ABSTRACT
The evidence that we presented revealed that there was a multitude of other factors associated with low levels of achievement (for example, family problems, poor attendance, poor behaviour, pupil mobility, health problems, and so on). Many of these are not readily amenable to school policies or practices, although in a number of cases there are ways in which school policy might mitigate the impact of disadvantage. This is the case, for example, with pupil mobility. In other cases, it would appear that government policy might be able to influence practice. This is likely to be the case with the reductions in school exclusions that have taken place in recent years given that a high priority was given to this issue along with financial incentives and disincentives.
