How context shapes skills at 18: comparative lessons for the UK

This project aims to improve our understanding of the contextual determinants of high performing education systems. The research investigates: 1) how student, school and education system characteristics and country contexts explain cross-country variations in performance in literacy and numeracy at age 15 and 18-20 years, and 2) how enhanced understanding of the interaction of these factors can be used in national policy-making to improve the acquisition of these skills amongst all young adults.

The project relies on a mixed-methods approach that combines statistical methods with the holistic case-oriented approaches of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and in-depth case studies of high performing education systems (HPES). Drawing on perspectives from comparative education and comparative political economy, combined with empirical analysis, the study offers a new typology of education systems. The research identifies the different configurations of system and contextual factors associated with countries that achieve high average levels of skills and lower inequality in outcomes in upper secondary education and amongst cohorts 18 to 20 years old in 2023. Further, the case studies demonstrate in detail how the characteristics of a selection of these systems combine to generate successful outcomes. This project will offer important evidence to policy-makers about policies and practices that have worked well in particular contexts, and in which cases these might be successfully adopted and adapted to improve skills at home.