A substantial number of written responses to the London Challenge surveys made it clear
that both pupils and teachers, but especially pupils, appreciated the opportunity to express
their views about their school life. More than three quarters of the pupils said how important
it was to be allowed to have their say, be it in a school council or in a survey such as this.
7.1.1 Satisfaction with School Experience
In common with pupils generally, most pupils in London were supportive of their own school.
60% of pupils surveyed thought that their school was better than most. In this respect, there
was little distinction between year groups, gender groups and inner and outer London.
Pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds were less positive than other
groups.
Pupils’ impressions about London schools in general were less positive. 39% of pupils,
overall, believed that London schools were better than others. Only pupils from Asian
backgrounds took a markedly more positive view about London schools, with 48% of them
responding positively to this question.
In some areas of school life a very high proportion of the pupils seemed satisfied with their
experiences. More than four in five (84%) said they were happy at school and that they
considered the facilities they were provided with to be good. Three quarters thought they
were getting a good education. On the other hand, there was little evidence that pupils,
particularly the boys, found real interest in the work they did in school. Less than half
enjoyed what they learned, and well over a third said they were bored. Most pupils
considered they benefited from using new technologies in their learning, but nearly a third
said they rarely or never used computers in their lessons. Nearly half the pupils said that in
some lessons they hardly ever got to take books home to support their projects or
homework.
74

7.1.2 Relationship with Teachers
In London, the pupil survey findings suggested that the nature of the pupil/teacher
relationship was a cause of concern in some schools and presented schools with problems
that needed to be addressed. Most pupils said they had good teachers who took time and
trouble to make sure they understood things, and with whom they got on well. 38% (30% of
pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds) believed that teachers were
generally respected. In some schools as few as 14% of pupils said teachers were
respected. Half the pupils said they would never go to a teacher if they had a problem.
7.1.3 Quality of teaching
A majority of pupils in London (53%) agreed that most of their teachers were good
teachers. Responses about the quality of the teachers were more positive in Year 7
than Year 10. 57% of Year 7 pupils agreed that most of their teachers were good
teachers, compared with 48% of Year 10. Girls’ responses in this area were little
different from those of the boys’ (53% to 54%). A marginally higher proportion of
pupils in inner London than outer London thought that most of their teachers were
good teachers, with 54% positive responses compared to 52%.
Responses to questions about the quality of teaching also differed according to
pupils’ ethnic background. 45% of pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean
backgrounds said that their teachers were good, compared to 55% of pupils from
Asian backgrounds and 54% of pupils from White backgrounds.
7.1.4 Pupil Behaviour
A much-discussed area of concern for pupils and teachers alike, was the adverse impact of
disruptive pupil behaviour in the classroom. In schools where pupils are disruptive and
teachers are unable to manage their behaviour, it is likely that pupils’ progress will be
hindered. This may have serious implications for the academic development of any
individual pupil who is impeded by the bad behaviour of other pupils.
A particular issue for many pupils in London was the impact on their lives of disruptive
behaviour, and the proportion of teachers good at dealing with bad behaviour. More than a
third of the pupils (34%) reported others trying to disrupt lessons on a daily basis. Well
75

under half thought that classroom control was good, or that teachers dealt well with bad
behaviour. 83% said that it was important to be praised when you did good work.
A substantial minority of pupils (30%) believed that bullying was a particular problem in the
school they attended, and the same proportion felt that teachers had difficulty dealing with it.
Racism was perceived as a problem by almost a fifth of all pupils. In the case of both
bullying and racism, there were some schools where it was perceived as much more of a
concern than others.
7.1.5. Parental Support for Pupil Learning
Parental support also seemed to be highly regarded by most pupils. A very high proportion
said their parents showed interest in their school work and attended the school to see how
they were progressing. The majority of pupils said they had a quiet place to do their
homework, and access to computer support at home. More than three quarters of them said
they had access to the Internet at home.
7.1.6. Overview
Looking at the findings of the London Challenge pupil survey as a whole, there was
evidence that girls’ attitudes to most aspects of school life were more positive than those of
boys, and that Year 7 pupils tended to hold more positive attitudes than Year 10 pupils. It
was also the case that the pupils from Asian backgrounds participating in the survey
adopted a more positive stance to the educational process and its potential value for helping
them attain their personal and professional goals than did pupils from either Black African
and Black Caribbean, or White backgrounds. Individual schools did not necessarily find that
such clear-cut differences between gender, year and ethnic background groups were
reflected in their school level surveys, but these general trends were largely substantiated by
England data collected by the Centre for Successful Schools over more than fifteen years.
Information about the differences in attitude recorded between the pupil groups identified
above was important for enabling schools to interpret their own findings and place them in
the broader London context. Equally important was the fact that the pattern of responses
corresponded overall with those of similar surveys carried out outside London, which
suggested that the data could be used with confidence to set a baseline against which
perceptions could be tracked through subsequent surveys.
76

However, differences between gender, year and ethnic background groups and between
groups of pupils living in different geographic locations, such as inner and outer London,
were extremely small when compared with the considerable variation between individual
schools. In some schools the pupils’ experience seemed to be very positive and supportive
of their school, in others the responses suggested a considerable degree of disaffection
among the pupils. To some questions, the variation in school responses was considerable,
ranging from 100% of supportive responses in one school to less than 10% in others.
7.2 Teacher Survey
7.2.1. The Schools
The teachers’ view of the schools themselves was, for the most part, positive. About two
thirds of the respondents overall were satisfied with the environment in which they worked,
and the level of school resource available to them. The same proportion expressed
satisfaction with their school’s reputation in the community, and were happy to recommend
their school as a good place to work. Four out of five teachers considered that their school
was working hard to improve, and twice as many saw an improvement in quality of schooling
in London as saw a decline. A high proportion of the free-text comments showed that many
teachers were proud to work in London and perceived London schools as centres of
excellence; as vibrant, progressive institutions.
7.2.2 Management and Leadership
Teachers’ views about the management and leadership of London schools were mixed. Half
saw the leadership in their school as effective and a quarter thought that the quality of
leadership was poor. However, the greatest differences of view about leadership were to be
found, once again, between individual schools. The teachers’ gender or their inner/outer
London location, showed only small variations when compared with the wide distribution of
responses at individual school level. Some school staff were 100% supportive of senior
colleagues, in a small number of schools very few members of the teaching staff said they
believed the school was well led.
77

7.2.3. Teaching and Learning
The difficulty of creating of a conducive teaching and learning environment was raised as a
matter of concern by a high proportion of the teachers who volunteered free-text comments.
More than 90% took the view that teachers praised and encouraged pupils. Two thirds or
more tried to make their lessons stimulating and worked with colleagues to develop their
teaching skills.
Factors which a high proportion of teachers agreed or strongly agreed were important for
improving pupils’ learning were effective behaviour management and reward systems (99%),
refurbished and well-resourced schools (98%), the availability of extra-curricular learning
opportunities (90%), relevant work experience (82%), and adequate ICT provision (89%).
For 81% of teachers in London, parental involvement in their children’s education was seen
as important or very important for London schools.
7.2.4 High Quality Professional Development
London teachers attached great importance to high quality professional development and
they spoke with enthusiasm about the ‘”leading edge” quality of CPD in London. The high
percentage of questionnaire responses testifying to the importance of professional
development was supported by the number of free-text responses devoted to the subject.
For many teachers, high quality professional development was identified as one of the main
benefits of working in London, and 70% of teachers rated their school’s professional
development programme highly.
7.2.5 Morale
A high proportion of teachers in London perceived that they worked in high quality schools,
yet relatively few (45%) felt that teacher morale was high, either in inner or outer London. Of
the factors suggested to them, in the questionnaire, as having potential to improve morale,
almost all were selected by teachers as important to some degree. For example, 94% gave
high rating to ‘high quality professional development’, 93% to ‘encouragement from senior
staff’, and 92% to having ‘smaller classes’. It was clear, however, that a high proportion of
the teachers felt that the list of improvement factors did not include issues closest to their
hearts. For many the most pressing issues to do with their happiness in the job and with
their enjoyment of a lengthy career in London, were economic. Many incentives for working
78

in London were identified in responses to questions about recruitment and retention but the
disincentives could not be ignored.
7.2.6 Recruitment and Retention
The high cost of living, particularly the lack of affordable housing, compared with the
teachers’ salary was the most frequently mentioned area of concern. This could explain why
more than 90% of teachers chose support with house purchase as their highest priority
factor for retaining and recruiting staff. The perceived lack of equity between inner and outer
London, in terms of London salary weightings, travel costs, the transient nature of families in
some areas, the lack of support offered to the school by some parents, the employment of
short-term foreign teachers and the high turn over rate of staff generally were all cited as
important issues for teachers wishing to work in London.
7.2.7 Overview
The findings of the teacher survey were analysed by gender. In broad terms, the differences
of opinion between men and women were small, with women being marginally the more
positive overall. Where distinctions were relatively large they are referred to specifically in
the text. As with the pupil survey, by far the largest variations were between the individual
schools in which teachers were employed rather than between teachers of different gender,
or teachers located in different parts of London.
79

APPENDIX 1
Year 7 Responses
80

Greater London Pupils
Table 1
Year 7 Responses Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
(Calculated as a % of the Maximum)
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background* E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1053 4223 1195 1849 2392 7657 2089 6035 7952
Eligible for free school meals
yes 36 32 20 33 36 37 19 37 36 34 20 35 26 27
no 64 68 80 67 64 63 81 63 64 66 80 65 74 73
Q1 Usually happy at school
true 82 88 84 86 88 89 90 88 85 89 87 87 85 90
false 18 12 16 14 12 11 10 12 15 11 13 13 15 10
Q2 Parents/carers help and advise
true 87 87 89 88 89 89 89 88 88 88 89 88 88 89
false 13 13 11 12 11 11 11 12 12 12 11 12 12 11
Q3 Often take part in activities
true 63 52 52 53 58 43 47 48 60 47 49 50 53 48
false 37 48 48 47 42 57 53 52 40 53 51 50 47 52
Q4 Homework regularly set
true 83 87 88 87 88 92 93 91 86 90 91 89 87 92
false 17 13 12 13 12 8 7 9 14 10 9 11 13 8
Q5 Computer access at home
true 77 87 86 81 81 84 86 82 79 85 86 82 84 84
false 23 13 14 19 19 16 14 18 21 15 14 18 16 16
Q6 Extra study opportunities
true 64 65 69 68 69 68 75 68 67 67 72 68 67 72
false 36 35 31 32 31 32 25 32 33 33 28 32 33 28
Q7 School work really interesting
true 49 55 44 51 53 57 47 53 51 56 45 52 48 50
false 51 45 56 49 47 43 53 47 49 44 55 48 52 50
Q8 Intend staying on after 16
true 84 89 80 87 92 92 85 90 88 91 83 88 83 88
false 16 11 20 13 8 8 15 10 12 9 17 12 17 12
Q9 Deliberately miss lessons
true 10 6 8 9 8 4 5 7 9 5 7 8 8 6
false 90 94 92 91 92 96 95 93 91 95 93 92 92 94
Q10 Internet access at home
true 72 76 81 74 70 70 79 73 71 73 80 73 78 75
false 28 24 19 26 30 30 21 27 29 27 20 27 22 25
Q11 Reference books at home
true 91 92 89 90 93 93 91 93 92 92 90 91 90 92
false 9 8 11 10 7 7 9 7 8 8 10 9 10 8
Q12 Quiet place to work at home
true 80 86 78 83 88 89 85 87 84 88 82 85 81 87
false 20 14 22 17 12 11 15 13 16 12 18 15 19 13
Q13 Teachers discuss progress
true 67 65 59 63 63 65 58 63 65 65 59 63 62 61
false 33 35 41 37 37 35 42 37 35 35 41 37 38 39
Q14 Can attend activities
yes 72 69 75 69 69 60 73 67 71 64 74 68 72 69
no 28 31 25 31 31 40 27 33 29 36 26 32 28 31
Q15 This is nearest school
yes 40 61 47 43 42 54 52 47 41 58 50 45 48 51
no 60 39 53 57 58 46 48 53 59 42 50 55 52 49
*Ethnic background:
E1 = Black African, Black Caribbean, Black Other
E2 = Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
E3 = White British, White Other
E4 = Chinese, White & Black Caribbean, White & Black African, White & Asian, Other
81

Table 1 (Cont.)
Year 7 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1053 4223 1195 1849 2392 7657 2089 6035 7952
Q16 Preferred another school
yes 42 31 21 31 45 31 21 30 43 31 21 31 27 28
no 58 69 79 69 55 69 79 70 57 69 79 69 73 72
Q17 Had organised visit to school
yes 79 83 87 82 84 87 89 84 81 85 88 83 84 87
no 21 17 13 18 16 13 11 16 19 15 12 17 16 13
Q18 Easy to make new friends
yes 93 91 91 90 91 90 91 90 92 90 91 90 91 90
no 7 9 9 10 9 10 9 10 8 10 9 10 9 10
Q19 Feel safe on way to /from
school
yes 88 87 86 86 86 88 86 85 87 88 86 85 87 86
no 12 13 14 14 14 12 14 15 13 12 14 15 13 14
Q20 This is a good school
strongly agree 18 21 26 23 16 18 23 21 17 20 25 22 24 21
agree 43 50 47 48 48 50 53 49 45 50 50 48 47 51
not sure 26 20 18 21 26 21 18 22 26 21 18 21 20 20
disagree 6 4 5 5 7 7 4 6 6 6 4 6 5 5
totally disagree 8 4 4 4 4 4 2 3 6 4 3 3 4 3
Q21 Learn more easily when use
computers in lessons
strongly agree 30 30 30 32 28 20 21 24 29 25 26 28 31 22
agree 38 37 32 33 34 39 32 32 36 38 32 33 34 34
not sure 20 20 25 21 25 30 31 29 22 25 28 25 23 30
disagree 9 10 10 11 10 9 13 12 10 10 12 11 10 12
totally disagree 4 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 2
Q22 Don’t want to go to school
strongly agree 20 17 21 14 14 11 12 12 17 14 17 13 19 12
agree 20 20 20 22 20 20 18 21 20 20 19 21 20 19
not sure 21 18 22 22 18 19 22 21 20 19 22 22 21 21
disagree 24 26 26 25 29 30 33 28 27 28 30 26 26 31
totally disagree 15 18 11 17 19 20 14 18 17 19 13 17 14 16
Q23 Most teachers respected
strongly agree 10 12 10 10 9 13 8 9 9 13 9 9 10 9
agree 24 34 32 28 23 35 36 31 24 34 34 30 31 33
not sure 30 29 32 37 33 32 35 34 31 31 33 35 32 34
disagree 22 17 18 17 23 14 16 19 22 16 17 18 18 17
totally disagree 14 8 8 8 13 5 6 7 13 7 7 8 9 7
Q24 Schoolwork dull and boring
strongly agree 17 13 18 15 15 11 12 10 16 12 15 13 16 12
agree 19 18 19 20 18 19 18 20 19 18 19 20 19 18
not sure 26 29 28 29 29 29 30 30 27 29 29 29 28 30
disagree 25 29 28 27 29 31 32 30 27 30 30 28 27 31
totally disagree 13 12 8 9 9 10 7 10 11 11 7 9 9 8
Q25 Lots of activities to take part in
strongly agree 50 49 50 50 45 46 48 44 47 48 49 47 50 47
agree 33 34 36 33 36 40 39 40 35 37 38 36 35 39
not sure 9 9 8 10 9 9 8 9 9 9 8 10 9 9
disagree 5 5 4 5 7 4 4 5 6 5 4 5 4 4
totally disagree 3 3 2 3 3 1 1 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
Q26 Learn more easily when
interactive whiteboard is used
strongly agree 24 25 23 26 24 19 17 21 24 22 20 24 24 19
agree 31 33 27 28 30 37 29 30 31 35 28 29 29 31
not sure 31 29 35 33 30 31 37 34 30 30 36 33 33 34
disagree 10 8 9 8 11 10 13 11 10 9 11 10 9 12
totally disagree 4 4 6 5 5 3 4 4 5 3 5 4 5 4
Table 1 (Cont.)
82

