Evaluation of Excellence in Cities Primary Extension: A report of the transition strand study
01 February 2004
The Excellence in Cities (EiC) policy is a major government initiative which aims to redress many of the problems which have, in the past, been associated with inner-city and other deprived areas. In these areas, educational attainment has been lower than in other parts of England, and many young people are not able to attain their potential. EiC has the broad aims of improving schools in deprived settings by raising educational standards, promoting educational partnerships, and sharing and disseminating good practice. EiC was introduced into secondary schools in 24 Phase 1 Partnerships in September 1999: these partnerships include all the local education authorities in inner London, as well as major conurbations elsewhere, such as Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds and Sheffield. EiC was extended into other areas in September 2000 (Phase 2) and September 2001 (Phase 3). From September 2000, the initiative was extended to include primary schools in all the Phase 1 Partnerships.
In 2000, the DfES commissioned a consortium consisting of NFER, the Centre for Educational Research (CER) and the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics (LSE), and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), to conduct an evaluation of EiC in secondary schools in Phase 1 and 2 areas. In 2001, this was extended to include the Primary Extension, as well as secondary schools in Phase 3 areas.
This is one of a series of reports arising from this evaluation.