Impact of parental education and support on pupil performance

There’s a question on the form… are you the first in family to go??

how would they even prove that either way.

Very unlikely

You’re rather missing the point. It doesn’t matter what he knows. He hasn’t passed any of that onto his kids.
They have received no benefit from it whatsoever but if they were asked to fill out a form that might disadvantage them because he’s been that would be to their detriment wouldn’t it?

The fact you know what a university is and that he went to 'shit' one is relevant in itself though. Presumably he knows how to revise for an exam and how to prepare coursework. It all seems silly base level knowledge but I teach students who have parents who have no idea of this stuff. Students who are capable of the top level highly selective courses opting for low level courses because they just didn't realise that there were league tables and different types of courses. They just picked the first one they saw. They don't know how to go about starting an essay or how to look for sources to support their work. Often they haven't had access to IT at home either (no tablets or laptops) which is a huge disadvantage.

I don’t think they should. My ex-husband went to university a shit one but still.
He’s had absolutely zero impact on those children in terms of assistance or financial help to get them into School .

ooooh yes this. One of the very best maths teachers I have known freely admitted that her lovely lovely A level student was better at maths than she was (he was amazing). She understood how to explain bc she saw how students didn;t get it.

Similarly I have known brilliant mathematicians who don’t get on so well teaching lower ability as they cannot see what the issue is. So to speak.

My DH has a maths PhD. He is shit at helping DC because he doesn't get why they don't get it. I do because I find it harder to get maths so I help them solve it WITH me. So I think parental time is actually more important than parental education.

Of course parental engagement will matter. I still remember very clearly visiting a secondary school open day (which I will not be sending my child to!) In one of the year 7 maths classrooms there were some fairly easy maths problems written on the board. One dad made a big song and dance about how he failed maths, that was gibberish and why was his daughter going to be wasting her time when it hasn’t done him any harm. He was loud, stupid and obnoxious. I was pretty shocked and felt desperately sorry for his daughter who just said to the teacher that she quite liked maths at primary. I still sometimes wonder how she’s getting on as she clearly wasn’t going to be getting any help from the dad.

I haven’t a clue about maths (humanities degree) my DH more so, but DC did all her own work and still git a grade 9 at GCSE.

Are you saying without expert help, DC are going to struggle doing homework and revision? That’s what teachers are for, they specialise in their subject, or should do.

They ask if a parent has a degree on the UCAS form. Some people say that’s just for “stats” but some Universities use it as one of their contextual criteria, so the “only for stats” is a load of bull. I’ve told my DC to say I don’t have a degree. Hands Up. Cos I ain’t helped her with any maths homework.

OP, you are right:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/apr/26/university-school-grades-child-background

https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/children-of-similar-cognitive-ability-have-very-different-chances-of-educational-success (from 2019)

This is a problem for society as a whole, since many bright children don't reach their potential. A better educated population benefits everyone.

I helped my ds, I read to him every day from when he was 6 months, through to about 8 years. As a result he reads for pleasure.

He has his own room, peace and privacy. He has all the tech and all the books he needs. I do everything I can to create the right environment for him.

I wasn't encouraged by my parents, had no support, shared a room with three sisters, had no peace or quiet. My F chose to undermine & belittle, because he didn't believe in the education of women. Instead he resented it. I know how much of a negative impact being told daily that I'm is useless and will fail, can have.

I've tried to create the opposite environment for DS.

He has more advantages than I did, but fewer than some of his class mates. Ds'll be fine. I don't resent the others. The differential is much less than I faced..

The question that you may be should be asking OP is around whether your daughter is struggling, because to be constantly asking your mum for help in gcse year is a little concerning

But equally mine also left school with a couple of O levels between them (I was the first in my family to go to university). But both of my parents supported my education, both directly by reading with me and practising times tables etc, and more indirectly by taking me to museums and landmarks and other enrichment activities.

Parental education doesn’t necessarily translate into parental support - DH’s parents are both educated to postgrad level but in contrast to mine, neither of them ever bothered about his school work.

The biggest predictor of success at primary is your parents/home life apparently. There are many advantages/disadvantages at secondary too.

My parents didn't really help me with homework but they did:

• Provide nutritious food
• Provide a warm house with quiet space to study and sleep
• Buy me what I needed e.g. school supplies, revision books
• Allow me to focus on my school work e.g. I didn't have caring responsibilities, didn't need to work for money, wasn't worried about adult things as a teenager
• Have high aspirations for me and encouraged me by attending parents evening etc
• I didn't have a tutor, but they paid for one for my brother in certain subjects when he was worried

All of these things really helped me succeed
Of course you can do well without these advantages but it helps. Schools try to level the playing field by supporting kids at school, but some will always be dealt a tougher hand than others.

As I understand it generally the big difference is between those children with supportive and engaged parents, and those that aren't.