Year 7 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1053 4223 1195 1849 2392 7657 2089 6035 7952
Q27 Most teachers treat the pupils
with respect
strongly agree 16 23 19 21 14 18 18 20 15 20 19 20 20 18
agree 31 38 42 38 30 44 45 35 31 41 44 36 39 42
not sure 23 18 22 21 25 22 23 28 24 20 22 24 21 24
disagree 18 12 11 12 19 11 9 12 18 12 10 12 12 11
totally disagree 11 8 6 9 12 5 4 6 12 7 5 7 8 6
Q28 School is giving me a good
education
strongly agree 27 33 34 30 31 32 33 32 29 32 34 31 32 32
agree 45 47 46 46 45 46 47 45 45 47 46 46 46 46
not sure 18 15 14 18 17 16 15 17 18 15 15 18 16 16
disagree 5 3 3 2 5 4 4 3 5 4 3 3 3 4
totally disagree 4 2 3 3 3 2 1 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
Q29 School rules fair
strongly agree 17 21 17 19 15 19 15 18 16 20 16 19 18 17
agree 33 40 40 38 33 38 43 37 33 39 41 38 39 40
not sure 25 20 25 23 26 24 24 24 25 22 24 23 23 24
disagree 16 12 12 14 17 13 12 14 16 12 12 14 13 13
totally disagree 10 7 6 6 9 6 5 7 9 7 6 7 7 6
Q30 Most teachers good at
keeping control in the classroom
strongly agree 10 13 9 11 9 12 8 11 10 12 9 11 10 9
agree 34 36 38 36 35 44 43 37 34 40 40 36 37 41
not sure 24 25 26 28 29 23 28 28 26 24 27 28 26 27
disagree 22 17 19 18 19 15 15 19 20 16 17 18 19 16
totally disagree 10 9 8 8 8 6 6 5 9 7 7 7 8 6
Q31 Most teachers very strict
about pupils missing school
strongly agree 38 37 35 32 31 31 30 30 34 34 32 31 35 30
agree 27 29 31 30 28 30 33 31 28 30 32 31 30 32
not sure 20 21 24 26 26 27 27 28 23 24 25 27 23 27
disagree 10 9 7 8 9 7 7 7 10 8 7 8 8 8
totally disagree 5 4 4 4 6 4 3 3 5 4 3 4 4 3
Q32 Happier in this school than in
primary/junior school
strongly agree 18 19 21 20 14 13 16 15 16 16 18 17 20 15
agree 17 20 19 20 17 18 18 19 17 19 19 19 19 18
not sure 20 20 24 23 23 25 29 27 21 22 26 25 23 27
disagree 19 17 16 17 19 22 21 21 19 19 19 19 17 21
totally disagree 27 25 19 21 28 23 17 19 28 24 18 20 21 20
Q33 Like having different teachers
for different subjects
strongly agree 42 38 37 40 38 32 33 35 40 35 35 37 38 34
agree 35 35 41 37 43 46 45 43 39 41 43 40 38 44
not sure 14 17 14 15 12 14 14 14 13 15 14 14 14 14
disagree 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
totally disagree 4 5 4 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 3
Q34 Good to stay in same room for
most lessons
strongly agree 15 16 14 16 13 13 12 13 14 14 13 15 15 12
agree 14 20 17 18 16 21 19 19 15 20 18 19 17 19
not sure 19 18 19 19 17 24 22 21 18 21 21 20 19 22
disagree 23 23 27 21 27 24 29 26 25 24 28 23 25 27
totally disagree 29 23 23 26 27 18 19 20 28 20 21 23 25 20
83

Table 1 (Cont.)
Year 7 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1053 4223 1195 1849 2392 7657 2089 6035 7952
Q35 Work is harder than in primary
school
strongly agree 42 43 44 40 34 30 33 29 38 37 38 35 43 32
agree 34 36 36 36 32 41 42 39 33 38 39 38 36 40
not sure 13 11 12 14 19 17 17 19 16 14 15 16 13 17
disagree 7 5 5 6 10 8 6 9 8 7 5 8 5 7
totally disagree 4 4 3 4 6 4 3 4 5 4 3 4 3 3
Q36 Think I am getting on well at
this school
strongly agree 31 34 34 32 34 32 34 32 33 33 34 32 33 33
agree 39 46 45 46 42 48 46 47 41 47 46 46 44 46
not sure 19 14 15 16 17 14 14 15 18 14 14 15 15 15
disagree 6 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 5 3 4 4 4 3
totally disagree 4 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 4 3 3 2 3 2
Q37 Attending a school close to
home
very important 29 31 19 24 25 28 18 22 27 30 19 23 23 22
quite important 33 38 40 36 35 40 47 41 34 39 43 38 38 43
no opinion 16 15 18 16 13 16 15 16 14 15 16 16 17 15
not very important 16 13 17 17 22 13 17 17 19 13 17 17 16 17
not at all important 6 4 6 7 5 3 3 4 6 4 5 6 6 4
Q38 Being rewarded for good work
or behaviour
very important 58 60 47 53 59 57 47 55 59 58 47 54 52 52
quite important 31 31 38 33 30 35 40 33 30 33 39 33 35 37
no opinion 6 5 9 8 6 6 8 8 6 5 8 8 8 7
not very important 4 3 4 4 4 2 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 4
not at all important 1 1 1 2 1 0.3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Q39 Being able to give views about
the school
very important 48 44 42 43 55 47 40 48 51 46 41 45 44 44
quite important 32 30 31 31 28 33 37 32 30 32 34 32 31 34
no opinion 14 19 19 18 11 14 17 16 13 17 18 17 18 16
not very important 4 4 5 4 4 4 5 3 4 4 5 4 5 4
not at all important 2 2 3 4 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 1
Q40 Learning about other cultures
very important 43 44 22 35 44 45 24 40 44 45 23 38 31 33
quite important 36 39 37 41 38 42 41 39 37 40 39 40 38 40
no opinion 13 12 21 15 12 8 21 14 13 10 21 14 18 17
not very important 5 4 12 7 4 4 10 5 4 4 11 6 9 7
not at all important 3 1 8 3 2 0.4 4 2 2 1 6 2 5 3
Q41 Having lots of opportunities to
do sport and PE
very important 68 60 63 63 50 43 47 45 59 52 55 54 63 46
quite important 22 29 26 26 32 39 35 36 27 34 31 31 26 36
no opinion 7 8 7 7 11 11 10 11 9 9 9 9 7 11
not very important 3 2 2 3 4 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 2 6
not at all important 0.3 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2
Q42 Going on cultural visits
very important 38 40 31 39 39 38 33 40 38 39 32 39 35 36
quite important 37 37 39 33 37 41 42 39 37 39 40 36 37 41
no opinion 15 13 18 19 15 12 16 13 15 12 17 16 17 15
not very important 7 8 8 6 7 7 7 6 7 7 8 6 8 7
not at all important 3 3 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2
84

Table 1 (Cont.)
Year 7 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1053 4223 1195 1849 2392 7657 2089 6035 7952
Q43 Attending after-school clubs
very important 21 16 13 14 15 9 9 10 18 12 11 12 15 10
quite important 31 31 33 34 32 30 31 30 31 30 32 32 32 31
no opinion 20 23 27 26 23 28 27 31 22 25 27 28 25 27
not very important 20 21 18 18 23 26 24 21 22 24 21 19 19 24
not at all important 8 8 9 8 7 7 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8
Q44 Feel this school is better or
worse than most schools
much better 18 24 27 23 19 23 24 22 19 23 26 23 25 23
better 33 35 39 38 34 34 39 37 34 35 39 37 37 37
about the same 25 27 22 25 29 28 26 26 27 28 24 26 24 27
not as good 14 10 8 10 13 11 8 11 14 10 8 11 10 10
much worse 9 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 6 4 3 4 5 3
Q45 Buildings are better or worse
than in most schools
much better 18 23 17 19 16 18 16 15 17 21 16 17 19 16
better 33 32 32 29 29 36 34 32 31 34 33 31 32 34
about the same 21 23 30 27 25 26 33 29 23 25 31 28 27 30
not as good 16 15 14 18 20 14 13 18 18 14 13 18 15 15
much worse 11 7 7 7 9 6 4 6 10 6 6 7 8 6
Q46 Facilities are better or worse
than in most schools
much better 23 29 26 24 21 22 22 21 22 26 24 22 26 22
better 29 34 34 33 30 35 34 31 29 35 34 32 33 33
about the same 31 25 27 29 30 29 34 33 30 27 30 31 27 32
not as good 13 8 9 9 14 10 7 11 13 9 8 10 10 9
much worse 5 3 4 5 5 4 2 4 5 3 3 5 4 3
Q47 London schools better or
worse than other English schools
much better 19 22 16 18 18 20 10 16 18 21 13 17 18 14
better 28 31 24 28 25 27 24 25 27 29 24 27 26 25
about the same 37 34 43 38 38 41 51 44 38 38 47 41 40 46
not as good 10 9 11 11 14 8 11 12 12 9 11 12 11 11
much worse 5 3 6 5 5 3 4 3 5 3 5 4 5 4
Q48 Teachers praise when I have
tried hard
always 13 13 9 12 9 9 8 10 11 11 9 11 11 9
often 26 34 33 31 24 31 31 29 25 33 32 30 32 30
sometimes 33 31 34 35 39 38 39 36 36 34 36 36 33 38
rarely 20 16 19 18 22 18 18 20 21 17 18 19 18 19
never 8 6 6 4 5 4 4 4 6 5 5 4 6 4
Q49 Other pupils make fun of
people who work hard
always 21 20 24 19 17 14 19 15 19 17 22 17 22 17
often 29 29 30 33 22 21 28 26 25 25 29 29 30 25
sometimes 24 29 28 25 23 29 27 29 23 29 27 27 27 27
rarely 19 15 15 16 25 23 21 21 22 19 18 19 16 22
never 8 6 4 6 14 13 6 10 11 10 5 8 5 9
Q50 I behave badly at school
always 4 4 3 4 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 4 2
often 12 9 13 10 7 6 6 7 9 8 9 8 11 6
sometimes 39 29 31 33 30 18 21 21 35 23 26 27 32 22
rarely 34 39 40 36 38 37 43 38 36 38 41 37 38 41
never 10 20 13 16 24 37 27 31 17 28 20 24 15 29
85

Table 1 (Cont.)
Year 7 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1053 4223 1195 1849 2392 7657 2089 6035 7952
Q51 Feel can go to a teacher with
a problem
always 11 13 15 12 9 12 10 11 10 13 13 11 14 11
often 16 18 17 17 9 14 13 13 13 16 15 15 17 13
sometimes 24 31 26 30 25 32 28 31 25 31 27 31 27 29
rarely 23 20 23 22 30 23 27 25 27 22 25 24 23 26
never 25 18 18 19 26 19 22 20 26 19 20 19 19 22
Q52 Other pupils so noisy in
lessons that find it difficult to work
always 21 18 19 22 20 16 17 20 20 17 18 21 20 17
often 33 37 32 30 29 25 28 28 31 31 30 29 33 27
sometimes 28 27 30 30 30 35 32 33 29 31 31 31 29 32
rarely 12 13 13 13 15 18 18 15 14 15 16 14 13 17
never 6 5 5 5 6 6 6 5 6 6 5 5 5 6
Q53 Bullying is a particular
problem at this school
always 23 25 15 20 14 16 13 18 19 20 14 19 19 14
often 17 21 18 20 15 19 15 16 16 20 16 18 19 16
sometimes 24 26 29 27 28 28 30 29 26 27 30 28 27 29
rarely 26 21 30 24 31 28 33 28 28 25 31 26 27 31
never 10 7 9 9 13 9 9 9 11 8 9 9 9 9
Q54 Teachers deal effectively with
bullying
always 21 28 29 23 24 22 24 22 23 25 26 23 27 23
often 21 23 26 24 19 25 25 23 20 24 26 24 24 24
sometimes 25 24 23 24 30 30 29 30 27 27 26 27 24 29
rarely 22 14 14 18 18 16 15 16 20 15 15 17 16 16
never 11 11 9 10 9 8 7 9 10 9 8 9 10 8
Q55 Racism is a particular problem
at this school
always 13 15 8 13 11 10 6 11 12 12 7 12 11 8
often 13 16 9 13 11 13 9 10 12 14 9 12 12 10
sometimes 23 23 18 22 18 23 19 25 21 23 19 23 20 21
rarely 26 28 35 32 31 32 38 31 28 30 37 31 32 35
never 25 19 29 20 28 22 28 23 27 20 29 22 25 26
Q56 Have teaching assistant
helping the teacher in lessons
often 30 34 30 30 28 27 26 26 29 30 28 28 31 26
sometimes 32 35 29 35 32 36 30 34 32 35 30 35 32 32
rarely 25 19 29 23 27 27 31 29 26 23 30 26 26 30
never 13 12 12 12 13 10 12 11 13 11 12 12 12 12
Q57 Have truanted from school
often 7 7 5 4 4 5 4 6 6 6 5 5 6 4
sometimes 13 14 12 14 10 11 10 10 12 13 11 12 13 10
rarely 19 20 22 21 18 21 21 20 18 21 21 20 21 20
never 60 59 61 61 69 63 66 64 64 61 63 62 61 65
Q58 Parents/carers ask about what
learning at school
often 58 56 55 59 60 58 56 58 59 57 56 58 56 57
sometimes 24 30 26 26 25 28 27 26 25 29 26 26 26 27
rarely 11 9 14 10 10 9 11 12 11 9 12 11 12 11
never 6 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5
Q59 Had a substitute teacher
often 31 32 29 28 37 35 38 37 34 33 33 32 30 37
sometimes 47 46 46 48 39 45 44 44 43 45 45 46 47 44
rarely 19 19 23 21 18 17 16 16 19 18 19 18 21 16
never 3 3 2 3 5 4 2 4 4 3 2 4 2 3
86

Table 1 (Cont.)
Year 7 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1053 4223 1195 1849 2392 7657 2089 6035 7952
Q60 Do joint work with pupils from
other schools
often 14 9 7 9 10 7 7 9 12 8 7 9 9 8
sometimes 19 23 17 21 22 18 15 18 20 21 16 19 19 17
rarely 23 21 24 23 23 28 26 23 23 25 25 23 23 25
never 44 47 52 47 45 47 52 49 45 47 52 48 49 50
Q61 Travel problems cause me to
be late for school
often 19 13 11 14 15 10 8 13 17 11 10 13 13 10
sometimes 24 18 18 21 25 19 18 23 24 19 18 22 19 20
rarely 26 25 31 29 27 27 28 27 26 26 30 28 29 28
never 31 44 40 36 33 44 45 37 32 44 43 37 39 42
Q62 Use computers in lessons
every lesson 5 3 2 2 2 2 1 2 4 2 2 2 3 1
most lessons 12 9 7 8 12 10 6 9 12 10 6 8 8 8
sometimes 47 57 51 54 57 60 56 61 52 59 54 57 52 58
hardly ever 31 25 36 32 25 25 34 27 28 25 35 29 33 30
never 5 5 4 5 4 3 3 2 4 4 4 3 5 3
Q63 Books and resources to take
home to help with homework
every lesson 8 8 7 8 9 6 5 6 9 7 6 7 7 6
most lessons 31 33 33 32 34 35 31 35 33 34 32 33 33 33
sometimes 31 36 34 36 36 36 39 35 34 36 37 36 35 37
hardly ever 21 14 19 16 16 16 20 18 19 15 19 17 18 18
never 8 9 7 8 6 6 6 5 7 7 7 7 8 6
Q64 Teachers explain clearly what
supposed to learn in lesson
every lesson 27 30 25 28 25 27 20 23 26 28 22 26 26 22
most lessons 37 39 44 42 35 40 45 39 36 39 44 41 42 42
sometimes 25 23 22 22 29 26 25 30 27 24 23 26 22 26
hardly ever 8 6 7 5 9 5 8 7 9 6 8 6 7 8
never 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 3 2 2 2 3 2
Q65 Pupils try to disrupt lessons
every day 37 31 35 32 31 24 31 31 34 27 33 32 34 30
every week 20 18 22 17 15 13 18 16 18 16 20 16 20 17
sometimes 34 39 32 38 40 44 35 38 37 41 33 38 34 38
hardly ever 7 10 9 11 11 14 13 13 9 12 11 12 9 13
never 2 2 1 2 3 4 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 2
Q66 Been bullied this term
every day 3 4 3 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3
every week 7 5 6 5 4 3 4 4 6 4 5 4 6 4
sometimes 15 18 17 17 11 15 15 16 13 17 16 17 17 15
hardly ever 19 22 23 23 16 21 23 21 18 22 23 22 23 21
never 56 50 50 51 66 60 56 56 61 55 53 54 51 58
Q67 Seen other pupils bullied this
term
every day 11 11 9 12 9 5 7 9 10 8 8 11 10 7
every week 15 15 14 16 8 9 8 8 12 12 11 12 15 8
sometimes 33 34 32 31 30 34 30 33 31 34 31 32 32 31
hardly ever 26 26 28 26 30 28 32 29 28 27 30 28 27 31
never 15 13 17 15 23 24 23 21 19 18 20 18 16 23
87

