English as an Additional Language (EAL) and Educational Achievement in England: An Analysis of the National Pupil Database
In this report, individual pupil data from 2013, obtained from the National Pupil Database (NPD) in England, were analysed to investigate trends in the number and distribution of EAL pupils, as well as relationships between EAL status and educational achievement at various key stages.
In this report, individual pupil data from 2013, obtained from the National Pupil Database (NPD) in England, were analysed to investigate trends in the number and distribution of EAL pupils, as well as relationships between EAL status and educational achievement at various key stages. Key findings included:
- The EAL population in schools more than doubled, from 7.% in 1997 to 16.2% in 2013.
- One fourth of schools had less than 1% of pupils recorded as EAL pupils, while in 1 in 11 schools the EAL-pupil population was over 50% – meaning that needs were very concentrated in some schools.
- At age 5, 44% of EAL learners had achieved a good level of development, compared to 54% of their monolingual-English-speaking peers. At age 16, the gap was much narrower, with 58.3% of EAL learners achieving five A*–C GCSEs including English and mathematics, compared to 60.9% of their monolingual-English-speaking peers. Additionally, there was no gap in GCSE best-8 points scores based on EAL status. In other words, by the age of 16, on average, pupils who spoke EAL seemed to catch up with their peers for whom English was the first language.
- There was substantial variation in educational achievement within the group of pupils who spoke EAL. Certain first languages (especially within the “White Other” and “Black African” ethnic groups), the absence of a prior attainment score from the beginning of a given key stage, and mobility between schools were all risk factors for lower achievement. These factors can be seen as proxies for international arrival from abroad, as well as for proficiency in English.
The main conclusion of the report was based on the observation that the group recorded as “EAL” in the NPD could include pupils who were fully fluent in English as well as new arrivals who spoke little or no English at all. The NPD’s EAL-status indicator did not provide any information about pupils’ proficiency in English – which was likely to be the major factor influencing educational achievement. The report therefore recommended that the Department for Education (DfE) introduce a new “proficiency in English” measure, to allow schools to better assess and respond to pupils’ needs. In January 2017, the DfE did introduce this measure – based on one used in schools in Wales since 2009 – and started collecting proficiency-in-English data for all pupils in England.[1] However, this measure remained in place only for the 2017 and 2018 school censuses, after which it was discontinued.
[1] Proficiency in English was measured on a five-point scale: A = New to English; B = Early Acquisition; C = Developing Competence; D = Competent; and E = Fluent.