Estimating the Relationship between School Resources and Pupil Attainment at GCSE

Abstract

This report summarises the results from a project investigating the effect of additional school resources on pupil attainment in examinations for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). Specifically, we apply quantitative methods to a large, representative dataset to answer the following research questions. What is the impact of a marginal change in overall resourcing on pupil attainment at GCSE? What is the impact of extra resources on pupils who differ by gender, ethnicity, poverty and ability and in schools with different mixes of students? What is the impact of extra resources for pupils with SEN? What is the impact on pupil attainment at GCSE of differences in expenditure per pupil compared to differences in teaching and non-teaching staff per pupil?