They didn't help with homework but they cared very much where I was, what I was doing, and whether I had done that homework properly. Any interest was encouraged, regular library trips, new books every birthday/christmas, trips to museums every school holidays - just because it was interesting. The general expectation was that I would work hard and achieve something, whatever that turned out to be.

But its nature vs nurture isn't it? I was always academic, I have siblings that never were. We are all happy and successful in different ways.

The OP’s child is “constantly asking” for help, and this is just GCSE level, so I think that perhaps you’d be better off having a chat with the school Op, because being “constantly asked” for help at this stage would indicate she’s struggling

Ok so no source that “lots of universities” do this at all.

I’m university educated as is my partner. DS has low academic attainment regardless. Early years neglect has affected his development, throw in genetics, likely in utero alcohol/smoking/drugs and a trauma response (he’s adopted). Our educational attainment and ability to help has been useful in terms of advocating for him but not impacted significantly in terms of academic percormance. So many variables at play and so hard to unpick!

My children are both amazing at maths and science, luckily for them, because I am atrocious and definitely couldn't help them with anything. However, I am very good at English, which mine sometimes struggled with, but every time I tried to help they got annoyed and stormed off so it doesn't always work out!

Yes definitely.

I think a big part of the advantage of having parents who are university-educated is growing up the expectation that university will be part of your future. Plus well educated parents are more likely to be able to encourage critical thinking and intellectual curiosity.

There are so many possible variables that can positively or negatively impact a child's academic and emotional development.

Some children will benefit from wider 'social capital' that may help with applying to university or getting internships and work experience for example. Schools cannot cater for all such variables.

DS's secondary school make contextual offers including whether one or both parents have been to university and whether the child was on free school meals.

That's about as far as schools will likely go.

Personal experience when volunteering at a school with a lot of pupils in that position, albeit some years ago. First generation to go to University was a factor for quite a lot. I'm sure you can Google individual institutions' policies if you wish.

This is a bit like the debate around MFL students having a parent who has the language as their mother tongue. I just don’t think it is in any way workable to take account of the very many advantages that may accrue.

MFL is my subject (hence comment above) so I was able to support my DC with their GCSEs and A level in one case. Not that I was much needed or asked for haha.

If someone had a parent who was an engineer, a teacher of any subject, a translator, a writer, a doctor... all of these will have expert knowledge in some area. Some parents will pay for a tutor. Some DC will have an older sibling who has just done the exams and done well and can give absolute excellently relevant help.

Then there are the parents who go out of their way to support with regular meals, somewhere to study, stationery as needed – many many students do not have these things. I don’t know know how practical it is to take account of all this?

YY universities in their contextual offers take account of some of the factors (eg living in a specific area which may mean lower income, being first in family to go to uni). But at GCSE level it's really hard.

lot of Universities do include parental education in their criteria for making contextual offers

source @AgeingDoc ?

Lots of Universities do include parental education in their* *criteria for making contextual offers, presumably for this reason.
I don't think there is any way of correcting for all possible advantages as they can only use fairly broad criteria and they won't always end up fair anyway. For example, my DC would have got contextual offers from some Universities based on our postcode. They have two professional parents and live in a nice detached house in a small desirable village. Nothing disadvantaged about them. But our village shares a postcode with a fairly deprived small town a few miles away, so scores highly on indices of social deprivation. Much of the rest of the postcode is farmland so there are not many residents who have attended university either. So statistically it's reasonable to make contextual offers to children in that postcode but in reality, it's only fair to make such offers to some of that population.
Likewise, you might assume that all children with well educated parents are at an advantage, but for all we know some of them will have been primarily raised by a nanny and have parents who work long hours who barely see them, never mind help with homework. Nor does not being highly educated mean that parents can't make a difference. My Mum grew up dirt poor in the 30s, one of a large number of children of a widow and her educational opportunities were limited. But she was very bright and extremely well read. In another time or place I am certain she would have been an academic high achiever. My Dad was far from stupid too but Mum was highly intelligent and that definitely gave me an advantage. I was reading the classics when most of my classmates were still struggling with Janet and John. We were no better off financially, in fact poorer than many, but there was a lot more what I suppose they'd call cultural capital these days in our house than most of my friends. That definitely helped me, not least by just showing me that there were possibilities beyond what was expected of most girls from my background. Something like that could never be picked up by the kind of criteria used to determine contextual offers but I do feel I was privileged compared to many of my classmates. Even when I went to University I found that I had a broader world view and thought more critically about things than many people who had much "better" backgrounds than me, and I credit my parents completely for that, though they'd never so much as seen a University themselves.
It's impossible to truly level the playing field. Contextual offers, if applied well, are a step in the right direction but they are very blunt tools.

Universities do look at whether the applicant is first in family to go to uni I think