Table 1 (Cont.)
Year 7 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 7 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases
343
108 145 422 119 184 239 765 208 603 795
768 939
894
4
1 3 3 5 9 2 7 9 5 2
Q68 How many teachers I have
got on well with this year
all 12 17 12 15 16 24 14 21 14 20 13 18 13 17
most 43 53 53 50 44 49 53 45 43 51 53 48 51 50
some 26 20 21 22 22 17 20 20 24 18 21 21 21 20
few 17 9 12 11 17 9 11 12 17 9 12 11 12 12
none 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1
Q69 How many of my teachers
are good teachers
all 8 10 10 9 8 11 11 11 8 11 10 10 10 10
most 37 47 50 47 39 46 51 43 38 46 51 45 47 47
some 31 26 25 26 29 27 24 30 30 26 25 28 26 26
few 20 14 12 14 22 15 13 15 21 14 12 14 14 14
none 3 3 2 4 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2
Q70 How many teachers good
at dealing with bad behaviour
all 9 13 10 12 9 10 9 10 9 12 9 11 11 9
most 33 39 40 36 29 38 40 35 31 38 40 36 38 37
some 31 26 30 27 33 29 31 29 32 28 31 28 29 31
few 23 17 17 20 24 19 17 22 23 18 17 21 18 19
none 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 3
Q71 Abilities as a student
a) very good 38 38 29 36 39 37 28 32 39 38 29 34 33 32
b) quite good 41 44 48 43 42 44 47 44 41 44 48 44 46 46
c) average 19 16 19 19 18 16 22 22 18 16 20 20 18 20
d) below average 1 0 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 1
e) poor 1 1 1 1 0.4 0.4 1 1 1 0.5 1 1 1 1
Q72 Parents come to school
a) for parents' evenings 72 80 80 75 80 84 86 82 76 82 83 79 78 84
b) to help out in classroom 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 4 5 4 4 5 5 3
c) for social events 12 12 20 14 14 12 20 16 13 12 20 15 16 17
d) because I have problems 13 12 14 12 12 7 14 13 12 10 14 12 13 12
Q73 With most teachers the
discipline here is …
a) too strict 30 26 28 25 27 23 22 23 29 25 25 24 27 23
b) just about right 55 63 62 62 61 69 67 66 58 66 65 64 61 67
c) not strict enough 15 10 10 13 12 8 10 11 13 9 10 12 11 10
Q74 How usually get to and
from school
a) on foot 34 53 43 37 37 50 46 37 36 52 44 37 43 44
b) on a bicycle 7 4 8 5 3 3 3 3 5 4 5 4 7 3
c) on public transport 46 22 38 38 52 21 37 41 49 22 37 40 36 37
d) by car 15 28 26 26 18 34 29 30 17 31 27 28 25 29
Q75 Travel time to school
a) less than 15 minutes 34 54 40 40 33 54 40 40 34 54 40 40 42 42
b) 15 - 30 minutes 37 32 37 38 40 37 41 40 38 34 39 39 36 40
c) 31 - 45 minutes 17 8 14 11 16 6 13 13 16 7 13 12 13 12
d) 46 - 60 minutes 9 2 6 6 8 2 5 6 8 2 5 6 6 5
e) more than an hour 4 3 3 4 3 1 1 2 3 2 2 3 3 2
88

APPENDIX 2
Year 10 Responses
89

Greater London Pupils
Table 2
Year 10 Responses Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
(Calculated as a % of the Maximum)
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background* E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Eligible for free school meals
yes 37 32 13 28 34 34 14 30 36 33 14 29 22 23
no 63 68 87 72 66 66 86 70 64 67 86 71 78 77
Q1 Usually happy at school
true 76 84 77 79 79 86 81 83 77 85 79 81 78 82
false 24 16 23 21 21 14 19 17 23 15 21 19 22 18
Q2 Parents/carers help and advise
true 80 80 77 72 79 77 77 72 79 78 77 72 77 77
false 20 20 23 28 21 23 23 28 21 22 23 28 23 23
Q3 Often take part in activities
true 42 43 37 39 42 34 26 30 42 38 31 35 39 30
false 58 57 63 61 58 66 74 70 58 62 69 65 61 70
Q4 Homework regularly set
true 78 82 81 83 88 91 84 87 83 86 83 85 81 87
false 22 18 19 17 12 9 16 13 17 14 17 15 19 13
Q5 Computer access at home
true 84 94 91 89 85 92 89 88 85 93 90 88 90 89
false 16 6 9 11 15 8 11 12 15 7 10 12 10 11
Q6 Extra study opportunities
true 65 68 73 68 71 73 75 72 68 71 74 70 70 74
false 35 32 27 32 29 27 25 28 32 29 26 30 30 26
Q7 School work really interesting
true 43 40 24 34 41 41 27 37 42 40 26 35 31 33
false 57 60 76 66 59 59 73 63 58 60 74 65 69 67
Q8 Intend staying on after 16
true 87 90 78 88 93 93 82 93 90 92 80 90 83 87
false 13 10 22 12 7 7 18 7 10 8 20 10 17 13
Q9 Deliberately miss lessons
true 20 18 16 14 19 16 16 15 20 17 16 15 17 17
false 80 82 84 86 81 84 84 85 80 83 84 85 83 83
Q10 Internet access at home
true 74 84 85 83 74 73 82 79 74 78 84 81 83 79
false 26 16 15 17 26 27 18 21 26 22 16 19 17 21
Q11 Reference books at home
true 85 87 86 88 90 91 86 88 88 89 86 88 86 88
false 15 13 14 12 10 9 14 12 12 11 14 12 14 12
Q12 Quiet place to work at home
true 78 81 81 82 79 84 82 83 79 83 82 82 81 82
false 22 19 19 18 21 16 18 17 21 17 18 18 19 18
Q13 Teachers discuss progress
true 58 58 56 57 58 61 52 58 58 59 54 57 57 55
false 42 42 44 43 42 39 48 42 42 41 46 43 43 45
Q14 Can attend activities
yes 67 67 76 69 68 69 76 69 68 68 76 69 72 72
no 33 33 24 31 32 31 24 31 32 32 24 31 28 28
Q15 This is nearest school
yes 34 52 43 38 35 50 45 41 35 51 44 40 43 44
no 66 48 57 62 65 50 55 59 65 49 56 60 57 56
*Ethnic background:
E1 = Black African, Black Caribbean, Black Other
E2 = Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
E3 = White British, White Other
E4 = Chinese, White & Black Caribbean, White & Black African, White & Asian, Other
90

Table 2 (Cont.)
Year 10 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Q16 Preferred another school
yes 45 31 23 33 44 31 28 32 44 31 25 33 29 31
no 55 69 77 67 56 69 72 68 56 69 75 67 71 69
Q17 Previously attended another
secondary school
yes 26 18 11 18 23 12 10 18 24 15 10 18 15 13
no 74 82 89 82 77 88 90 82 76 85 90 82 85 87
Q18 Good range of post-GCSE
courses
yes 81 84 83 81 83 84 85 83 82 84 84 82 83 84
no 19 16 17 19 17 16 15 17 18 16 16 18 17 16
Q19 Want to go on to university or
college
yes 93 95 84 93 98 96 92 97 95 95 88 95 89 94
no 7 5 16 7 2 4 8 3 5 5 12 5 11 6
Q20 This is a good school
strongly agree 9 14 15 14 10 13 13 13 10 14 14 13 14 12
agree 41 50 50 46 48 57 54 53 45 53 52 49 48 54
not sure 26 21 19 23 25 18 20 21 26 19 20 22 21 20
disagree 14 7 9 10 10 8 9 8 12 7 9 9 10 9
totally disagree 9 8 7 7 6 5 4 5 8 6 6 6 7 5
Q21 Learn more easily when use
computers in lessons
strongly agree 24 26 24 24 16 16 12 13 20 21 18 19 25 14
agree 38 39 34 36 32 37 32 30 35 38 33 33 36 33
not sure 22 23 24 21 29 30 32 33 26 26 28 27 23 32
disagree 11 10 14 14 19 15 21 20 15 12 18 17 13 19
totally disagree 4 3 3 5 3 2 3 3 4 2 3 4 3 3
Q22 Don’t want to go to school
strongly agree 16 14 19 15 15 12 14 12 15 13 17 13 17 13
agree 24 22 25 22 23 22 25 20 24 22 25 21 24 23
not sure 18 21 19 21 14 16 19 19 16 19 19 20 20 18
disagree 28 32 29 30 33 35 34 35 30 34 31 32 30 34
totally disagree 14 11 8 13 14 14 9 14 14 13 8 13 10 11
Q23 Most teachers respected
strongly agree 6 7 4 7 4 6 3 4 5 7 3 6 5 4
agree 22 34 27 27 23 40 30 30 23 37 28 29 28 31
not sure 28 30 31 32 30 27 33 30 29 29 32 31 31 31
disagree 27 19 26 22 30 20 27 25 28 19 26 23 24 25
totally disagree 17 10 12 13 14 7 8 11 15 9 10 12 12 9
Q24 Schoolwork dull and boring
strongly agree 14 13 19 13 14 12 13 13 14 12 16 13 16 13
agree 26 27 28 25 25 25 28 25 26 26 28 25 27 27
not sure 27 28 29 31 25 25 29 25 26 27 29 28 29 27
disagree 28 26 22 23 29 33 27 32 29 30 25 28 24 29
totally disagree 5 6 3 8 6 5 3 4 5 6 3 6 4 4
Q25 Lots of activities to take part in
strongly agree 21 27 22 20 24 29 20 20 22 28 21 20 23 22
agree 35 42 46 41 40 46 49 44 38 44 47 42 43 46
not sure 19 16 17 20 17 14 18 18 18 15 17 19 17 17
disagree 17 9 10 11 13 8 11 14 15 8 10 12 11 11
totally disagree 8 5 5 8 6 3 3 4 7 4 4 6 6 3
Q26 Learn more easily when
interactive whiteboard is used
strongly agree 15 19 12 19 15 14 7 12 15 16 10 15 15 10
agree 30 28 25 27 29 32 25 29 30 30 25 28 26 27
not sure 36 38 44 35 33 36 42 41 34 37 43 38 40 40
disagree 12 11 13 13 17 14 21 16 14 13 17 14 13 18
totally disagree 7 4 6 6 6 4 5 3 6 4 5 5 6 4
91

Table 2 (Cont.)
Year 10 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Q27 Most teachers treat the pupils
with respect
strongly agree 8 14 9 12 9 12 8 10 8 13 8 11 10 9
agree 29 41 39 38 31 44 39 41 30 42 39 39 38 39
not sure 25 22 23 23 22 22 23 21 24 22 23 22 23 22
disagree 22 14 19 16 25 15 21 20 24 14 20 18 18 20
totally disagree 16 9 10 11 13 7 9 9 15 8 10 10 11 9
Q28 School is giving me a good
education
strongly agree 14 17 17 16 17 21 16 16 16 19 17 16 17 17
agree 48 56 53 51 55 54 54 54 51 55 53 52 52 54
not sure 23 17 19 20 19 17 19 20 21 17 19 20 19 19
disagree 11 7 7 7 7 6 8 7 9 6 7 7 7 7
totally disagree 4 4 4 6 3 2 3 3 3 3 4 5 4 3
Q29 School rules fair
strongly agree 8 9 7 10 8 11 6 8 8 10 7 9 8 7
agree 31 39 36 35 31 37 35 35 31 38 35 35 36 35
not sure 23 26 25 22 23 22 26 23 23 24 25 23 24 24
disagree 23 17 22 20 25 21 24 24 24 19 23 22 21 24
totally disagree 14 10 10 13 13 9 10 10 14 9 10 11 11 10
Q30 Most teachers good at
keeping control in the classroom
strongly agree 6 6 3 6 5 5 2 4 5 5 3 5 5 3
agree 30 39 34 33 33 43 36 36 32 41 35 35 34 37
not sure 25 25 27 27 23 22 27 24 24 24 27 26 26 25
disagree 27 21 26 23 28 22 27 27 27 22 26 25 25 26
totally disagree 13 9 10 10 11 7 7 9 12 8 9 9 10 8
Q31 Most teachers very strict
about pupils missing school
strongly agree 28 27 23 26 26 26 21 23 27 26 22 24 25 23
agree 32 38 38 36 35 40 40 35 34 39 39 36 37 39
not sure 21 23 25 23 20 23 26 28 21 23 25 26 24 25
disagree 12 9 10 9 13 9 11 11 12 9 10 10 10 11
totally disagree 6 4 4 6 6 3 2 3 6 3 3 5 5 3
Q32 Having a mentor
strongly agree 25 23 12 19 29 25 14 22 27 24 13 20 17 19
agree 31 34 28 32 35 39 37 35 33 36 33 33 30 37
not sure 25 26 32 26 19 21 27 22 22 24 30 24 29 24
disagree 13 11 17 15 12 12 17 14 13 12 17 14 15 15
totally disagree 6 7 11 9 4 3 6 6 5 5 8 8 9 5
Q33 Having a good range of
subject options
strongly agree 67 70 62 66 77 76 70 74 72 73 66 70 65 72
agree 22 22 32 26 21 22 27 23 21 22 30 25 28 25
not sure 8 6 5 6 2 2 2 2 5 4 3 4 6 2
disagree 1 1 1 1 0.3 0.1 0.5 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.4
totally disagree 1 0.2 1 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 1 0.2 0.4 0.3 1 0.2
Q34 Being able to do work-related
courses
strongly agree 40 36 31 32 48 45 31 38 44 41 31 35 33 37
agree 43 44 47 48 41 43 49 44 42 44 48 46 46 46
not sure 13 17 19 17 9 9 17 15 11 13 18 16 17 14
disagree 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2
totally disagree 1 0.1 1 1 0.3 0.4 0.5 1 1 0.2 1 1 1 0.4
92

Table 2 (Cont.)
Year 10 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Q35 Having opportunity to do work
experience
strongly agree 63 63 59 56 75 78 65 66 69 70 62 61 60 69
agree 23 27 30 30 19 19 29 29 21 23 30 29 28 26
not sure 9 7 7 9 3 2 4 4 6 5 5 6 7 3
disagree 3 2 3 4 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 1
totally disagree 2 1 1 1 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 1 1 1 1 1 0.4
Q36 Having good careers
guidance
strongly agree 57 53 42 47 69 66 50 60 63 60 46 54 47 57
agree 28 32 39 34 24 28 37 30 26 30 38 32 35 32
not sure 10 12 14 14 5 4 11 9 8 8 12 11 13 8
disagree 2 2 4 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 2 3 2
totally disagree 2 1 2 2 1 1 0.4 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
Q37 Having a teacher who helps
you to set targets
very important 37 32 20 27 43 37 22 31 40 34 21 29 26 29
quite important 38 43 42 41 40 44 45 41 39 43 44 41 42 44
no opinion 17 17 21 18 9 12 20 17 13 15 20 17 19 16
not very important 6 7 12 10 7 6 11 9 6 7 12 9 10 9
not at all important 3 2 4 4 1 1 2 2 2 1 3 3 4 2
Q38 Being rewarded for good work
or behaviour
very important 43 42 33 40 55 49 39 46 49 46 36 43 37 44
quite important 33 36 40 36 31 36 43 37 32 36 41 36 38 39
no opinion 12 14 17 14 7 7 12 12 10 11 14 13 15 10
not very important 9 6 8 7 6 6 5 5 8 6 7 6 7 6
not at all important 3 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 1
Q39 Being able to give views about
the school
very important 39 34 33 35 55 44 40 41 47 39 36 38 34 43
quite important 32 36 35 34 29 37 36 36 31 36 35 35 34 35
no opinion 19 21 22 20 10 13 17 16 14 17 20 18 21 15
not very important 7 7 8 9 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 8 8 5
not at all important 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 1
Q40 Learning about other cultures
very important 31 28 11 24 40 38 16 32 36 33 14 28 19 26
quite important 37 42 28 37 40 44 37 43 39 43 33 40 33 40
no opinion 19 19 28 23 10 11 25 16 15 15 26 20 24 19
not very important 8 7 17 9 8 5 15 6 8 6 16 8 13 11
not at all important 4 4 17 6 2 1 6 2 3 3 12 4 11 4
Q41 Having lots of opportunities to
do sport and PE
very important 49 42 44 43 32 27 22 27 40 34 33 35 44 25
quite important 33 36 35 35 38 38 36 33 36 37 35 34 35 36
no opinion 10 14 11 10 14 17 21 20 12 16 16 15 11 19
not very important 6 5 7 7 10 13 14 13 8 9 10 10 6 13
not at all important 2 2 4 4 5 5 7 7 3 4 6 6 3 6
Q42 Going on cultural visits
very important 25 28 19 26 34 33 27 34 29 31 23 30 23 30
quite important 38 34 31 38 38 42 39 40 38 38 35 39 33 39
no opinion 20 22 26 19 16 14 21 14 18 18 23 17 23 18
not very important 12 10 15 13 10 10 10 9 11 10 13 11 13 10
not at all important 5 6 9 5 3 2 3 3 4 4 6 4 7 3
93

