Social Class Differences in Attainment and Ability at Seven

For example, Douglas’s (1964) results indicate that during the years of primary schooling the gap in attainment between children from different occupational groups widens. Although this finding has been subjected to criticism on statistical grounds (e.g. Carter, 1964), there seems little doubt that the phenomenon is a real one. Douglas’s later work (Douglas, Ross and Simpson, 1968) suggests that this process is continued in the secondary school.