ABSTRACT
A persistent theme in the sociology of education for the last 50 years has been the analysis of patterns of social and educational inequality. Sociologists who studied education have looked at the school system, the school curriculum, assessment, testing and so on in order to analyse the educational experience as it occurs in schools, colleges and classrooms. Class, gender and ethnicity have been key concepts that have been used in understanding patterns of inequality within the educational system. This chapter utilises some of the sociological evidence derived to examine patterns of inequality within education. Here both quantitative and qualitative data will be used to examine educational practice, and the key phases of education, the educational systems in the United Kingdom need to be placed in context. The structures are broadly similar and much of the sociological evidence within the chapter focuses on the English school system.