Table 2 (Cont.)
Year 10 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Q43 Attending after-school clubs
very important 15 14 7 11 11 12 6 9 13 13 6 10 10 8
quite important 28 29 26 27 32 31 25 30 30 30 25 29 27 28
no opinion 25 31 33 29 25 29 31 26 25 30 32 27 31 29
not very important 22 18 21 21 22 21 26 25 22 20 24 23 21 25
not at all important 9 8 13 11 9 7 12 10 9 7 13 10 11 11
Q44 Feel this school is better or
worse than most schools
much better 14 21 20 20 20 25 16 21 17 23 18 21 20 19
better 40 36 40 37 37 39 41 39 39 38 40 38 39 40
about the same 25 24 25 20 24 22 29 25 24 23 27 23 24 26
not as good 15 13 10 15 14 11 11 12 15 12 11 13 12 12
much worse 6 6 5 7 5 4 3 3 6 5 4 5 6 4
Q45 Buildings are better or worse
than in most schools
much better 13 16 12 10 15 15 10 9 14 15 11 10 13 12
better 31 33 31 29 25 31 31 28 28 32 31 29 31 30
about the same 23 25 29 30 27 25 34 30 25 25 31 30 28 30
not as good 19 18 19 19 23 21 20 24 21 20 19 21 19 21
much worse 13 8 9 12 10 8 6 8 12 8 8 10 10 7
Q46 Facilities are better or worse
than in most schools
much better 15 19 14 13 14 14 10 10 14 17 12 11 15 11
better 23 29 32 29 26 31 30 31 24 30 31 30 30 30
about the same 31 28 30 31 33 32 42 32 32 30 36 31 30 37
not as good 21 16 16 18 20 17 15 21 20 16 15 20 17 17
much worse 9 8 8 9 8 6 4 6 9 7 6 8 8 5
Q47 London schools better or
worse than other English schools
much better 13 18 9 14 12 13 6 10 12 16 7 12 12 9
better 22 30 25 30 21 32 24 28 21 31 25 29 26 26
about the same 37 31 41 33 38 35 48 41 38 33 44 37 37 43
not as good 18 14 17 15 21 15 17 16 20 14 17 16 16 17
much worse 10 7 9 8 8 5 5 6 9 6 7 7 8 5
Q48 Teachers praise when I have
tried hard
always 11 9 5 9 7 6 3 6 9 8 4 7 7 4
often 18 24 21 21 19 21 18 16 18 22 20 19 21 19
sometimes 35 34 37 35 36 39 42 42 36 37 39 39 36 41
rarely 25 22 27 24 30 26 30 26 27 24 28 25 25 29
never 10 10 10 11 9 8 7 10 10 9 9 10 10 8
Q49 Other pupils make fun of
people who work hard
always 16 16 19 17 12 11 14 12 14 14 16 15 18 13
often 26 28 30 26 22 23 27 24 24 26 28 25 28 25
sometimes 27 34 31 31 27 32 32 28 27 33 32 30 31 31
rarely 22 17 17 18 29 26 22 27 26 21 20 23 18 25
never 8 5 3 7 9 7 4 8 9 6 4 7 5 6
Q50 I behave badly at school
always 5 5 4 4 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 2
often 11 9 11 10 6 6 8 7 8 8 9 9 11 7
sometimes 35 34 35 31 25 22 28 23 30 28 31 27 34 25
rarely 35 34 36 39 43 38 43 39 39 36 40 39 36 41
never 14 19 13 16 25 32 20 29 20 25 17 22 15 24
94

Table 2 (Cont.)
Year 10 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Q51 Feel can go to a teacher with
a problem
always 8 7 6 7 6 7 5 5 7 7 5 6 6 5
often 12 15 14 15 9 13 12 11 11 14 13 13 14 12
sometimes 26 31 25 26 22 29 27 26 24 30 26 26 26 26
rarely 26 24 31 26 29 28 31 30 27 26 31 28 28 30
never 29 22 25 27 34 23 25 29 31 23 25 28 25 27
Q52 Other pupils so noisy in
lessons that find it difficult to work
always 17 15 13 16 17 13 12 16 17 14 12 16 15 13
often 28 34 31 30 29 32 30 31 29 33 31 30 31 31
sometimes 34 32 34 33 38 37 36 33 36 34 35 33 34 36
rarely 16 13 16 15 12 15 18 17 14 14 17 16 15 16
never 5 6 4 6 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 5 5 4
Q53 Bullying is a particular
problem at this school
always 14 15 11 12 10 11 10 10 12 13 10 11 12 10
often 16 17 14 17 12 13 13 13 14 15 13 15 15 13
sometimes 27 27 30 28 29 32 33 31 28 30 31 30 29 32
rarely 28 30 34 31 38 34 36 36 33 32 35 33 32 36
never 14 10 11 12 11 10 9 10 13 10 10 11 11 9
Q54 Teachers deal effectively with
bullying
always 16 15 11 12 13 15 9 11 14 15 10 12 13 11
often 20 22 22 20 17 20 18 19 18 21 20 20 21 18
sometimes 29 31 30 30 33 33 37 33 31 32 33 32 30 35
rarely 21 17 23 26 26 19 24 24 24 18 24 25 22 23
never 14 14 14 12 13 12 12 12 13 13 13 12 14 12
Q55 Racism is a particular problem
at this school
always 12 13 7 12 7 7 4 5 10 10 5 9 10 5
often 13 13 9 14 9 10 7 10 11 12 8 12 11 8
sometimes 20 19 17 18 20 21 18 22 20 20 18 20 18 20
rarely 27 35 35 32 35 36 43 36 31 36 39 34 33 39
never 28 20 32 24 29 25 29 27 28 23 31 26 28 28
Q56 Have teaching assistant
helping the teacher in lessons
often 21 19 13 16 13 13 12 13 17 16 13 15 16 12
sometimes 34 35 30 33 35 37 29 31 35 36 29 32 32 32
rarely 29 27 35 33 36 34 38 40 33 31 36 36 32 37
never 16 19 22 18 16 16 21 16 16 18 22 17 20 19
Q57 Have truanted from school
often 7 9 6 8 6 7 7 6 6 8 7 7 7 7
sometimes 17 13 13 13 11 12 14 12 14 13 14 12 14 13
rarely 21 23 22 21 19 20 23 23 20 22 23 22 22 22
never 55 55 58 58 64 61 56 59 59 58 57 59 57 58
Q58 Parents/carers ask about what
learning at school
often 48 47 42 44 47 44 42 42 48 46 42 43 44 43
sometimes 33 33 34 31 28 31 31 30 30 32 32 31 33 31
rarely 11 13 17 16 16 15 19 18 14 14 18 17 15 18
never 8 7 7 9 9 10 8 10 9 8 8 9 7 9
Q59 Had a substitute teacher
often 28 33 30 26 33 32 37 32 31 32 33 29 30 35
sometimes 40 42 44 43 39 44 43 43 40 43 43 43 43 43
rarely 27 21 23 27 23 20 18 20 25 20 21 24 24 19
never 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 4 4
95

Table 2 (Cont.)
Year 10 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Q60 Do joint work with pupils from
other schools
often 10 7 5 6 8 6 4 6 9 6 4 6 6 5
sometimes 19 23 16 17 17 17 13 13 18 20 14 15 18 14
rarely 25 23 20 20 24 23 19 21 25 23 20 20 21 21
never 46 48 59 56 51 55 64 61 49 51 61 58 54 60
Q61 Travel problems cause me to
be late for school
often 24 18 13 17 23 14 14 17 23 16 14 17 16 15
sometimes 28 22 21 25 31 23 23 26 30 22 22 25 23 25
rarely 26 25 30 28 24 24 30 27 25 24 30 28 28 28
never 22 35 36 29 22 40 33 30 22 38 34 30 33 32
Q62 Use computers in lessons
every lesson 7 5 3 5 2 2 1 2 4 3 2 4 4 1
most lessons 18 20 12 13 16 19 11 11 17 19 11 12 14 13
sometimes 51 51 54 48 57 57 55 57 54 54 55 52 52 56
hardly ever 19 21 28 29 22 20 31 27 20 20 30 28 26 27
never 6 4 3 4 4 2 2 3 5 3 3 4 4 3
Q63 Books and resources to take
home to help with homework
every lesson 9 9 7 7 10 11 5 9 9 10 6 8 8 7
most lessons 38 39 39 42 40 41 38 40 39 40 39 41 39 39
sometimes 33 34 35 36 34 34 39 34 33 34 37 35 35 37
hardly ever 15 13 13 10 12 12 14 13 14 12 14 12 13 13
never 5 5 5 5 4 2 4 4 5 4 5 5 5 4
Q64 Teachers explain clearly what
supposed to learn in lesson
every lesson 19 16 11 18 18 17 10 13 19 16 10 16 14 13
most lessons 38 42 45 43 38 43 41 40 38 43 43 41 43 41
sometimes 30 28 29 24 31 27 34 32 30 28 31 28 28 32
hardly ever 8 10 12 10 10 10 13 11 9 10 12 10 11 12
never 4 4 4 5 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 3
Q65 Pupils try to disrupt lessons
every day 36 35 38 34 35 31 38 36 36 33 38 35 37 36
every week 21 21 24 21 18 21 22 22 20 21 23 22 23 21
sometimes 33 35 29 34 38 38 33 34 36 37 31 34 32 35
hardly ever 7 8 8 9 7 9 7 7 7 8 7 8 8 7
never 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1
Q66 Been bullied this term
every day 4 5 4 4 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 2
every week 8 5 5 6 3 2 3 3 6 4 4 5 6 3
sometimes 10 15 11 13 7 10 12 9 9 13 11 11 12 10
hardly ever 13 19 21 18 12 18 18 18 12 19 19 18 19 17
never 65 56 59 59 76 67 66 67 71 62 62 63 59 68
Q67 Seen other pupils bullied this
term
every day 12 13 11 13 8 5 5 6 10 9 8 9 12 6
every week 14 12 13 14 6 8 9 9 10 10 11 12 13 9
sometimes 31 31 29 27 25 25 28 28 28 28 29 28 29 27
hardly ever 24 27 30 28 30 32 32 31 27 29 31 30 29 31
never 19 16 17 17 31 30 25 26 25 23 21 22 17 27
96

Table 2 (Cont.)
Year 10 Responses (%) Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
Gender Male Female Year 10 Totals
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 1657 2320 6969 1774 5497 7223
Q68 How many teachers I have got
on well with this year
all 15 17 10 15 15 20 9 17 15 19 9 16 13 13
most 42 50 47 47 44 49 49 48 43 50 48 47 47 48
some 25 19 25 21 22 19 24 18 24 19 24 20 23 22
few 15 11 15 13 17 10 17 15 16 11 16 14 14 15
none 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 3 2 2 2 3 3 2
Q69 How many of my teachers are
good teachers
all 7 8 4 7 5 7 3 6 6 8 4 7 6 5
most 36 45 44 43 39 45 43 41 38 45 44 42 43 42
some 34 28 31 30 31 30 34 31 33 29 32 30 31 32
few 20 16 18 17 22 16 19 19 21 16 18 18 18 19
none 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 3 3 3 2 3 3 2
Q70 How many teachers good at
dealing with bad behaviour
all 7 6 3 6 4 4 3 4 5 5 3 5 5 3
most 29 31 30 28 24 33 29 27 27 32 30 27 30 29
some 32 37 37 36 36 36 39 36 34 36 38 36 36 38
few 28 19 25 25 31 23 26 29 30 21 25 27 24 26
none 5 6 5 5 5 4 3 4 5 5 4 5 5 4
Q71 Abilities as a student
a) very good 34 35 29 35 33 33 20 31 34 34 24 33 32 26
b) quite good 44 46 46 45 43 45 48 46 43 46 47 45 46 46
c) average 19 16 21 17 22 20 28 21 21 18 25 19 20 25
d) below average 2 2 3 1 2 1 4 2 2 1 3 1 2 3
e) poor 1 1 1 2 0.4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Q72 Parents come to school
a) for parents' evenings 68 78 81 76 81 86 87 85 75 82 84 80 78 86
b) to help out in classroom 9 5 5 7 3 2 2 3 6 3 3 5 6 2
c) for social events 9 8 13 10 9 8 13 12 9 8 13 11 11 11
d) because I have problems 11 10 14 12 10 8 15 11 11 9 14 12 12 13
Q73 With most teachers the
discipline here is …
a) too strict 24 24 23 20 19 22 21 19 22 23 22 19 23 21
b) just about right 54 57 57 58 62 64 61 62 58 60 59 60 57 62
c) not strict enough 22 19 20 22 19 14 18 19 20 17 19 21 20 17
Q74 How usually get to and from
school
a) on foot 28 49 44 37 34 55 47 40 31 52 45 39 42 46
b) on a bicycle 6 6 8 7 3 2 2 2 5 4 5 5 8 2
c) on public transport 53 28 40 44 59 27 40 45 56 27 40 45 40 41
d) by car 11 25 21 20 12 27 26 26 12 26 24 23 20 24
Q75 Travel time to school
a) less than 15 minutes 20 42 32 29 20 42 33 29 20 42 33 29 32 33
b) 15 - 30 minutes 34 38 38 36 38 42 40 41 36 40 39 39 37 40
c) 31 - 45 minutes 22 11 16 19 22 11 16 18 22 11 16 19 16 16
d) 46 - 60 minutes 14 4 8 10 14 3 8 9 14 4 8 10 8 8
e) more than an hour 10 4 5 5 6 2 3 3 8 3 4 4 6 3
97

APPENDIX 3
All Responses (Years 7 and 10)
98

Greater London Pupils
Table 3
All Responses (Years 7 & 10) Listed by Year, Gender & Ethnic Background
(Calculated as a % of the Maximum)
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND* TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 11532 15175 3506 4712 14626 3863 26707
Eligible for free school meals
yes 27 22 23 25 36 34 17 32 24
no 73 78 77 75 64 66 83 68 76
Q1 Usually happy at school
true 87 80 82 86 81 87 83 84 84
false 13 20 18 14 19 13 17 16 16
Q2 Parents/carers help and advise
true 89 77 83 83 84 83 83 81 83
false 11 23 17 17 16 17 17 19 17
Q3 Often take part in activities
true 50 34 46 39 52 43 41 43 43
false 50 66 54 61 48 57 59 57 57
Q4 Homework regularly set
true 90 84 84 89 84 88 87 87 87
false 10 16 16 11 16 12 13 13 13
Q5 Computer access at home
true 84 90 87 86 82 89 88 85 87
false 16 10 13 14 18 11 12 15 13
Q6 Extra study opportunities
true 70 72 69 73 67 69 73 69 71
false 30 28 31 27 33 31 27 31 29
Q7 School work really interesting
true 49 32 39 42 47 48 36 44 41
false 51 68 61 58 53 52 64 56 59
Q8 Intend staying on after 16
true 85 85 83 88 89 91 81 89 85
false 15 15 17 12 11 9 19 11 15
Q9 Deliberately miss lessons
true 7 17 12 11 14 11 11 11 12
false 93 83 88 89 86 89 89 89 88
Q10 Internet access at home
true 77 81 80 77 73 75 82 77 79
false 23 19 20 23 27 25 18 23 21
Q11 Reference books at home
true 91 87 88 90 90 91 88 90 89
false 9 13 12 10 10 9 12 10 11
Q12 Quiet place to work at home
true 83 82 81 84 81 85 82 84 83
false 17 18 19 16 19 15 18 16 17
Q13 Teachers discuss progress
true 61 56 59 58 62 62 56 60 59
false 39 44 41 42 38 38 44 40 41
Q14 Can attend activities
yes 71 72 73 71 69 66 75 68 72
no 29 28 27 29 31 34 25 32 28
Q15 This is nearest school
yes 49 43 45 48 38 54 47 43 46
no 51 57 55 52 62 46 53 57 54
*Ethnic background:
E1 = Black African, Black Caribbean, Black Other
E2 = Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
E3 = White British, White Other
E4 = Chinese, White & Black Caribbean, White & Black African, White & Asian, Other
99

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 26707
Q16 Preferred another school
yes 27 30 27 29 44 31 23 32 28
no 73 70 73 71 56 69 77 68 72
Q17 (Y7) Had organised visit
yes 86 84 87 81 85 88 83
no 14 16 13 19 15 12 17
Q17 (Y10) Previously attended
another secondary school
yes 14 15 13 24 15 10 18
no 86 85 87 76 85 90 82
Q18 (Y7) Easy to make new friends
yes 91 91 90 92 90 91 90
no 9 9 10 8 10 9 10
Q18 (Y10) Good range of post-GCSE
courses
yes 84 83 84 82 84 84 82
no 16 17 16 18 16 16 18
Q19 (Y7) Feel safe on way to and
from school
yes 86 87 86 87 88 86 85
no 14 13 14 13 12 14 15
Q19 (Y10) Want to go on to
university or college
yes 91 89 94 95 95 88 95
no 9 11 6 5 5 12 5
Q20 This is a good school
strongly agree 22 13 19 17 14 17 19 18 18
agree 49 51 48 53 45 52 51 49 50
not sure 20 21 20 20 26 20 19 21 20
disagree 5 9 7 7 9 7 7 7 7
totally disagree 3 6 6 4 7 5 4 5 5
Q21 Learn more easily when use
computers in lessons
strongly agree 26 19 28 18 25 23 22 24 23
agree 34 34 35 33 36 38 32 33 34
not sure 26 27 23 31 24 26 28 26 27
disagree 11 16 11 16 12 11 14 14 13
totally disagree 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 3
Q22 Don’t want to go to school
strongly agree 16 15 18 13 16 14 17 13 16
agree 20 24 22 21 22 21 22 21 22
not sure 21 19 20 19 18 19 21 21 20
disagree 28 32 28 33 29 31 30 29 30
totally disagree 15 10 12 14 16 16 11 15 13
Q23 Most teachers respected
strongly agree 10 4 8 7 7 10 6 8 7
agree 32 29 29 32 23 36 31 29 31
not sure 33 31 31 32 30 30 33 33 32
disagree 17 25 21 21 25 17 21 20 21
totally disagree 8 11 11 8 14 8 9 10 9
100

