ABSTRACT
The main research programme so far undertaken in the sociology of education has been the attempt to establish and explain the marked variations in the educational attainments of pupils from different social class and ethnic backgrounds. In Britain such research was undertaken in a political climate where the educational provision made available, especially at the secondary stage, was being reviewed in the light of evidence that documented significant discrepancies in the opportunities available to pupils for all kinds of selective education. In response to what appeared to be an uncomfortable gap between the official ideology, proclaiming the fairness of a system where opportunities for selective secondary education were dependent on individual merit and achievement, and the actual functioning of the system, a strong body of political opinion called for a greater measure of equality in the distribution of educational opportunities. It was claimed that this would not only bring about a greater degree of social justice, but that it could also ensure the identification and development of talent vital to the manpower requirements of a highly complex, technological society. Such thinking lies behind the expansionist policies for higher education proposed by the Crowther and Robbins Reports, and the movement towards the comprehensive reorganisation of secondary education. However the so-called ‘educability’ studies carried out by sociologists in the 1960s suggested that such changes in the opportunity and organisational structure of schooling would not in themselves dramatically reduce the disparities found in the levels of achievement of pupils from different social class backgrounds. How then did social class influence the likelihood of pupils’ chances of educational success or failure?
