Education coverage in the news earlier this week was focused on a new report commissioned by the Sutton Trust, title Fee Remissions and Bursaries in Independent Schools. The study, carried out by Staffordshire University’s Institute for Education Policy Research (IEPR), attracted headlines such as “Top school bursary funds lower” (BBC), and “Richest schools give least of their income to bursaries” (Guardian).
However, the Independent Schools Council’s (ISC) response, arguing that the Sutton Trust’s report was “ based on out of date, incomplete and mismatched data”, gives rise to a broader question: how trustworthy is research into ‘the facts’?
The IEPR’s report found that “schools that charge higher fees… award a smaller proportion of the remissions in the form of bursaries”, and that “schools with a higher rank in The Times League Tables… tend to offer lower fee remissions”. Meanwhile, the ISC claims to have repeated the IEPR’s research using its own more recent data taken across a greater number of schools (ISC data was across 477 schools in comparison with the IEPR’s 348 sample schools), finding “no correlation between bursaries and a school’s ranking or revenue”.
This argument puts the observer in something of a quandary: two well regarded research bodies, with two apparently sound methodologies, yet with two significantly different outcomes. Which is right? Which is more trustworthy?
It's important to use an independent and unbiased third-party for research in order to ensure rigour
It’s not a new problem, of course, as the range of jokes and one-liners on statistics proves this:
- “90% of all statistics are made up on the spot”
- “Death is fatal in 9 of 10 cases”
- “70% of people prefer good things to bad things”
etc.
Given that the Sutton Trust’s website claims its main objective is to ”improve educational opportunities for young people from non-privileged backgrounds and increase social mobility”, while a core strategic aim for the ISC is “to promote the independent schools sector”. The interests of each party are clear and while we stress again the calibre of work from both, and that research was no doubt carried out objectively, the findings of each group are startlingly aligned with these interests.
So what should be done? How can people know that when commissioning their own research for schools and colleges that the results will be unbiased, accurate and truly reflective of their situation.
As a truly independent research, marketing and strategic consultancy for schools and colleges, mtm’s work is always accurate and rigorous. We have developed our research work over 25 years, and now offer a broad range of school research services, including our Mandarin market and catchment area analysis, parent surveys and interviews, street and door to door services, and mystery shopper exercises. Meanwhile our research publications, including the Independent Education Sector Report, the Missing Million report, Schools Marketing Survey, and School Fees Payment Survey cover the whole of the UK schools market and are carried out with the same rigour and expertise.
To discuss our work and how we might be able to support you, please contact mtm.