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 11532 15175 3506 4712 14626 3863 26707
Q24 Schoolwork dull and boring
strongly agree 14 15 17 12 15 12 15 13 15
agree 19 27 23 22 22 22 23 22 23
not sure 29 28 28 29 27 28 29 29 28
disagree 29 27 26 30 28 30 27 28 28
totally disagree 9 4 7 6 8 8 5 8 7
Q25 Lots of activities to take part in
strongly agree 48 23 37 35 35 38 36 35 36
agree 37 45 39 42 36 40 42 39 41
not sure 9 17 13 13 13 12 12 14 13
disagree 4 11 7 7 10 7 7 8 7
totally disagree 2 5 4 2 5 3 3 4 3
Q26 Learn more easily when
interactive whiteboard is used
strongly agree 21 12 19 15 20 19 15 20 17
agree 30 27 28 29 30 33 27 28 28
not sure 34 40 37 37 32 33 39 35 37
disagree 11 16 11 15 12 11 14 12 13
totally disagree 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 5
Q27 Most teachers treat the pupils
with respect
strongly agree 19 10 15 14 12 17 14 16 14
agree 40 39 39 40 30 42 41 38 40
not sure 22 23 22 23 24 21 22 23 23
disagree 12 19 15 16 21 13 15 14 15
totally disagree 7 10 9 7 13 7 7 9 8
Q28 School is giving me a good
education
strongly agree 32 17 25 25 23 26 26 24 25
agree 46 53 49 50 48 51 50 49 49
not sure 16 19 17 17 19 16 17 19 17
disagree 3 7 5 5 7 5 5 5 5
totally disagree 2 4 4 2 3 3 3 3 3
Q29 School rules fair
strongly agree 17 8 13 12 12 15 12 14 13
agree 39 35 37 38 32 39 39 37 37
not sure 24 24 24 24 24 23 25 23 24
disagree 13 22 17 18 20 16 17 18 17
totally disagree 6 10 9 8 11 8 8 9 8
Q30 Most teachers good at keeping
control in the classroom
strongly agree 10 4 7 7 8 9 6 8 7
agree 39 36 36 39 33 41 38 36 37
not sure 26 26 26 26 25 24 27 27 26
disagree 18 26 22 21 24 19 22 21 21
totally disagree 7 9 9 7 10 8 8 8 8
Q31 Most teachers very strict about
pupils missing school
strongly agree 33 24 30 27 31 30 28 28 29
agree 31 38 33 35 30 34 35 33 34
not sure 25 24 24 26 22 23 25 26 25
disagree 8 10 9 9 11 8 9 9 9
totally disagree 4 4 4 3 6 4 3 4 4
101

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 26707
Q32 (Y7) Happier than in
primary/junior school
strongly agree 17 20 15 16 16 18 17
agree 19 19 18 17 19 19 19
not sure 25 23 27 21 22 26 25
disagree 19 17 21 19 19 19 19
totally disagree 20 21 20 28 24 18 20
Q32 (Y10) Having a mentor
very important 18 17 19 27 24 13 20
quite important 33 30 37 33 36 33 33
no opinion 27 29 24 22 24 30 24
not very important 15 15 15 13 12 17 14
not at all important 7 9 5 5 5 8 8
Q33 (Y7) Like having different
teachers for different subjects
strongly agree 36 38 34 40 35 35 37
agree 42 38 44 39 41 43 40
not sure 14 14 14 13 15 14 14
disagree 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
totally disagree 3 4 3 3 4 3 3
Q33 (Y10) Having good range of
subject options
very important 68 65 72 72 73 66 70
quite important 27 28 25 21 22 30 25
no opinion 4 6 2 5 4 3 4
not very important 1 1 0.4 1 1 1 1
not at all important 0.4 1 0.2 1 0.2 0.4 0.3
Q34 (Y7) Good to stay in same room
for most lessons
strongly agree 14 15 12 14 14 13 15
agree 18 17 19 15 20 18 19
not sure 20 19 22 18 21 21 20
disagree 26 25 27 25 24 28 23
totally disagree 22 25 20 28 20 21 23
Q34 (Y10) Being able to do workrelated
courses
very important 35 33 37 44 41 31 35
quite important 46 46 46 42 44 48 46
no opinion 16 17 14 11 13 18 16
not very important 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
not at all important 1 1 0.4 1 0.2 1 1
Q35 (Y7) Work is harder than in
primary school
strongly agree 37 43 32 38 37 38 35
agree 38 36 40 33 38 39 38
not sure 15 13 17 16 14 15 16
disagree 6 5 7 8 7 5 8
totally disagree 3 3 3 5 4 3 4
Q35 (Y10) Having opportunity to do
work experience
very important 64 60 69 69 70 62 61
quite important 27 28 26 21 23 30 29
no opinion 5 7 3 6 5 5 6
not very important 2 3 1 2 2 2 3
not at all important 1 1 0.4 1 1 1 1
102

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 26707
Q36 (Y7) Getting on very well at this
school
strongly agree 33 33 33 33 33 34 32
agree 45 44 46 41 47 46 46
not sure 15 15 15 18 14 14 15
disagree 4 4 3 5 3 4 4
totally disagree 3 3 2 4 3 3 2
Q36 (Y10) Having goods careers
guidance
very important 52 47 57 63 60 46 54
quite important 34 35 32 26 30 38 32
no opinion 11 13 8 8 8 12 11
not very important 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
not at all important 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
Q37 (Y7) Attending school close to
home
very important 22 23 22 27 30 19 23
quite important 41 38 43 34 39 43 38
no opinion 16 17 15 14 15 16 16
not very important 17 16 17 19 13 17 17
not at all important 5 6 4 6 4 5 6
Q37 (Y10) Having teacher who helps
to set targets
very important 27 26 29 40 34 21 29
quite important 43 42 44 39 43 44 41
no opinion 18 19 16 13 15 20 17
not very important 10 10 9 6 7 12 9
not at all important 3 4 2 2 1 3 3
Q38 Being rewarded for good work
or behaviour
very important 51 40 44 48 54 52 42 49 46
quite important 36 38 37 38 31 35 40 34 37
no opinion 8 13 11 9 8 8 11 10 10
not very important 4 7 6 5 6 4 5 5 5
not at all important 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1
Q39 Being able to give views about
the school
very important 44 39 39 44 49 43 39 42 41
quite important 33 35 32 35 30 34 34 33 34
no opinion 17 18 19 15 13 17 19 17 17
not very important 5 7 6 5 5 5 6 6 5
not at all important 2 2 3 1 2 2 2 2 2
Q40 Learning about other cultures
very important 32 22 24 30 40 39 19 33 27
quite important 39 36 35 40 38 42 36 40 38
no opinion 17 22 21 18 14 12 24 17 20
not very important 8 12 11 9 6 5 13 7 10
not at all important 4 8 8 3 3 2 9 3 6
Q41 Having lots of opportunities to
do sport and PE
very important 55 35 54 36 50 43 45 45 45
quite important 31 35 30 36 31 35 33 33 33
no opinion 9 15 9 15 10 12 12 12 12
not very important 4 10 4 9 6 6 7 7 7
not at all important 2 5 2 4 2 2 4 3 3
103

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 11532 15175 3506 4712 14626 3863 26707
Q42 Going on cultural visits
very important 35 26 29 33 34 35 28 35 31
quite important 39 36 35 40 38 38 38 37 38
no opinion 16 21 20 16 16 15 20 16 18
not very important 7 12 11 8 9 9 10 8 9
not at all important 3 5 5 2 3 3 4 3 4
Q43 Attending after-school clubs
very important 12 9 12 9 15 12 9 11 11
quite important 32 27 30 29 31 30 29 30 30
no opinion 27 30 28 28 23 28 30 28 28
not very important 21 23 20 24 22 22 22 21 22
not at all important 8 11 10 9 8 8 10 9 9
Q44 Feel this school is better or
worse than most schools
much better 24 19 22 21 18 23 22 22 22
better 37 39 38 38 36 36 39 38 38
about the same 25 25 24 27 26 25 25 24 25
not as good 10 12 10 11 14 11 9 12 11
much worse 4 5 5 3 6 4 4 4 4
Q45 Buildings are better or worse
than in most schools
much better 17 12 16 14 16 18 14 14 15
better 33 30 31 32 30 33 32 30 32
about the same 29 29 27 30 24 25 31 29 29
not as good 15 20 17 18 19 17 16 20 17
much worse 6 9 9 6 11 7 7 8 7
Q46 Facilities are better or worse
than in most schools
much better 24 13 21 17 19 21 18 17 19
better 33 30 32 32 27 32 33 31 32
about the same 30 33 29 35 31 29 33 31 32
not as good 9 17 13 13 17 13 12 14 13
much worse 3 7 6 4 7 5 4 6 5
Q47 London schools better or worse
than other English schools
much better 16 10 15 11 16 18 10 14 13
better 25 26 26 25 24 30 24 28 26
about the same 43 40 39 45 38 36 45 39 42
not as good 11 17 14 14 16 12 14 14 14
much worse 5 7 7 5 7 5 6 5 6
Q48 Teachers praise when I have
tried hard
always 10 6 9 7 10 9 6 9 8
often 31 20 27 25 22 28 26 25 26
sometimes 36 38 34 39 36 35 38 37 37
rarely 18 27 22 23 24 21 23 22 23
never 5 9 8 6 8 7 7 7 7
Q49 Other pupils make fun of people
who work hard
always 20 15 20 15 17 15 19 16 18
often 28 27 29 25 25 25 29 28 27
sometimes 27 31 29 29 25 31 29 28 29
rarely 19 21 17 23 24 20 19 20 20
never 7 5 5 7 10 8 4 8 6
Q50 I behave badly at school
always 3 3 4 2 3 3 3 3 3
often 9 9 11 7 9 8 9 9 9
sometimes 27 30 33 24 32 26 29 27 28
rarely 39 39 37 41 37 37 40 38 39
never 22 19 14 27 18 27 19 23 21
104

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 11532 15175 3506 4712 14626 3863 26707
Q51 Feel can go to a teacher with a
problem
always 12 6 10 8 9 10 9 9 9
often 15 13 16 12 12 15 14 14 14
sometimes 28 26 27 28 24 31 26 28 27
rarely 24 29 25 28 27 24 28 26 27
never 20 26 22 24 28 21 22 23 23
Q52 Other pupils so noisy in lessons
that find it difficult to work
always 18 14 17 15 19 16 15 18 16
often 30 31 32 29 30 32 30 30 30
sometimes 31 35 32 34 32 33 33 32 33
rarely 15 16 14 17 14 15 16 15 15
never 6 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Q53 Bullying is a particular problem
at this school
always 16 11 15 12 16 17 12 15 14
often 17 14 17 14 15 18 15 17 16
sometimes 28 30 28 31 27 28 30 29 29
rarely 29 34 30 33 31 28 33 30 32
never 9 10 10 9 12 9 9 10 10
Q54 Teachers deal effectively with
bullying
always 25 12 20 17 19 20 18 18 19
often 24 20 23 21 19 23 23 22 22
sometimes 26 33 27 32 29 30 30 29 29
rarely 16 23 19 19 22 17 19 21 19
never 9 13 12 10 12 11 10 11 11
Q55 Racism is a particular problem
at this school
always 9 7 10 7 11 11 6 10 8
often 11 9 11 9 12 13 8 12 10
sometimes 20 19 19 20 20 21 18 22 20
rarely 34 36 33 37 30 33 38 33 35
never 26 28 27 27 27 21 30 23 27
Q56 Have teaching assistant helping
the teacher in lessons
often 29 14 23 20 23 23 21 22 22
sometimes 32 32 31 32 33 36 30 34 32
rarely 28 35 29 33 29 27 33 31 31
never 12 20 16 15 14 14 17 14 16
Q57 Have truanted from school
often 5 7 6 6 6 7 6 6 6
sometimes 11 13 13 11 13 13 12 12 12
rarely 21 22 22 21 19 21 22 21 21
never 63 58 59 62 62 60 60 61 61
Q58 Parents/carers ask about what
learning at school
often 57 43 50 50 54 51 49 51 50
sometimes 27 32 30 29 27 30 29 28 29
rarely 11 17 14 14 12 12 15 14 14
never 5 8 6 7 7 7 7 7 7
Q59 Had a substitute teacher
often 33 32 29 36 33 33 33 31 33
sometimes 45 43 45 43 42 44 44 45 44
rarely 19 22 23 18 22 19 20 21 20
never 3 4 3 3 4 4 2 4 3
105

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 11532 15175 3506 4712 14626 3863 26707
Q60 Do joint work with pupils from
other schools
often 8 5 7 6 10 7 6 8 7
sometimes 18 16 18 16 19 20 15 18 17
rarely 24 21 22 23 24 24 22 22 23
never 50 58 52 55 46 49 56 53 53
Q61 Travel problems cause me to be
late for school
often 11 16 14 13 20 13 11 15 13
sometimes 20 23 21 22 27 20 20 24 21
rarely 28 28 29 28 26 25 30 28 28
never 41 33 36 37 27 41 39 33 37
Q62 Use computers in lessons
every lesson 2 3 3 1 4 3 2 3 2
most lessons 8 14 11 11 14 15 9 10 11
sometimes 55 54 52 57 53 56 54 55 54
hardly ever 32 27 30 29 25 23 32 29 29
never 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 3
Q63 Books and resources to take
home to help with homework
every lesson 7 7 7 7 9 9 6 7 7
most lessons 33 39 36 36 36 37 35 37 36
sometimes 36 36 35 37 34 35 37 36 36
hardly ever 18 13 16 16 16 14 17 15 16
never 7 4 7 5 6 5 6 6 6
Q64 Teachers explain clearly what
supposed to learn in lesson
every lesson 24 13 20 18 23 22 17 21 19
most lessons 42 42 43 41 37 41 44 41 42
sometimes 24 30 25 29 29 26 27 27 27
hardly ever 7 11 9 10 9 8 10 8 9
never 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3
Q65 Pupils try to disrupt lessons
every day 32 36 36 33 35 30 36 33 34
every week 19 22 22 19 19 18 21 19 20
sometimes 36 33 33 36 36 39 32 36 34
hardly ever 11 8 9 10 8 10 9 10 10
never 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2
Q66 Been bullied this term
every day 3 3 4 2 3 3 3 3 3
every week 5 4 6 3 6 4 4 4 4
sometimes 16 11 15 13 11 15 14 14 14
hardly ever 22 18 21 19 15 20 21 20 20
never 54 63 55 62 65 58 57 58 59
Q67 Seen other pupils bullied this
term
every day 9 9 11 6 10 8 8 10 9
every week 12 11 14 9 11 11 11 12 11
sometimes 32 28 31 29 30 31 30 30 30
hardly ever 29 30 28 31 27 28 30 29 29
never 19 22 16 25 22 21 21 20 21
106

Table 3 (Cont.)
Total Responses (%) Listed by Year, Gender and Ethnic Background
YEAR GENDER ETHNIC BACKGROUND TOTAL
Y7 Y10 M F E1 E2 E3 E4 ALL
Cases 13987 12720 11532 15175 3506 4712 14626 3863 26707
Q68 How many teachers I have got
on well with this year
all 15 13 13 15 14 20 11 17 14
most 51 48 49 49 43 50 51 48 49
some 21 23 22 21 24 18 22 20 22
few 12 15 13 14 17 10 14 13 13
none 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Q69 How many of my teachers are
good teachers
all 10 5 8 8 7 9 7 9 8
most 47 43 46 45 38 46 47 44 45
some 26 31 28 29 31 28 28 29 29
few 14 18 16 16 21 15 15 16 16
none 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2
Q70 How many teachers good at
dealing with bad behaviour
all 10 4 8 6 7 8 6 8 7
most 38 30 34 33 29 35 35 32 34
some 30 37 32 34 33 32 34 32 33
few 19 25 21 23 26 20 21 24 22
none 4 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 4
Q71 Abilities as a student
a) very good 32 28 32 29 36 36 27 33 30
b) quite good 46 46 46 46 42 45 48 45 46
c) average 19 22 19 22 20 17 22 20 21
d) below average 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 1 2
e) poor 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Q72 Parents come to school
a) for parents' evenings 81 82 78 85 75 82 84 80 82
b) to help out in classroom 4 4 5 3 6 4 4 5 4
c) for social events 17 11 14 14 11 10 16 13 14
d) because I have problems 13 13 13 12 11 10 14 12 13
Q73 With most teachers the
discipline here is …
a) too strict 25 22 25 22 25 24 24 22 24
b) just about right 64 59 59 64 58 63 62 62 62
c) not strict enough 11 19 16 14 17 13 14 16 15
Q74 How usually get to and from
school
a) on foot 43 44 42 45 33 52 45 38 44
b) on a bicycle 5 5 7 2 5 4 5 4 5
c) on public transport 37 41 38 39 52 25 39 42 39
d) by car 27 22 23 27 14 28 26 26 25
Q75 Travel time to school
a) less than 15 minutes 41 32 37 37 27 48 36 35 37
b) 15 - 30 minutes 38 39 37 40 37 37 39 39 38
c) 31 - 45 minutes 12 16 15 14 19 9 15 15 14
d) 46 - 60 minutes 5 8 7 6 11 3 7 8 7
e) more than an hour 3 4 4 2 6 3 3 4 3
107

