Failed By The System – What You Really Need To Know About The 2006 Exam Results

It’s the time of year when Scottish pupils are returning to school to learn and eventually gain good qualifications to help them get jobs. Earlier this month, we were inundated with success stories from around the country – pictures of ecstatic young people and their delighted teachers and parents as they opened their Standard Grades results and celebrated. What those stories don’t tell us is the truth of the lives of the children who are written off by the education system – the UK’s children in care. A new report by leading charity Barnardo’s highlights the shocking levels of disadvantage faced by these children, many of whom will struggle to gain even a single qualification.

It throws light on a chaotic and disruptive world of targeted school bullying, multiple care home and foster care placements; of children changing schools over and over again, being excluded from schools, and frequently experiencing insufficient support from schools or carers.

The report also compares the levels of support currently enjoyed by most school children from their parents, with those experienced by young people in care, and highlights the very low expectations by some teachers of children who are in care.

The report, called “Failed by the System” which is published on Wednesday 23rd August, outlines dramatic contrasts and demands a fairer system for the 80,000 looked after children in the UK.

The findings are the result of a report and an NOP poll.

The Report:
Barnardo’s surveyed 66 young people aged between 16 and 21, who are currently supported by the charity’s leaving care services. Participants spent many of their formative years in care. They were asked about their personal experiences of education and what factors may have affected their chances of achievement at school.

The report also looked at the care leavers’ present situations, and uncovers unsettling truths about their current educational status and desperately poor employment prospects.

The NOP Poll:
The charity also commissioned a separate NOP poll which asked 500 parents of children who took their final secondary school exams this year what they expected of them, and how they supported them with their education.

Hugh Mackintosh, Director, Scotland – Barnardo’s, said: “The cycle of disadvantage that haunts these children as they grow up shows no sign of being broken as they enter adulthood. Our report shows that many looked after children have both academic potential and the desire to work hard, and would have liked to succeed in education but the state, as a parent, fails them terribly.

“Dreadful exam results compound the disadvantages they face and commit them to unemployment and long term disadvantage.  In Scotland, the Government has recognised this situation and set up a ministerial working group of which I am a member.  We are hopeful this will act as a catalyst to generate more positive educational outcomes for looked-after young people in the future.”