ABSTRACT
A considerable amount of research and writing tries to account for the data showing patterns. This chapter focuses on the relationship between education attainment and socio-economic status (SES), to make this information manageable. SES involves material factors, particularly income, but also attitudes and aspirations, values, lifestyles and motivations, all of which play a part in educational achievement as do the distinctive cultures associated with particular groupings. The drive to expand higher education was rooted in the belief that the nation needed to improve its skills base to meet the needs of a post-industrial economy. The concepts of cultural capital and habitus can help explain the data that continually show that British children's educational attainment is overwhelmingly linked to parental occupation, income and qualifications. Attitudes towards education are shaped through the lifelong processes and experiences that derive from family background and the attendant economic and social experiences associated with different social classes.