APPENDIX 4
Selected Cross-Tabulated Pupil Responses
108

Table 4A: Pupil Responses Cross-tabulated by Question 20, ‘This school is a
good school’
CROSS-TABULATED QUESTIONS*
QUESTIONS ABOUT BEHAVIOUR:
Q49. How often do other
pupils make fun of people
who work hard?
Q52. How often are other
pupils so noisy in lessons
that you find it difficult to
work?
Q65. How often do pupils
try to disrupt lessons?
strongly
agree
(%)
Q20. This school is a good school
agree
(%)
not
sure
(%)
disagree
(%)
strongly
disagree
(%)
Total
(%)
always 14 14 20 27 36 17
often 25 27 29 27 23 27
sometimes 29 31 28 24 19 29
rarely 23 22 17 16 12 21
never 9 5 6 5 9 6
always 13 13 19 25 37 16
often 26 31 33 35 21 30
sometimes 36 36 30 24 18 33
rarely 20 17 12 11 10 16
never 5 4 5 6 13 5
every day 26 30 40 48 59 34
every week 18 21 20 20 14 20
sometimes 37 38 32 25 19 35
hardly ever 16 10 7 5 4 10
never 3 1 1 1 4 2
QUESTIONS ABOUT TEACHERS:
Q13. My teachers take true 74 62 50 39 34 59
time to discuss my
progress with me …
false 26 38 50 61 66 41
Q23. Most of the teachers
here are respected by the
pupils
Q27. Most teachers here
treat the pupils with
respect
Q48. How often do the
teachers praise you when
you have tried hard?
Q51. How often do you
feel you can go to a
teacher with a problem?
Q68. How many teachers
have you got on well with
this year?
strongly agree 18 5 4 3 5 7
agree 45 35 20 14 10 31
not sure 24 37 33 24 19 32
disagree 10 19 30 35 23 21
strongly disagree 3 5 13 24 42 9
strongly agree 36 12 7 4 5 14
agree 44 48 28 19 12 40
not sure 12 23 32 23 14 23
disagree 5 13 23 32 24 15
strongly disagree 2 4 11 22 45 8
always 17 6 5 3 7 8
often 38 28 17 12 7 26
sometimes 32 42 38 31 21 37
rarely 11 20 32 39 33 23
never 2 4 9 15 33 7
always 20 8 6 5 5 9
often 19 15 10 8 7 14
sometimes 29 30 25 18 14 27
rarely 21 29 29 28 20 27
never 12 19 30 41 54 23
all 28 13 9 6 9 14
most lessons 56 55 39 34 24 49
sometimes 11 21 29 28 21 21
few 4 10 21 28 32 13
none 1 1 2 4 14 2
109

Table 4A (continued)
CROSS-TABULATED QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS ABOUT ICT:
Q62. How often do you
use computers in your
lessons to help you with
your work?
Q21. When I use a
computer in lessons, I
learn more easily
Q26. I learn more easily
when the teacher uses an
interactive whiteboard
QUESTIONS ON RACISM AND BULLYING:
Q55. Do you think that
racism is a particular
problem at your school?
Q53. Do you think that
bullying is a particular
problem at your school?
Q66. How often have you
been bullied by other
pupils this term?
Q54. Do you think that the
teachers deal effectively
with bullying?
strongly
agree
(%)
Q20. This school is a good school
agree
(%)
not
sure
(%)
disagree
(%)
strongly
disagree
(%)
Total
(%)
every lesson 3 1 2 3 5 2
most lessons 12 11 10 10 10 11
sometimes 60 57 52 45 39 55
hardly ever 23 29 32 37 33 29
never 2 2 4 6 14 3
strongly agree 25 22 19 19 27 22
agree 37 30 41 36 26 34
not sure 27 33 18 23 23 27
disagree 10 13 18 15 14 14
strongly disagree 2 2 4 6 10 3
strongly agree 24 15 15 14 17 17
agree 27 31 28 25 21 29
not sure 35 37 37 39 32 37
disagree 11 13 15 15 14 13
strongly disagree 4 3 5 7 15 5
always 7 6 10 12 21 8
often 7 9 13 14 14 10
sometimes 15 19 24 22 22 20
rarely 33 39 33 31 21 36
never 39 27 21 20 21 27
always 10 10 18 25 34 13
often 11 15 19 22 17 15
sometimes 23 32 32 26 23 30
rarely 40 35 24 21 16 32
never 16 9 7 6 10 10
every day 3 2 3 5 10 3
every week 4 3 5 6 8 4
sometimes 12 12 17 17 18 13
hardly ever 18 21 22 18 12 20
never 63 62 54 53 52 59
always 37 17 10 7 8 18
often 27 25 17 12 9 22
sometimes 21 32 34 28 22 30
rarely 10 19 25 29 22 19
never 5 7 14 25 39 11
*All cross-tabulations are statistically significant (p

Table 4B: Pupil Responses Cross-tabulated by Free School Meals Eligibility
CROSS-TABULATED QUESTIONS*
Q1. I am usually happy at school
Q20. This school is a good school
Q49. How often do other pupils
make fun of people who work
hard?
Q52. How often are other pupils
so noisy in lessons that you find it
difficult to work?
Q65. How often do pupils try to
disrupt lessons?
I am eligible for Free School Meals
yes (%) no (%) Total (%)
yes 82 85 84
no 18 15 16
strongly agree 16 18 18
agree 46 52 51
not sure 23 19 20
disagree 9 6 7
strongly disagree 6 4 4
always 19 17 17
often 26 27 27
sometimes 27 30 29
rarely 20 21 20
never 8 6 6
always 20 15 16
often 31 30 30
sometimes 31 34 33
rarely 13 17 16
never 5 5 5
every day 35 34 34
every week 19 20 20
sometimes 35 35 35
hardly ever 9 10 10
never 2 1 2
*All Cross-tabulations were statistically significant (p

Table 4C: Pupil Responses Cross-tabulated by Ethnic Group
Ethnic Group
CROSS-TABULATED QUESTIONS
Black African (%)
Black Caribbean (%)
Black Other (%)
Bangladeshi (%)
Indian (%)
Pakistani (%)
White British (%)
White Other (%)
Chinese (%)
White & Black Caribbean (%)
White & Black African (%)
White & Asian (%)
Other (%)
Total (%)
Q1. I am usually true 83 81 79 84 89 87 84 83 85 82 87 87 84 84
happy at school false 17 19 21 16 11 13 16 17 15 18 13 13 16 16
Q20. This school
is a good school
strongly agree 15 11 12 13 18 19 19 18 17 13 15 18 19 18
agree 46 46 45 50 56 49 52 51 52 50 49 52 48 50
not sure 25 26 29 22 18 20 18 20 22 24 21 20 21 20
disagree 8 10 9 9 5 6 7 6 5 8 8 6 8 7
totally disagree 6 7 6 6 4 6 4 4 3 5 7 4 4 5
Q49. How often
always 15 17 19 12 16 16 19 17 11 18 13 14 16 17
do other pupils
often 25 23 28 22 26 24 29 27 29 26 31 30 26 27
make fun of sometimes 25 25 23 30 32 31 29 29 32 27 28 29 28 29
people who work rarely 24 26 23 24 20 20 19 21 23 21 19 21 21 20
hard? never 11 9 7 11 6 8 4 6 5 8 10 6 9 6
Q52. How often always 19 17 22 14 15 18 15 16 15 18 17 16 20 16
are other pupils often 30 29 32 32 30 32 30 29 28 30 31 29 30 30
so noisy in
sometimes 32 34 30 34 35 31 33 33 36 29 32 33 32 33
lessons that you
find it difficult to rarely 13 15 12 14 16 15 17 15 18 17 15 16 14 16
work? never 6 5 5 6 5 4 5 6 3 6 5 5 4 5
every day 33 34 40 28 29 32 35 37 27 37 37 32 33 34
Q65. How often
do pupils try to
disrupt lessons?
every week 19 18 19 18 18 19 22 20 20 16 24 22 18 20
sometimes 38 37 32 42 39 36 32 33 41 37 30 33 37 35
hardly ever 8 9 8 9 12 11 10 9 11 8 8 12 10 10
never 2 2 1 4 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 2
112

APPENDIX 5
Profile of Pupil Respondents by Ethnic Background
113

Greater London Pupils
Table 5
Responses Listed by Gender and Ethnic Background
(Calculated as a % of the Maximum)
YEAR 7
Gender Male Female All
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F Total
Cases 768 939 3434 894 1081 1453 4223 1195 6035 7952 13987
Bangladeshi 27 36 4 7 5
Black African 48 49 6 7 6
Black Caribbean 42 40 5 5 5
Black Other 11 12 1 2 1
Chinese 6 5 1 1 1
Indian 45 38 7 7 7
Pakistani 27 26 4 5 5
White British 88 87 50 46 48
White Other 12 13 7 7 7
White and Black Caribbean 15 17 2 3 2
White and Black African 6 7 1 1 1
White and Asian 19 13 3 2 2
Other 54 58 8 9 8
YEAR 10
Gender Male Female All
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 M F Total
Cases 663 870 3195 769 994 1450 3774 1005 5497 7223 12720
Bangladeshi 25 34 4 7 5
Black African 49 52 6 7 7
Black Caribbean 41 39 5 5 5
Black Other 9 9 1 1 1
Chinese 11 7 1 1 1
Indian 53 43 8 9 9
Pakistani 23 23 4 5 4
White British 89 90 52 47 49
White Other 11 10 7 5 6
White and Black Caribbean 16 17 2 2 2
White and Black African 6 6 1 1 1
White and Asian 16 13 2 2 2
Other 52 57 7 8 8
TOTAL
Gender Male Female All
Ethnic Background E1 E2 E3 E4 E1 E2 E3 E4 F F Total
Cases 1431 1809 6629 1663 2075 2903 7997 2200 11532 15175 26707
Bangladeshi 26 35 4 7 5
Black African 49 50 6 7 6
Black Caribbean 41 39 5 5 5
Black Other 10 11 1 1 1
Chinese 8 6 1 1 1
Indian 49 40 8 8 8
Pakistani 25 25 4 5 4
White British 88 88 51 46 49
White Other 12 12 7 6 7
White and Black Caribbean 16 17 2 2 2
White and Black African 6 7 1 1 1
White and Asian 17 13 3 2 2
Other 53 57 8 8 8
114

APPENDIX 6
Teacher Responses
115

Greater London Teachers
Table 6
Teacher Responses: Personal Details Listed by Gender
(Calculated as a % of the Maximum)
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Age
below 30 138 16 385 26 523 22
30 to 39 278 31 420 29 698 30
40 to 50 245 28 370 25 615 26
over 50 224 25 296 20 520 22
Ethnicity
Bangladeshi 8 1 5 0.3 13 0.5
Black African 32 4 22 1 54 2.3
Black Caribbean 10 1 40 3 50 2.1
Black Other 4 0.4 12 1 16 0.7
Chinese 2 0.2 4 0.3 6 0.3
Indian 21 2 58 4 79 3.3
Pakistani 9 1 17 1 26 1.1
White British 644 72 1030 69 1674 70.1
White Other 98 11 191 13 289 12.1
White and Black Caribbean 4 0.4 9 1 13 0.5
White and Black African 7 1 9 1 16 0.7
White and Asian 7 1 10 1 17 0.7
Other/No Response 49 5 87 6 136 5.7
Total years teaching
0-5 213 26 469 34 682 31
6-10 158 19 292 21 450 20
11-15 113 14 154 11 267 12
16-20 75 9 122 9 197 9
21-25 85 10 130 9 215 10
over 25 183 22 205 15 388 18
Years teaching in London
0-5 277 34 578 43 855 40
6-10 145 18 253 19 398 19
11-15 108 13 154 11 262 12
16-20 58 7 103 8 161 7
21-25 72 9 97 7 169 8
over 25 144 18 160 12 304 14
Years at this school
0-5 442 56 771 58 1213 57
6-10 108 14 220 17 328 15
11-15 106 13 167 13 273 13
16-20 53 7 76 6 129 6
21-25 38 5 54 4 92 4
over 25 48 6 34 3 82 4
Number of schools taught in
1 214 27 403 30 617 29
2 215 27 349 26 564 26
3 163 20 232 17 395 18
4 96 12 166 12 262 12
5+ 119 15 183 14 302 14
116

Table 6 (Cont.)
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Salary grouping
SNS 196 24 394 30 590 28
SNS+ 208 26 371 28 579 27
HOY/D 295 36 439 33 734 34
SM 112 14 115 9 227 11
Main teaching responsibility
English 61 8 195 15 256 12
Maths 108 13 151 11 259 12
Science 149 19 160 12 309 14
Technology 65 8 82 6 147 7
Humanities 145 18 173 13 318 15
MFL 26 3 127 10 153 7
ICT 49 6 34 3 83 4
Other 202 25 409 31 611 29
Specialist in subject taught
yes 733 91 1231 92 1964 92
no 69 9 101 8 170 8
117

Table 7
Teacher Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q1 Feelings about work at this school
I enjoy my work for the vast majority of the time 340 38 644 43 984 42
I mostly enjoy what I do 413 47 655 44 1068 45
I often do not enjoy my work 95 11 117 8 212 9
I rarely enjoy my work 12 1 8 1 20 1
I would like to leave this school 26 3 57 4 83 4
Q2 Change in quality of schooling at this school
over last 12 months
very much improved 91 10 131 9 222 9
slightly improved 307 35 480 33 787 33
stayed the same 241 27 488 33 729 31
got slightly worse 166 19 265 18 431 18
got very much worse 45 5 58 4 103 4
don’t know 39 4 53 4 92 4
Q3 Change in quality of schooling in London
over last 12 months
very much improved 12 1 23 2 35 1
slightly improved 173 20 270 18 443 19
stayed the same 207 23 369 25 576 25
got slightly worse 129 15 236 16 365 16
got very much worse 42 5 38 3 80 3
don’t know 321 36 526 36 847 36
Q4 Overall this school is well resourced
strongly agree 151 17 248 17 399 17
agree 438 49 728 49 1166 49
not sure 67 8 106 7 173 7
disagree 198 22 332 22 530 22
totally disagree 34 4 64 4 98 4
Q5 School has good reputation in the community
strongly agree 239 27 431 29 670 29
agree 345 39 569 39 914 39
not sure 136 15 202 14 338 14
disagree 134 15 204 14 338 14
totally disagree 27 3 63 4 90 4
Q6 Bullying a particular problem at this school
strongly agree 14 2 34 2 48 2
agree 113 13 210 14 323 14
not sure 119 14 217 15 336 14
disagree 529 60 871 59 1400 60
totally disagree 100 11 140 10 240 10
Q7 Staff deal effectively with bullying
strongly agree 79 9 124 8 203 9
agree 489 55 786 53 1275 54
not sure 205 23 375 26 580 25
disagree 104 12 170 12 274 12
totally disagree 10 1 15 1 25 1
Q8 School seeks to give every pupil the chance
to achieve his/her potential
strongly agree 264 30 427 29 691 29
agree 475 54 797 54 1272 54
not sure 67 8 117 8 184 8
disagree 72 8 107 7 179 8
totally disagree 7 1 21 1 28 1
Table 7 (cont.)
118

Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q9 School working hard to improve
strongly agree 296 33 477 32 773 33
agree 447 51 772 52 1219 52
not sure 83 9 138 9 221 9
disagree 51 6 83 6 134 6
totally disagree 7 1 5 0.3 12 1
Q10 School committed to involving parents/carers
strongly agree 190 22 327 22 517 22
agree 481 55 847 58 1328 57
not sure 134 15 196 13 330 14
disagree 71 8 88 6 159 7
totally disagree 5 1 10 1 15 1
Q11 School has high staff morale
strongly agree 89 10 120 8 209 9
agree 332 38 522 36 854 36
not sure 199 23 337 23 536 23
disagree 208 24 393 27 601 26
totally disagree 54 6 98 7 152 6
Q12 School has distinct mission and ethos
strongly agree 165 19 313 21 478 20
agree 376 43 671 46 1047 45
not sure 178 20 264 18 442 19
disagree 133 15 191 13 324 14
totally disagree 27 3 29 2 56 2
Q13 School committed to working collaboratively
strongly agree 98 11 191 13 289 12
agree 325 37 581 39 906 38
not sure 278 31 432 29 710 30
disagree 159 18 238 16 397 17
totally disagree 26 3 33 2 59 2
Q14 Senior Management provides good leadership
strongly agree 122 14 178 12 300 13
agree 357 40 586 40 943 40
not sure 156 18 279 19 435 18
disagree 195 22 343 23 538 23
totally disagree 59 7 86 6 145 6
Q15 Fully and appropriately supported if need help
with a difficult pupil
strongly agree 136 15 212 14 348 15
agree 371 42 644 44 1015 43
not sure 131 15 198 13 329 14
disagree 203 23 343 23 546 23
totally disagree 47 5 72 5 119 5
Q16 Communication in school is effective
strongly agree 46 5 72 5 118 5
agree 327 37 520 35 847 36
not sure 176 20 293 20 469 20
disagree 276 31 471 32 747 32
totally disagree 62 7 119 8 181 8
119

