Some intra-regional variations in educational provision and their bearing upon educational attainment – the case of the north-east *

The purpose of this paper is to present some preliminary results of our research into the factors which influence the educational attainment of children in secondary schools and their patterns of uptake of further education. It seeks to demonstrate that the provision of educational resources by local education authorities, in so far as such provision is related to the wealth of each authority and the kinds of social policies pursued by each authority in the education field, is not only a neglected area of study but, more importantly, may be of equal significance in explaining variations in patterns of educational attainment than the better-documented factors associated with social class, school and family social structure.