Improving support for sixth form students' post-school choice making and transitions into further study and work

该奖学金旨在促进研究知情的政策，实践和公共辩论，以确保所有六年级学生在毕业后的目的地获得高质量的支持，无论是选择大学，职业教育还是就业。这将通过撰写学术论文，与各种专业和非学术受众合作制定政策建议以及创建第六形式政策网络（SSPN）来实现。学校六年级在教育研究和政策制定中往往被忽视。与对早期教育和初中教育阶段的广泛研究兴趣相反，学校的最后几年往往被视为学生毕业后目的地的过渡阶段。在政策辩论中，焦点也往往集中在16岁以后的教育，或者高等教育。因此，学校六年级的独特性没有得到认可，很少有人关注学校六年级如何组织和提供课程，并为学生的毕业后选择提供支持。我最近对学校六年级的博士研究揭示了一系列正式和非正式的选择实践，这些实践影响了学生在选择毕业后目的地时得到的支持水平。研究发现，学校对成绩优异的学生申请“精英”大学的投资不成比例。虽然中等收入的学生占多数，但他们和他们毕业后的抱负往往被夸大了。缺乏高质量的职业建议意味着，那些寻求高等教育以外的选择的学生处于最不利的地位，尤其是在六年级，因为六年级的升学率特别高。该奖学金的主要目的是分享我的研究见解，并与一系列受众交流知识，以a)增进理解，提高对学生毕业后选择支持质量不平等的关键意识，b)提出改革建议，以及c)与关键政策和实践选区以及其他相关利益相关者合作，加强这一领域的政策。该奖学金将使我能够通过在同行评议的学术期刊上发表会议论文和出版物，与研究听众接触。此外，我们亦会举办公开讲座、小组辩论及专题演讲，让对中六改革有兴趣的非学术界人士了解。与教师、家长、学生、学校管理者和其他感兴趣的团体合作，确保所有学生在毕业后的选择中有平等的机会获得高质量的支持，并对其进行批判性评估。通过为非学术出版物写作和与同情六中改革的记者接触，将获得对新兴政策建议的普遍支持。该战略纲要的设立是为了解决政策制定过程中对学校六年级教育缺乏具体关注的问题，并负责制定和支持六年级教育改革政策的实施。该小组由主要决策团体、师生会、学术界、雇主团体和大学招生人员的代表组成，将分享有关学校中六改革的知识和专业知识，并在共同制定中六改革政策建议方面发挥关键作用。通过与教育特别委员会（ESC）、教育部（DfE）和感兴趣的国会议员的合作，SSPN将从广泛的受众中得出政策建议，并努力实现这些建议。到研究金结束时，SSPN将开始与高级决策者和政治家进行富有成果的对话。它还将有可靠的赞助者，以确保其工作在奖学金的生命周期之后继续下去。

This fellowship aims to contribute to research-informed policy, practice and public debate to ensure that all school sixth formers receive high quality support for their post-school destinations, whether that choice is university, vocational education or employment. This will be achieved through the production of academic papers, engagement with a diverse range of professional and non-academic audiences for the collaborative generation of policy proposals and the creation of a Sixth Form Policy Network (SSPN). School sixth forms tend to be overlooked in educational research and policy-making. In contrast to the wide research interest in the earlier years and lower secondary stages of education, the final years in school tend to be treated merely as a transition stage to students' post-school destinations. In policy debates too, the focus tends to be on post-16 education generally, or access to HE. As a consequence, the distinctiveness of school sixth forms is not recognised with little attention given to how school sixth forms organise and deliver the curriculum and support for students' post-school choosing. My recent doctoral study of school sixth forms uncovered a range of formal and informal selective practices which impacted on the levels of support given to students when choosing their post-school destinations. Schools were found to invest disproportionately in high attaining students' applications to 'elite' universities. Although moderately attaining students formed the majority, they and their post-school aspirations tended to be maginalised. A lack of high-quality careers advice meant students who sought alternatives to HE were the most disadvantaged of all, especially in sixth forms where progression to university was particularly valorised.The primary aim of this fellowship is to share insights from my research and exchange knowledge with a range of audiences to a) enhance understanding and raise critical awareness of the inequalities in the quality of support for students' post-school choice-making, b) generate proposals for reform, and c) work collaboratively with key policy and practice constituencies and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen policy in this area.The fellowship will allow me to engage with research audiences through the presentation of conference papers and publications in peer-reviewed academic journals. In addition, public talks, panel debates and presentations will be organised to reach a wide range of non-academic audiences interested in sixth form reform. Working collaboratively with teachers, parents, students, school governors and other interested groups, ideas for ensuring all students have equal access to high quality support for their post-school choosing will be generated and critically evaluated. Popular support for emerging policy proposals will be achieved through writing for non-academic publications and engagement with journalists sympathetic to sixth form reform.The SSPN will be created to address the absence of a specific focus on school sixth forms in policy making, and with a remit to develop and support the implementation of policy for sixth-form reform. Comprising representatives of key policymaking groups, teacher and student unions, academics, employer groups and university admissions staff, the SSPN will share knowledge and expertise on school sixth forms and play a key role in the co-generation of policy proposals for sixth-form reform. Through engagement with the Education Select Committee (ESC), the Department of Education (DfE), and interested MPs, the SSPN will develop policy proposals elicited from a range of audiences and work towards their implementation. By the end of the fellowship, the SSPN will have started to engage in fruitful dialogue with senior policy makers and politicians. It will also have secured sponsors to ensure the continuation of its work beyond the lifetime of the fellowship.