Table 7 (cont.)
Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q17 Senior Management maintains good
relationships with staff
strongly agree 109 12 182 12 291 12
agree 429 49 663 45 1092 47
not sure 151 17 269 18 420 18
disagree 147 17 279 19 426 18
totally disagree 42 5 65 4 107 5
Q18 Senior Management deals effectively with
unauthorised pupil absence
strongly agree 88 10 149 10 237 10
agree 338 38 595 41 933 40
not sure 258 29 435 30 693 30
disagree 151 17 227 16 378 16
totally disagree 51 6 57 4 108 5
Q19 Set and agree appropriate work objectives
with line manager
strongly agree 151 17 272 19 423 18
agree 468 53 770 53 1238 53
not sure 102 12 163 11 265 11
disagree 125 14 198 14 323 14
totally disagree 35 4 58 4 93 4
Q20 Pupils are praised and encouraged in their
work
strongly agree 190 22 399 27 589 25
agree 585 67 950 65 1535 66
not sure 75 9 85 6 160 7
disagree 24 3 23 2 47 2
totally disagree 2 0.2 3 0.2 5 0.2
Q21 Most lessons are motivating and
challenging
strongly agree 77 9 154 11 231 10
agree 486 55 821 56 1307 56
not sure 234 27 362 25 596 25
disagree 79 9 112 8 191 8
totally disagree 4 0.5 11 1 15 1
Q22 Control of pupils is good
strongly agree 73 8 118 8 191 8
agree 453 52 797 55 1250 54
not sure 155 18 258 18 413 18
disagree 168 19 242 17 410 18
totally disagree 29 3 39 3 68 3
Q23 Teachers here have high expectations of all
pupils
strongly agree 119 14 253 17 372 16
agree 451 52 736 51 1187 51
not sure 177 20 284 20 461 20
disagree 114 13 169 12 283 12
totally disagree 10 1 12 1 22 1
Q24 Teaching is informed by up-to-date
research and/or best practice from elsewhere
strongly agree 63 7 114 8 177 8
agree 370 42 670 47 1040 45
not sure 281 32 433 30 714 31
disagree 135 15 200 14 335 14
totally disagree 24 3 23 2 47 2
120

Table 7 (cont.)
Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q25 Teaching styles matched to needs of
individual pupils
strongly agree 49 6 98 7 147 6
agree 350 40 621 43 971 42
not sure 313 36 479 33 792 34
disagree 143 16 230 16 373 16
totally disagree 15 2 18 1 33 1
Q26 Teachers here work collaboratively to
develop their skills as teachers
strongly agree 101 12 160 11 261 11
agree 454 53 755 53 1209 53
not sure 177 21 281 20 458 20
disagree 115 13 207 15 322 14
totally disagree 16 2 24 2 40 2
Q27 More encouragement from senior staff
very important 452 54 850 62 1302 59
quite important 301 36 445 32 746 34
no opinion 44 5 39 3 83 4
not very important 35 4 43 3 78 4
not at all important 6 1 4 0.3 10 0.5
Q28 More non-contact time
very important 410 50 790 57 1200 55
quite important 300 37 459 33 759 35
no opinion 54 7 65 5 119 5
not very important 49 6 62 4 111 5
not at all important 8 1 2 0.1 10 0.5
Q29 Less change and more time for
consolidation
very important 382 47 683 50 1065 49
quite important 298 36 474 35 772 35
no opinion 87 11 121 9 208 10
not very important 45 6 76 6 121 6
not at all important 5 1 4 0.3 9 0.4
Q30 Less form-filling
very important 443 55 786 58 1229 57
quite important 251 31 417 31 668 31
no opinion 74 9 85 6 159 7
not very important 37 5 62 5 99 5
not at all important 7 1 2 0.1 9 0.4
Q31 Opportunities for high quality professional
development
very important 411 52 809 61 1220 57
quite important 316 40 466 35 782 37
no opinion 43 5 36 3 79 4
not very important 20 3 13 1 33 2
not at all important 7 1 1 0.1 8 0.4
Q32 Staff working as teams to raise standards
very important 433 54 856 66 1289 61
quite important 306 38 374 29 680 32
no opinion 43 5 50 4 93 4
not very important 13 2 21 2 34 2
not at all important 2 0.3 2 0.1
121

Table 7 (cont.)
Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q33 More teaching assistants
very important 152 19 371 28 523 25
quite important 295 37 539 41 834 39
no opinion 176 22 218 17 394 19
not very important 151 19 162 12 313 15
not at all important 30 4 30 2 60 3
Q34 Smaller classes
very important 431 56 790 62 1221 60
quite important 267 34 389 30 656 32
no opinion 38 5 52 4 90 4
not very important 37 5 45 4 82 4
not at all important 1 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.1
Q35 More support staff (technical, administrative)
very important 251 33 576 45 827 40
quite important 379 49 547 43 926 45
no opinion 84 11 110 9 194 9
not very important 51 7 49 4 100 5
not at all important 3 0.4 1 0.1 4 0.2
Q36 Better access to ICT (to support teaching and
learning)
very important 312 40 621 48 933 45
quite important 330 43 516 40 846 41
no opinion 73 9 86 7 159 8
not very important 43 6 54 4 97 5
not at all important 14 2 4 0.3 18 1
Q37 How rate the continuing professional
development provided by school
of very high quality 110 12 201 14 311 13
of reasonably high quality 480 54 851 58 1331 57
not of very high quality 223 25 338 23 561 24
of poor quality 72 8 80 5 152 6
Q38 Behaviour of most pupils in the school
always well behaved 30 3 29 2 59 3
generally well behaved 571 65 977 67 1548 66
sometimes well behaved 204 23 378 26 582 25
rarely well behaved 71 8 78 5 149 6
never well behaved 5 1 7 0.5 12 1
Q39 How rate industry of most pupils in the school
always motivated to work hard 18 2 19 1 37 2
generally motivated to work hard 407 46 768 52 1175 50
sometimes motivated to work hard 360 41 554 38 914 39
rarely motivated to work hard 97 11 126 9 223 9
never motivated to work hard 4 0.5 1 0.1 5 0.2
Q40 Live in London
in same Borough as school 284 32 577 39 861 37
in a different Borough 440 50 700 48 1140 49
no 156 18 193 13 349 15
Q41 If no, would like to live in London
yes 20 13 36 19 56 16
no 127 81 148 77 275 79
122

Table 7 (cont.)
Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q42 On average, how long journey to school
takes each morning
less than 15 minutes 190 21 370 25 560 24
15 to 30 minutes 347 39 618 42 965 41
31 to 45 minutes 196 22 266 18 462 20
46 minutes to an hour 96 11 153 10 249 11
more than an hour 58 7 59 4 117 5
Q43 Specialist Schools valuable in improving
teaching and learning in London
yes 453 52 752 52 1205 52
no 423 48 696 48 1119 48
Q44 Training Schools valuable in improving
teaching and learning in London
yes 559 66 970 69 1529 68
no 292 34 438 31 730 32
Q45 Would advise friends to send their children
to this school
yes 564 65 957 66 1521 65
no 306 35 499 34 805 35
Q46 Would recommend school to teachers as a
good place to work
yes 678 78 1143 79 1821 79
no 190 22 304 21 494 21
Q47 Would recommend London to teachers as a
good place to work
yes 484 56 846 58 1330 57
no 382 44 609 42 991 43
Qs. 48-54 To what extent do you agree that the
following factors would make teaching in London
more attractive?
Q48 Working in a new or refurbished school
strongly agree 272 31 416 28 688 29
agree 400 45 656 45 1056 45
not sure 137 16 232 16 369 16
disagree 66 7 150 10 216 9
totally disagree 6 1 11 1 17 1
Q49 Having access to up-to-date ICT and IAWs
strongly agree 287 33 530 36 817 35
agree 438 50 707 48 1145 49
not sure 85 10 151 10 236 10
disagree 57 6 75 5 132 6
totally disagree 11 1 4 0 15 1
Q50 Recognition that teaching in London
requires and develops unique skills
strongly agree 291 33 585 40 876 37
agree 362 41 607 41 969 41
not sure 142 16 169 12 311 13
disagree 69 8 103 7 172 7
totally disagree 14 2 4 0.3 18 1
123

Table 7 (cont.)
Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q51 … Chartered London Teacher status
strongly agree 194 22 365 25 559 24
agree 244 28 450 31 694 30
not sure 290 33 461 32 751 32
disagree 100 11 150 10 250 11
totally disagree 53 6 34 2 87 4
Q52 Access to high quality professional
development and support from subject specialists
strongly agree 312 36 663 45 975 42
agree 443 51 650 45 1093 47
not sure 79 9 113 8 192 8
disagree 34 4 31 2 65 3
totally disagree 7 1 3 0.2 10 0.4
Q53 Having support with cost of buying a home in
London (Key Worker Housing)
strongly agree 564 64 978 66 1542 66
agree 232 26 394 27 626 27
not sure 59 7 69 5 128 5
disagree 17 2 18 1 35 1
totally disagree 9 1 8 1 17 1
Q54 School having Specialist School/Training
School status
strongly agree 147 17 263 18 410 18
agree 258 29 412 28 670 29
not sure 252 29 443 30 695 30
disagree 148 17 278 19 426 18
totally disagree 70 8 65 4 135 6
Qs. 55-61 To what extent are following important in
helping you improve pupils' learning?
Q55 Adequate ICT provision
strongly agree 348 40 637 44 985 42
agree 429 49 672 46 1101 47
not sure 59 7 98 7 157 7
disagree 32 4 47 3 79 3
totally disagree 10 1 4 0.3 14 1
Q56 Teaching support staff
strongly agree 247 28 574 40 821 35
agree 433 49 687 47 1120 48
not sure 127 14 135 9 262 11
disagree 57 7 50 3 107 5
totally disagree 12 1 6 0.4 18 1
Q57 Refurbished and well-resourced schools
strongly agree 509 58 919 63 1428 61
agree 342 39 523 36 865 37
not sure 21 2 11 1 32 1
disagree 7 1 7 0.5 14 1
totally disagree 1 0.1 1 0.04
124

Table 7 (cont.)
Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Q58 Extra-curricular learning opportunities
strongly agree 342 39 630 43 972 42
agree 426 49 695 48 1121 48
not sure 77 9 106 7 183 8
disagree 24 3 20 1 44 2
totally disagree 4 0.5 4 0.2
Q59 Effective behaviour improvement and
reward systems
strongly agree 579 67 1127 78 1706 74
agree 267 31 304 21 571 25
not sure 21 2 10 1 31 1
disagree 1 0.1 3 0.2 4 0.2
totally disagree 2 0.2 2 0.1
Q60 Relevant work experience for pupils through
good partnerships with business community
strongly agree 256 30 518 36 774 34
agree 415 48 701 49 1116 48
not sure 148 17 174 12 322 14
disagree 37 4 48 3 85 4
totally disagree 10 1 3 0.2 13 1
Q61 Matching teaching styles to needs of
individual pupils
strongly agree 362 42 785 55 1147 50
agree 416 48 554 38 970 42
not sure 71 8 79 5 150 6
disagree 16 2 18 1 34 1
totally disagree 4 0.5 3 0.2 7 0.3
Qs. 62-4 Importance for London schools of:
Q62 Parental involvement in child's education
very important 696 81 1245 87 1941 85
quite important 144 17 171 12 315 14
no opinion 12 1 9 1 21 1
not very important 7 1 6 0.4 13 1
not at all important 1 0.1 1 0.04
Q63 Parental involvement with the school
very important 300 35 493 35 793 35
quite important 382 45 669 47 1051 46
no opinion 97 11 166 12 263 12
not very important 63 7 82 6 145 6
not at all important 7 1 8 1 15 1
Q64 Extending school to bring other services
onto school site
very important 170 20 349 25 519 23
quite important 283 33 533 38 816 36
no opinion 226 27 333 24 559 25
not very important 119 14 160 11 279 12
not at all important 48 6 37 3 85 4
125

Table 7 (cont.)
Responses Listed by Gender
Gender Male Female Total
Cases
No. % No. % No. %
895 100 1494 100 2389 100
Qs. 65-8 Importance for London Y7 pupils of:
Q65 More support for pupils in transition
between primary and secondary school
very important 304 36 562 40 866 39
quite important 349 42 603 43 952 42
no opinion 105 13 162 12 267 12
not very important 70 8 74 5 144 6
not at all important 11 1 3 0.2 14 1
Q66 Timetables which reduce number of new
teachers Y7 pupils meet in secondary schools
very important 148 18 276 20 424 19
quite important 276 33 400 29 676 30
no opinion 212 25 319 23 531 24
not very important 156 19 341 24 497 22
not at all important 40 5 57 4 97 4
Q67 Buildings which create more welcoming
primary-style environments
very important 145 18 262 19 407 19
quite important 267 32 417 30 684 31
no opinion 187 23 269 20 456 21
not very important 183 22 350 26 533 24
not at all important 41 5 70 5 111 5
Q68 Allowing Y7 pupils to stay in one base as
much as possible (i.e. teachers move to pupils)
very important 73 9 143 11 216 10
quite important 149 18 217 16 366 17
no opinion 175 21 242 18 417 19
not very important 291 35 534 39 825 38
not at all important 134 16 221 16 355 16
Qs. 69-72 Importance for London Y10 pupils of:
Q69 Work-related learning
very important 261 32 568 42 829 38
quite important 391 48 611 45 1002 46
no opinion 93 11 98 7 191 9
not very important 65 8 69 5 134 6
not at all important 4 0.5 4 0.3 8 0.4
Q70 Vocational curriculum
very important 278 34 528 40 806 38
quite important 380 47 625 47 1005 47
no opinion 94 12 112 8 206 10
not very important 46 6 57 4 103 5
not at all important 9 1 6 0.5 15 1
Q71 Individual careers guidance
very important 316 39 693 52 1009 47
quite important 390 48 548 41 938 44
no opinion 74 9 59 4 133 6
not very important 23 3 20 2 43 2
not at all important 5 1 2 0.2 7 0.3
Q72 Having a Learning Mentor
very important 204 25 440 33 644 30
quite important 373 46 624 47 997 47
no opinion 151 19 178 13 329 15
not very important 61 8 77 6 138 6
not at all important 16 2 12 1 28 1
126

APPENDIX 7
The Pupil Questionnaires
127

Year 7 Pupil Questionnaire
For questions 1 to 13 choose your answer from true or false:
e.g. true false
[ ] [ ]
1. I am usually happy at school
2. My parents/carers help and advise me with my school work
3. I often take part in school activities at lunchtime or after school
4. Most of my teachers set homework regularly (each week)
5. At home I have access to a computer to help me with my homework
6. We have opportunities outside of lesson time to do extra learning activities or extra study
7. Most things I work on in school are really interesting
8. I intend to stay on in full-time education after I am 16
9. Even when I am at school I sometimes deliberately miss lessons
10. At home I have computer access to the Internet
11. At home there are books (dictionaries, reference books, etc.) for me to read or look
things up in
12. At home I have somewhere quiet to do my homework
13. My teachers take time to discuss my progress with me, and advise me how I can
improve my work
For questions 14 to 19 choose your answer from: yes no
[ ] [ ]
14. Do your travel arrangements allow you time to take part in after-school activities?
15. Of the schools that you could have gone to, is this the nearest one to your home?
16. Would you prefer to have gone to a different school?
17. Did you have an organised visit to the school before you joined as a pupil?
18. Have you found it easy to make new friends since you came to the school?
19. Do you feel safe when you are travelling to and from school?
For statements 20 to 36 choose from:
strongly agree agree not sure disagree totally disagree
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
20. This school is a good school
21. When I use a computer in lessons, I learn more easily
22. Most of the time I do not want to go to school
23. Most of the teachers here are respected by the pupils
24. School work here is dull and boring
25. There are lots of activities (sport, drama, etc.) to take part in at lunchtime or after school
26. I learn more easily when the teacher uses an interactive whiteboard
27. Most teachers here treat the pupils with respect
128

28. This school is giving me a good education
29. School rules are fair and reasonable
30. Most teachers are good at keeping control in the classroom
31. Most teachers are very strict about pupils missing school without permission from school
32. I am happier in this school than I was in my primary/junior school
33. I like having different teachers for different subjects
34. It would be good to stay in the same room for most of my lessons
35. The work is harder in this school than it was in my primary school
36. I think I am getting on well at this school
For questions 37 to 43 choose from:
very important quite important no opinion not very important not at all important
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
How important to you are the following?
37. Attending a school close to your home
38. Being rewarded for good work or behaviour
39. Being able to give your views about the school (e.g. through a School Council)
40. Learning about other cultures
41. Having lots of opportunities to do sport and PE
42. Going on cultural visits (e.g. to theatres and art galleries)
43. Attending after-school clubs
For questions 44 to 47 choose from:
much better better about the same not as good much worse
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
44. Do you feel that your school is better or worse than most schools?
45. Do you think that your school buildings are better or worse than in most schools?
46. Do you think that the facilities (sport, library, ICT, etc.) in this school are better or worse
than in most schools?
47. Do you think that London schools are better or worse than schools in the rest of
England?
For questions 48 to 55 choose your answer from:
always often sometimes rarely never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
48. How often do the teachers praise you when you have tried hard?
49. How often do other pupils make fun of people who work hard?
50. How often do you behave badly at school?
51. How often do you feel you can go to a teacher with a problem?
52. How often are other pupils so noisy in lessons that you find it difficult to work?
53. Do you think that bullying is a particular problem at your school?
129

54. Do you think that the teachers deal effectively with bullying?
55. Do you think that racism is a particular problem at your school?
For questions 56 to 61 choose your answer from:
often sometimes rarely never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
56. How often do you have a teaching assistant (other adult) helping the teacher in lessons?
57. This term, how often have you missed school without permission from school?
58. How often do your parents/carers ask about what you are learning at school?
59. How often have you had a substitute teacher (someone who is not your normal teacher)
to teach lessons this year?
60. How often do you do joint work (activities, lessons, projects) with pupils from other
schools?
61. How often do travel problems cause you to be late for school?
For questions 62 to 64 choose from:
every lesson most lessons sometimes hardly ever never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
62. How often do you use computers in your lessons to help you with your work?
63. How often do you have books and resources (worksheets, notes, etc.) to take home to
help you do your homework?
64. How often do the teachers explain clearly what you are supposed to learn in the lesson?
For questions 65 to 67 choose from:
every day every week sometimes hardly ever never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
65. How often do pupils at your school try to disrupt lessons?
66. How often have you been bullied by other pupils this term?
67. How often have you seen other pupils bullied this term?
For questions 68 to 70 choose from:
all most some few none
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
68. How many teachers have you got on well with this year?
69. How many of your teachers do you think are good teachers?
70. How many of your teachers are good at dealing with bad behaviour in class or around the
school?
For questions 71 to 75 choose the answer nearest to what YOU think:
a b c d e
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
71. How would you describe your abilities as a student?
a. very good
130

. quite good
c. average
d. below average
e. poor
72. Do your parents/carers come to school? (mark all that apply)
a. for parents’ evenings
b. to help out in the classroom
c. for social events
d. because you are having problems in school
73. With most teachers the discipline here is:
a. too strict
b. just about right
c. not strict enough
74. How do you usually get to and from school? (mark all that apply)
a. on foot
b. on a bicycle
c. on public transport
d. by car
75. On average, how long does it take you to get to school each morning?
a. less than 15 minutes
b. 15 to 30 minutes
c. 31 to 45 minutes
d. 46 minutes to an hour
e. more than an hour
Thank you for answering these questions.
If there is anything else you would like to add please write on the back of the answer sheet.
131

Year 10 Pupil Questionnaire
For questions 1 to 13 choose your answer from true or false:
e.g. true false
[ ] [ ]
1. I am usually happy at school
2. My parents/carers help and advise me with my school work
3. I often take part in school activities at lunchtime or after school
4. Most of my teachers set homework regularly (each week)
5. At home I have access to a computer to help me with my homework
6. We have opportunities outside of lesson time to do extra learning activities or extra study
7. Most things I work on in school are really interesting
8. I intend to stay on in full-time education after I am 16
9. Even when I am at school I sometimes deliberately miss lessons
10. At home I have computer access to the Internet
11. At home there are books (dictionaries, reference books, etc.) for me to read or look
things up in
12. At home I have somewhere quiet to do my homework
13. My teachers take time to discuss my progress with me, and advise me how I can
improve my work
For questions 14 to 19 choose your answer from: yes no
[ ] [ ]
14. Do your travel arrangements allow you time to take part in after-school activities?
15. Of the schools that you could have gone to, is this the nearest one to your home?
16. Would you prefer to have gone to a different school?
17. Have you attended another secondary school before coming to this one?
18. Is there a good range of courses to choose from when you have finished your GCSEs (at
school or college)?
19. Do you want to go on to college or university?
For statements 20 to 31 choose from:
strongly agree agree not sure disagree totally disagree
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
20. This school is a good school
21. When I use a computer in lessons, I learn more easily
22. Most of the time I do not want to go to school
23. Most of the teachers here are respected by the pupils
24. School work here is dull and boring
25. There are lots of activities (sport, drama, etc.) to take part in at lunchtime or after school
26. I learn more easily when the teacher uses an interactive whiteboard
27. Most teachers here treat the pupils with respect
132

28. This school is giving me a good education
29. School rules are fair and reasonable
30. Most teachers are good at keeping control in the classroom
31. Most teachers are very strict about pupils missing school without permission from school
For questions 32 to 43 choose from:
very important quite important no opinion not very important not at all important
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
How important to you are the following?
32. Having a mentor (an adult who comes into school to discuss your progress with you)
33. Having a good range of subject options to choose from
34. Being able to do work-related courses
35. Having the opportunity to do work experience
36. Having good careers guidance
37. Having a teacher who helps you to set targets (for your individual learning plan)
38. Being rewarded for good work or behaviour
39. Being able to give your views about the school (e.g. through a School Council)
40. Learning about other cultures
41. Having lots of opportunities to do sport and PE
42. Going on cultural visits (e.g. to theatres and art galleries)
43. Attending after-school clubs
For questions 44 to 47 choose from:
much better better about the same not as good much worse
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
44. Do you feel that your school is better or worse than most schools?
45. Do you think that your school buildings are better or worse than in most schools?
46. Do you think that the facilities (sport, library, ICT, etc.) in this school are better or worse
than in most schools?
47. Do you think that London schools are better or worse than schools in the rest of
England?
For questions 48 to 55 choose your answer from:
always often sometimes rarely never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
48. How often do the teachers praise you when you have tried hard?
49. How often do other pupils make fun of people who work hard?
50. How often do you behave badly at school?
51. How often do you feel you can go to a teacher with a problem?
52. How often are other pupils so noisy in lessons that you find it difficult to work?
53. Do you think that bullying is a particular problem at your school?
54. Do you think that the teachers deal effectively with bullying?
55. Do you think that racism is a particular problem at your school?
133

For questions 56 to 61 choose your answer from:
often sometimes rarely never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
56. How often do you have a teaching assistant (other adult) helping the teacher in lessons?
57. This term, how often have you missed school without permission from school?
58. How often do your parents/carers ask about what you are learning at school?
59. How often have you had a substitute teacher (someone who is not your normal teacher)
to teach lessons this year?
60. How often do you do joint work (activities, lessons, projects) with pupils from other
schools?
61. How often do travel problems cause you to be late for school?
For questions 62 to 64 choose from:
every lesson most lessons sometimes hardly ever never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
62. How often do you use computers in your lessons to help you with your work?
63. How often do you have books and resources (worksheets, notes, etc.) to take home to
help you do your homework?
64. How often do the teachers explain clearly what you are supposed to learn in the lesson?
For questions 65 to 67 choose from:
every day every week sometimes hardly ever never
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
65. How often do pupils at your school try to disrupt lessons?
66. How often have you been bullied by other pupils this term?
67. How often have you seen other pupils bullied this term?
For questions 68 to 70 choose from:
all most some few none
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
68. How many teachers have you got on well with this year?
69. How many of your teachers do you think are good teachers?
70. How many of your teachers are good at dealing with bad behaviour in class or around
the school?
For questions 71 to 75 choose the answer nearest to what YOU think:
a b c d e
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
71. How would you describe your abilities as a student?
134

a. very good
b. quite good
c. average
d. below average
e. poor
72. Do your parents/carers come to school? (mark all that apply)
a. for parents’ evenings
b. to help out in the classroom
c. for social events
d. because you are having problems in school
73. With most teachers the discipline here is:
a. too strict
b. just about right
c. not strict enough
74. How do you usually get to and from school? (mark all that apply)
a. on foot
b. on a bicycle
c. on public transport
d. by car
75. On average, how long does it take you to get to school each morning?
a. less than 15 minutes
b. 15 to 30 minutes
c. 31 to 45 minutes
d. 46 minutes to an hour
e. more than an hour
Thank you for answering these questions.
If there is anything else you would like to add please write on the back of the answer sheet.
135

APPENDIX 8
The Teacher Questionnaire
136

TEACHER SURVEY QUESTIONS
For questions 1 to 3 choose from: a b c d e f
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
1. Which of the following best describes your feeling about your work at this school?
a. I enjoy my work for the vast majority of the time
b. I mostly enjoy what I do
c. I often do not enjoy my work
d. I rarely enjoy my work
e. I would like to leave this school
2. Overall, how has the quality of schooling at your school changed over the last 12 months?
a. very much improved
b. slightly improved
c. stayed the same
d. got slightly worse
e. got very much worse
f. don’t know
3. Overall, how has the quality of schooling in London changed over the last 12 months?
a. very much improved
b. slightly improved
c. stayed the same
d. got slightly worse
e. got very much worse
f. don’t know
For questions 4 to 26 choose from: strongly agree agree not sure disagree totally disagree
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
To what extent do you agree with the following statements about your school?
The school
4. Overall this school is well resourced (books, ICT, facilities, equipment)
5. This school has a good reputation in the community
6. Bullying among pupils is a particular problem at this school
7. Staff here deal effectively with bullying among pupils
8. The school seeks to give every pupil the chance to achieve his/her potential
9. This school is working hard to improve
10. This school is committed to involving parents/carers in their children’s education
11. This school has high staff morale
12. This school has a distinct mission and ethos
13. This school is committed to working collaboratively with other schools to support pupils’
learning
Support and Leadership
14. Senior Management provides good leadership
15. If you need help with a difficult pupil you are fully and appropriately supported
16. Communication in the school is effective
17. Senior Management maintains good relationships with staff
18. Senior Management deals effectively with unauthorised pupil absence
19. The way I’m managed means that I set and agree appropriate objectives for my work
with my line manager.
Classroom Practice (in the school as a whole)
20. Pupils are praised and encouraged in their work
21. Most lessons are motivating and challenging
22. Control of pupils is good
137

23. Teachers here have high expectations of all the pupils
24. Teaching is informed by up-to-date research and/or best practice from elsewhere
25. Teaching styles are matched to the needs of individual pupils
26. Teachers here work collaboratively with colleagues to develop their skills as teachers
For questions 27 to 36 choose from: very quite no not very not at all
important important opinion important important
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
How important do you think the following factors are for improving your satisfaction/morale as a
teacher?
27. More encouragement from senior staff
28. More non-contact time
29. Less change and more time for consolidation
30. Less form filling
31. Opportunities for high quality professional development
32. Staff working as teams to raise standards
33. More teaching assistants
34. Smaller classes
35. More support staff (technical, administrative)
36. Better access to ICT (to support teaching and learning)
37. How do you rate the continuing professional development provided by your school?
a. of very high quality
b. of reasonably high quality
c. not of very high quality
d. of poor quality
38. Which of the following best describes how you find the behaviour of most pupils in the school?
a. always well behaved
b. generally well behaved
c. sometimes well behaved
d. rarely well behaved
e. never well behaved
39. How do you rate the industry of most pupils in the school?
a. always motivated to work hard
b. generally motivated to work hard
c. sometimes motivated to work hard
d. rarely motivated to work hard
e. never motivated to work hard
40. Do you live in London?
a. in the same Borough as school
b. in a different Borough
c. no
41. If no, would you like to live in London?
a. yes
b. no
42. On average, how long does it take you to get to school each morning?
a. less than 15 minutes
b. 15 to 30 minutes
c. 31 to 45 minutes
d. 46 minutes to an hour
e. more than an hour
138

For questions 43 to 47 choose your answer from: yes no
[ ] [ ]
43. Do you think that Specialist Schools are valuable in improving teaching and learning in London?
44. Do you think that Training Schools are valuable in improving teaching and learning in London?
45. Would you advise friends to send their children to this school?
46. Would you recommend the school to other teachers as a good place to work?
47. Would you recommend London to other teachers as a good place to work?
For questions 48 to 61 choose from: strongly agree agree not sure disagree totally disagree
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Teacher recruitment and retention is an important issue in London. To what extent do you agree that
the following factors would make teaching in London more attractive?
48. Working in a new or refurbished school
49. Having access to up-to-date ICT, including Interactive Whiteboards
50. Having recognition that teaching in London requires and develops unique skills
51. Professional recognition of relevant London experience through Chartered London Teacher
status
52. Having access to high quality professional development and support from subject specialists
53. Having support with the cost of buying a home in London (Key Worker Housing)
54. Your school having Specialist School/Training School status
To what extent do you agree that the following are important in helping you improve pupils’ learning?
55. Adequate ICT provision
56. Teaching support staff (e.g. Learning Mentors, Personal Tutors)
57. Refurbished and well-resourced schools (books, facilities, equipment)
58. Extra-curricular learning opportunities
59. Effective behaviour improvement and reward systems
60. Relevant work experience for pupils through good partnerships with the business community
61. Matching teaching styles to the needs of the individual pupil
For questions 62 to 72 choose from: very quite no not very not at all
important important opinion important important
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
How important do you think the following factors are for London schools?
62. Parental involvement in the child’s education (encouragement with work done in the home,
etc.)
63. Parental involvement with the school (e.g. Governor, Teaching Assistant)
64. Extending the school to bring other services on to the school site, such as Social Services,
Health Centres and adult learning opportunities
How important do you think the following factors are for London Year 7 pupils?
65. More support for pupils in transition between primary and secondary school
66. Timetables which reduce the number of new teachers pupils meet in secondary schools
67. Buildings which create more welcoming primary-style environments for the youngest children
68. Allowing Year 7 pupils to stay in one base as much as possible (i.e. teachers move to pupils)
How important do you think the following factors are for London Year 10 pupils?
69. Work-related learning
70. Vocational curriculum
71. Individual careers guidance
72. Having a Learning Mentor
139

Open-ended questions:
73. What would help / has helped to establish a culture of achievement in your school?
74. What factors/changes would most encourage you to go on teaching in a London school?
75. What do you see as the main benefits and/or challenges of teaching in London schools?
140

APPENDIX 9
Tables 8, 9, 10 and 11
Characteristics of participating pupils, teachers and schools
141

Table 8A Comparing Sample and Population Characteristics for Pupils at
Schools in London
sample
population
Free school meals entitlement 24% 24%
English as a second language 35% 32%
Key Stage 3 level 5+ English 68% 68%
Key Stage 3 level 5 maths 69% 69%
Key Stage 3 level 5 science 65% 65%
Key Stage 3 Average point score 34 34
Key Stage 2 to 3 Value Added 100 100
Attainment - 5+ A* to C GCSE 56% 52%
GCSE/GNVQ Average point score 42 41
Key Stage 3 to GCSE/GNVQ Value Added 101 100
Percentage authorised absence 6.7% 6.9%
Percentage unauthorised absence 1.4% 1.2%
Pupils with unstatemented SEN 2.9% 2.8%
Pupils with statements of SEN 32% 29%
Girls as a percentage of pupils 55% 50%
White British as a percentage of pupils 47% 44%
Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi as a
percentage of pupils
Black African and Black Caribbean as a
percentage of pupils
18% 15%
12% 15%
142

Table 8B Comparing Sample and Population Characteristics for Pupils at
Schools Elsewhere in England
sample
population
Free school meals entitlement 14% 15%
English as a second language 7% 9%
Key Stage 3 level 5+ English 67% 69%
Key Stage 3 level 5 maths 69% 71%
Key Stage 3 level 5 science 65% 68%
Key Stage 3 Average point score 34 34
Key Stage 2 to 3 Value Added 99.3 100
Attainment - 5+ A* to C GCSE 49 53
GCSE/GNVQ Average point score 34 35
Key Stage 3 to GCSE/GNVQ Value Added 99.2 100
Percentage authorised absence 7.6% 7.1%
Percentage unauthorised absence 1.4% 1.1%
Pupils with unstatemented SEN 13.8% 12.7%
Pupils with statements of SEN 1.9% 2.4%
Girls as a percentage of pupils 49.4% 49.3%
White British as a percentage of pupils 81% 83%
Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi as a
percentage of pupils
Black African and Black Caribbean as a
percentage of pupils
7.6% 6.4%
2.8% 3.7%
143

Table 9: Pupil Samples Compared with London/England Pupil Population
(Figures in Percentages)
London Sample (weighted data)*
Males Females All
Y7 50 50 50
Y10 50 50 50
Total 50 50 100
London Population
Males Females All
Y7 50 50 50
Y10 50 50 50
Total 50 50 100
England Sample
Males Females All
Y7 53 47 51
Y10 49 51 49
Total 51 49 100
England Population
Males Females All
Y7 51 49 51
Y10 51 49 49
Total 51 49 100
*(Girls were over-represented in the London Sample so the data was weighted in order to
correct this. Weighted data is used in the report.)
144

Table 10: Teacher Sample Characteristics (Ethnic Background)
London Teacher Sample Compared with London and England Teacher Population
(Figures in Percentages)
London
Sample
London
Population
England
Population
Bangladeshi 0.5 0.8 0.2
Black African 2.3 2.4 0.5
Black Caribbean 2.1 3.8 0.8
Chinese 0.3 0.3 0.1
Indian 3.3 2.9 1.0
Other Black groups 0.7 0.8 0.2
Other ethnic groups 5.7 1.5 0.5
Pakistani 1.1 0.9 0.5
White and Black
0.7 0.3 0.1
African
White and Black Asian 0.7 0.4 0.1
White and Black
0.5 0.3 0.1
Caribbean
White British 70.0 69.3 90.6
145

Table 11: Teacher Sample Characteristics (Age and Gender)
Teacher Samples Compared with London and England Teacher Population
(Figures in Percentages)
London Sample
Males Females All
under 30 16 26 22
30 to 39 31 29 30
40 to 49 28 25 26
over 50 25 20 22
Total 100 100 100
London Population
Males Females All
under 30 13 24 20
30 to 39 30 27 28
40 to 49 29 24 26
over 50 29 24 25
Total 100 100 100
England Sample
Males Females All
under 30 12 22 18
30 to 39 29 26 28
40 to 49 35 34 35
over 50 25 18 19
Total 100 100 100
England Population
Males Females All
under 30 12 21 17
30 to 39 24 24 24
40 to 49 32 30 31
over 50 32 25 28
Total 100 100 100
146

APPENDIX 10
Bibliography
147

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148

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